The Heroes of Olympus, #2
The Son of Neptune
by Rick Riordan
Contents
XXXVIII Percy
Overview
Percy regains resolve, sharing dreams that reveal Polybotes’s imminent assault and reaffirming the need to unite Greek and Roman camps. In Anchorage, the trio plots a rail-and-boat route toward the Hubbard Glacier. Percy leaves a voicemail for his mother. En route, Stymphalian birds strike, shattering the car and derailing the train, escalating their peril.
Summary
Arriving in Anchorage, Percy feels renewed by memories of Camp Half-Blood and Tyson, resolving to fight for both camps and to honor Juno’s plan to unite Romans and Greeks. He tells Hazel and Frank about Polybotes’s army and Tyson escorting Ella, while pondering Ella’s prophecy and the ominous “mark of Athena.”
They take in Alaska’s stark beauty and the peaceful, unseen-to-mortals Hyperborean giants. At a seaside café, over an all-day breakfast, Hazel sketches a route: train from Anchorage to Seward, then a boat to reach the Hubbard Glacier and Alcyoneus. With time short before the Feast of Fortuna, they reject more air travel and commit to the plan.
At the station, Percy impulsively uses a pay phone to call home, leaving a brief, emotional voicemail for his mother before boarding. The southbound train ride offers breathtaking views—eagles, waterfalls, bears, and Hyperboreans—while Frank studies maps, gauging the daunting distance to the glacier.
The calm shatters when large, black, red-eyed raptors circle the train—Stymphalian birds like those seen caged in Seattle. As the flock dives, the emergency brake slams, tourists panic, the monsters smash through the glass roof, and the entire train lurches off the rails, pitching the quest into immediate chaos.
Who Appears
- Percy JacksonRegains determination, shares visions, plans route to Seward, calls his mother, and braces for a Stymphalian bird assault.
- Hazel LevesqueGuides Anchorage landmarks, maps the train-to-boat plan toward Hubbard Glacier, worries about Ella, and commits to the land route.
- Frank ZhangSupports planning, studies maps for options, devours breakfast, and identifies the airborne threat before the train derails.
- Hyperborean giantsPeaceful, enormous northern giants visible to demigods across Alaska, underscoring the land’s primal, god-remote nature.
- Stymphalian birdsVicious metallic birds with red eyes; swarm the train, smash the roof, and trigger the derailment.