The Lost Hero (aka The Lost Editor) audio

The Lost Hero (aka The Lost Editor): Heroes of Olympus, book 1 by Rick Riordan. Narrated by Joshua Swanson.

Audience: Grades 4 through 7

My Rating: 2* of 5

Summary: After saving Olympus from the evil Titan lord, Kronos, Percy and friends have rebuilt Camp Half-Blood where the next generation of demigods must now prepare for a chilling prophecy of their own.

Comments: Isn't it a shame when a good author goes viral and becomes "above" editing? That appears to be the case for Riordan as evidenced by the dull heft of The Red Pyramid and this, his latest whopper. The Lost Hero begins with all the excitement, interesting characters, and snappy pacing that made the Percy Jackson books such a success, but soon bogs down under sluggish scenes and overdone dialogue (no fault of the talented narrator, Swanson). Lost Hero would be a fantastically fun read if it were missing about 150-200 pages of redundant writing. Trim the fat, Rick, and I'll be a fan once more. As it is I'm done with your books for a good, long while.

Read-alikes: Percy Jackson and the Olympians series; The Red Pyramid

Rant: Bury Dumbledore!

BURY DUMBLEDORE!

If you haven't seen Harry Potter 7.1 yet, there may be spoilers ahead (though if you read the books, no surprises).

Shame on you, Steve Kloves and David Yates. Shame on you, J.K. Why, oh, why would you even consider the omission of Dumbledore's funeral on film? Are you really telling me that the horribly executed and in poor taste wands-in-the-air moment in movie 6 is all we get as a send-off for one of the most important characters of this series? I hoped you had chosen to open movie 7.1 at Dumbledore's funeral--a fitting choice to give closure to his death and launch the action of Deathly Hallows. No such luck. AND you add insult to injury by dedicating 5+ minutes of screen time to Dobby's death and burial? Nothing against Dobby, he was a good Elf, but you can find precious screen time to bury an Elf and not the Godfather of this story? Shameful. As filmmakers, Kloves/Yates, you should have seized the opportunity to use Dobby's burial scene as a catalyst for Harry to flashback to images of Dumbledore's funeral, seamlessly transitioning the audience and poignantly juxtaposing these images to the final scene of the film. And you, Rowling, you can't stand up to the movie eggheads and insist your beloved fans see your beloved Dumbledore given a proper burial? Shame, shame, know your names.

I can only hope you have the sense to put this scene in HP7.2. To close this series' final screen adaptation without burying Dumbledore would be a huge omission. Fans of the books can forgive a lot, but this is an Unforgivable.

Disappointed,

Bonnie