The popular children's book series, the Heroes of Olympus, is coming to a close with the Blood of Olympus this fall, and the cover has been released.
This book will cap off ten years of stories set in the fictional Percy Jackson universe, featuring characters from the Percy Jackson & Olympians and the Heroes of Olympus series. For such a momentous book, the cover looks... underwhelming.
The cover itself is visually appealing. With its dark thunderclouds and lightning and giants looming at the bottom, it sure will catch eyes at the bookstore. But the design is really not pleasing as on to cap off a ten year old series. The cover features the villains of the series, the giant sons of Gaea, at the bottom ready to do battle with the heroes. As for the heroes, the cover restricts the number of demigods who get the spotlight. As the final book, it would make sense to include all seven of the demigods to make it seem like the battle feel like it would have more weight, but only 3 of the seven get to shine. Strangely enough, only the Romans are out to play. In the right hand side is Hazel, charging to battle on her horse Arion. In the mid left, Frank has his bow hefted, ready to start firing. And up and center is Jason, with his sword raised, leaping into battle, lightning crackling around him.
These three heroes look impressive, especially Jason, like true heroes. But it just doesn't feel right. While the Romans are likable enough, everybody really loves the Greek demigods in this series (though everybody hates Piper admittedly). Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Leo Valdez are the most popular characters and not having them on the cover of the final book seems wrong, especially Percy and Annabeth, who have been in this series since the Lightning Thief ten years ago. To give them the shaft in the milestone book leaves a bitter taste in any fans mouth. And making Jason seem like the main hero isn't very appealing either. Maybe in the Lost Hero, he seemed like the star of the new series, but since then, he has become a minor character, with Percy taking the spotlight. To just thrust Jason into this position because he was the intentional protagonist, even though he was eventually sidelined by Percy, seems forced. The cover doesn't sit well with fans and despite John Rocco's amazing artwork, the design just makes this final cover disappointing. Hopefully, the content inside will be as strong as always. Rick Riordan has a lot to top with his House of Hades, but he unlike this cover, doesn't disappoint.
These three heroes look impressive, especially Jason, like true heroes. But it just doesn't feel right. While the Romans are likable enough, everybody really loves the Greek demigods in this series (though everybody hates Piper admittedly). Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Leo Valdez are the most popular characters and not having them on the cover of the final book seems wrong, especially Percy and Annabeth, who have been in this series since the Lightning Thief ten years ago. To give them the shaft in the milestone book leaves a bitter taste in any fans mouth. And making Jason seem like the main hero isn't very appealing either. Maybe in the Lost Hero, he seemed like the star of the new series, but since then, he has become a minor character, with Percy taking the spotlight. To just thrust Jason into this position because he was the intentional protagonist, even though he was eventually sidelined by Percy, seems forced. The cover doesn't sit well with fans and despite John Rocco's amazing artwork, the design just makes this final cover disappointing. Hopefully, the content inside will be as strong as always. Rick Riordan has a lot to top with his House of Hades, but he unlike this cover, doesn't disappoint.
Poor Piper :(
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