The Lost Hero is the first book in Rick Riordan’s The Heroes of Olympus series, the second of which was released October 4th. If you haven’t had time to reread the first book, or just want to make sure you’ve got all the details down before you read the next installment, here’s a detailed summary – in ten minutes or less!

Chapters 1-5:
-We meet Jason, Piper, Leo, Dylan, and Coach Hedge, who are at the Grand Canyon on a field trip. Jason doesn’t remember who he is, although everyone else knows him. Only Coach seems suspicious – he knows he’s got two demigods and a monster on his hands, but he’s wondering if Jason is the “special package” Camp told him about.

-Dylan turns out to be the monster. Jason refers to him and Coach by their Roman names. Dylan shoots Jason with a lightning bolt, but he doesn’t die. Jason can control the winds and he has a coin he can flip that’ll turn into a sword/javelin. Dylan says his mistress will destroy all demigods. He kidnaps Coach. Annabeth and Butch (son of Iris) come for the three demigods and lead them back to Camp Half-Blood.

-We meet Drew (daughter of Aphrodite). Piper is nervous – seeing camp confirms what she saw in her dreams. Leo is claimed by Hephaestus. Jason has a tattoo on his arm: a dozen straight lines under an eagle and “SPQR.”

-Piper’s father has been kidnapped. She is supposed to betray the campers to save him. She chooses Katoptris as her weapon – it means “mirror” and was used by Helen of Troy. The gods have gone silent, but Hera speaks through Rachel and tells Piper to free her.

-Leo meets his cabinmates and learns about the Curse of Cabin 9: everything they make goes haywire and people keep getting hurt. He sees his Tía Callida at camp (though she shouldn’t be there) and we learn his mom died in a machine shop fire.

Chapters 6-10:
-Leo learns about a bronze dragon that is currently going haywire in the forest. Leo can control fire. He doesn’t tell the campers this, but he learns that people like that are dangerous.

-Jason feels like he is on enemy territory. He speaks Latin and Chiron tells him he should be dead. Jason is visited by Juno/Hera. If he frees her, he’ll get his memories back.

-Clovis (son of Hypnos) says that Roman gods are different than Greek gods – it’s not just a change in name, but a change in personality, too.

– Enceladus is the giant that is holding Piper’s dad prisoner.

-The Great Prophecy: “Seven Half-bloods shall answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall. An oath to keep with a final breath, and foes bear arms to the Doors of Death.” Jason’s father is Jupiter (Zeus). He gets his own prophecy: “Child of lighting, beware the earth. The giants’ revenge the seven shall birth. The forge and dove shall break the cage, and death unleash through Hera’s rage.” Jason picks Leo (the forge) to accompany him. Piper is claimed by Aphrodite and she goes on the quest too.

Chapters 11-15:
-Leo remembers how he drew a picture of a ship that was taken away by the wind. A woman covered in dirt is the reason his mother died. He decides to find the dragon – this will be their ride.

-Leo finds the dragon and fixes it; he names it Festus. Festus leads him to Bunker 9 and Leo sees a similar boat drawing to the one from his childhood.

-Jason dreams of Lupa – the mother wolf and the one who raised him. She shows him two spires that rise from the ground – one holds Hera, the other unleashes a monster.

-The tattoo on Jason’s arm stands for a Roman motto. Annabeth tells him to follow the monsters, so he decides to find the storm spirits. He must go to Quebec to find Boreas, a wind god. He sees a picture of Thalia and remembers that she is his sister.

-Drew appears to know that Piper has intentions to betray the others. Drew and Piper can Charmspeak.

Chapters 16-20:
-Leo, Piper, and Jason head out on Festus (“Happy”) the dragon. Leo has a magic tool belt.

-The trio start to think that Leo’s Dirt Woman is behind everything.

-They go to Quebec and meet Boreas’ three children: Calais, Zethes, and Khione.

-Piper and Jason go up the stairs to talk with Boreas. Leo is not allowed because they smell fire on him.

-Aeolus (ruler of the winds) told Boreas to kill them on sight, but if Jason is with them, to listen to his story first. He then tells them the storm spirits are in Chicago, and that if they capture them they’ll be granted safe passage to see Aeolus.

Chapters 21-25:
-Piper dreams of the giant. He says they must prove their love for their parents.

-Piper wakes up falling. Jason saves Leo and Piper, but Festus crashes. They all land in Monocle Motors – the place is the home of three Cyclopes.

-Leo tries to fix Festus. Dirt Woman visits him again and says he may be the most important hero. She says Porphyrion will rise and become king. Leo runs to help the others.

-The Cyclopes want to eat the others. Leo plans his attack. Ma Gasket talks about eating a son of Mercury. Leo kills the Cyclopes and reveals himself to Piper as being immune to fire. The monsters start reforming immediately.

-Jason talks to Hera as he is unconscious. She was tricked into her cage. Her gamble was an exchange, a way to make peace. Jason’s most dangerous mortal enemy is in Chicago.

Chapters 26-30:
-They follows the storm spirits to an underground entrance to a store. The doors simply have the letter “M” on them.

-Piper is tempted to buy a healing potion to restore Jason’s memory.

-The woman’s name is Madea – a witch and a mortal. Madea gets the two boys to fight, but Piper breaks the spell. Madea sets the sun dragons on them, but they grab the storm spirits and Coach Hedge (both in cages) and blow up the store and fly out of there.

-Leo talks to Hephaestus in his dream. He says Zeus closed Olympus because he was embarrassed the demigods had to help them in the second Titan War and mad that Percy turned down immortality and told them to pay better attention to their kids. He thinks that by keeping quiet, he can lull the enemy back to sleep. Leo’s dad warns him that he’ll lose valuable friends and tools, but that everything can be reused.

-Jason saves Piper and Leo tries to fix a falling Festus. Festus get blasted out of the sky by lasers. Festus is gone, but Leo’s dad takes the head back to Bunker 9. They can’t get out of the compound, so they decide to enter the mansion.

Chapters 31-35:
-Leo disables all the traps. Leo frees Coach from the cage. Coach asks why everything is gold, just as an old man in a robe walks into the room.

-The old man is King Midas, and his son is Lityerses. Midas touches Piper’s backpack – it’s now gold and magical (it can hold the storm spirits). Midas gives them a choice: turn to gold or fight Lit to the death. Before they can decide, he turns Leo and Piper gold. Jason fights Lit and wins, and all four of them get out of there.

-They’re close to Aeolus now. Piper tells them about her dad and they tell her they’ll help. Jason remembers that Othrys didn’t crumble like the Greeks thought. The Bay Area is significant.

-Lycaon, king of the wolves, is on orders to kill them. Artemis’ Hunters save them. Jason tells Thalia he is her brother.

-Thalia explains their past: how her mother found out she had been with Zeus, then became unstable; he came back, but he was different; Jason was born, and Zeus left for good; her mom took them on vacation and said she had given Jason away and that he was as good as dead; Thalia ran away from home.

Chapters 36-40:
-Thalia leads them to Aeolus’ fortress. Leo understands that Jason is a bridge – he is connecting two places that normally don’t go together. He gets excited and melts the ice bridge. Thalia knows where the Wolf House is (where Hera is being kept) and tells the others to find Piper’s dad. They can do both!

-An Aura (Mellie) leads them to Aeolus.

-Aeolus tells Jason he’s been there before. He had gone to fight a sea monster. He agrees to tell them where Enceladus is, but before he does, something changes his mind and he orders them dead. Mellie saves them.

-Piper has a dream and meets her mother. Aphrodite gives her a memory loss potion for her father. Piper figures out Gaea is Dirt Woman and is behind everything. Her mom says that when the two sides meet, Piper will be the mediator.

-Aphrodite sends them to California – close to Enceladus.

Chapters 41-45:
-As they climb Mount Diablo, the earth pulls at their feet. Coach says this area is full of bad things, but Jason feels a longing for it. At the top of the mountain, Piper spots her dad.

-Leo takes on the Gegenees (ogre things). Piper gets her dad. Jason battles Enceladus.

-Enceladus breaks Jason’s weapon and it leaves a crater in the earth, with a glass slope.

-Jason asks his father for help and, together, they defeat him.

-Piper convinces a pilot to take them to the airport.

Chapters 46-50:
-Piper gives the memory loss potion to her dad. Jason knows where the Wolf House is and Leo flies them to it.
-Jason remembers the Wolf House is a powerful place for demigods, and where his story begins. They hit the storm clouds and crash.

-Thalia and the Hunters are already at the Wolf House. Leo and Piper have to break the cage. Khione freezes Thalia.

-Khione was the one controlling the storm spirits, freezing the dragon, and feeding information to Enceladus.

-Khione fights Leo, but disappears before being defeated. Jason takes control of Tempest, a storm spirit horse. Piper battles the Earthborn. Piper and Leo then try to open Hera’s cage. Porphyrion says he will kill Jason and make it look like the Greeks did it – they will be civil war. He plans to get rid of the gods forever – by taking them out at their roots (Greece). Hera breaks out and turns Super Saiyan, but Porphyrion escapes.

Chapters 51-56:
-Hera can’t tell them answers they want to know; it would make those answers invalid. She sends them to Camp Half-Blood.

-Piper challenges Drew to a battle over the leadership of the Aphrodite cabin. Drew steps down. Jason is beginning to remember more of his past, and it’s making him nervous.

-Leo shows Cabin 9, Chiron, Piper, and Jason Bunker 9. Chiron explains it was headquarters during the last civil war – a time when both mortals and demigods fought each other. The gods then wove the mist so thickly that the two sides would not meet each other or know each other. Leo is building the Argo II and they’ll sail to Greece.

-Leo becomes leader of Cabin 9.

-Jason remembers old friends: Dakota, Gwendolyn, Hazel, Bobby, and Reyna. The memory of Reyna makes him question how he feels about Piper. Hera/Juno visits him and tells him he has to stay at Camp Half-Blood so he can make friends and become a peacemaker when the two camps meet. She says only the best seven demigods can fight Gaea with the gods – since they were split up into two camps, she had to make the exchange. She hands him a new sword.

-Jason goes to the council meeting. They learn about the other camp – the one for Roman demigods. Jason, Piper, and Leo have to sail to the other camp (Annabeth is going too) and then on to Greece. Jason is worried for Percy – the Romans are not as understanding. If they learn where he is from, he could be in big trouble.

Whew! There’s definitely a few hints hidden in there that point to what may happen in The Son of Neptune. What are your favorite parts from this book and what are you expecting out of the next one? (And did you read this in ten minutes or less?)