How similar can books be, before we shout out plagiarism!?
I was checking out what other books Rick Riordan has released recently, as I was in the mindset for another fantasy series- when I was recommended a similar series to Percy Jackson & The Olympians.
To say that the two series are similar, is an understatement. Curse of Hera (Camp Hercules book 1) by P.J. Hoover features a male teenage protogenos (Check), clueless about the Greek mythologies (Check), finds his way to a summer camp to hone campers’ monster slaying abilities (Check), and finds out that they are special, being a spawn of a Greek god (Check).
But how Curse of Hera differs, is that Logan (the main character) is sent to Camp Hercules with the pretence that he was just attending an ancient Greek themed summer camp. Unaware that the gods and demi-gods who he comes across, are in-fact the real deals- Hercules is the Hercules, and Athena is the Athena. The author P.J. Hoover creatively combines the Greek tales nicely with modern day fixtures i.e. camp t-shirts which act like PPE (Personal Protective Equipment or should I say Armor), and the Fates are armed with an iPad tablet to record their transactions with mortals.
The book contains Hercules’ famous Labours, and when things go horribly wrong and the labours are released and run amuck in the camp and beyond the walls of Camp Hercules- quickly summer camp becomes an old-fashioned Quest!
The book contains a few pivotal twists and sets things up nicely for a follow-up sequel.
So, if you’re a fan of the Greek mythologies and you were a fan of happenings at Camp Half-blood? I think you’ll enjoy P.J. Hoover’s Curse of Hera- just as long as you’re able to stop yourself from constantly comparing the two series. If you want to check it out, click HERE!
However, if you’re not into a near ‘fan fic’ of Rick Riordan’s original creation, perhaps you might be interested in ‘The Blood of Zeus’?
Blood of Zeus is a Netflix animated series, uncannily featuring the Greek gods and heroes again, Heron being the main character, a demi-god who is tasked to save Olympus and earth (a simple task? Really!).
Over 8 episodes Heron moves from being a simple peasant boy with no particular skill, to an awesome fighter with supernatural powers! The storyline is like any Greek mythology story, so it’s a bit predictable. While the animation is a bit jerky due to the low frames used in its animation creation, so it’s not the most amazing looking thing. However, if you welcome variety from Netflix, then you’ll embrace this new content.
To check-out ‘Blood of Zeus’, click HERE!
Published by