The House of Hades, by Rick Riordan, takes place in the present and evolves over two weeks. There are eight protagonists, all demigods who fight against Gaea. Two of the demigods, Percy and Annabeth, fell into Tartarus, the deepest and most treacherous part of the underworld, where no Olympian god dared to go. Tartarus is also the god of the abyss. The other six protagonists travel from Rome to Greece, where the house of Hades is located. The eight protagonists are looking for the doors of death in order to close them. Percy is the son of Poseidon; he is a charismatic and powerful leader, he can control water. Annabeth is Athena's daughter and Percy's girlfriend. She is extremely intelligent and strategic. Bob is a titan. Most titans hate gods and demigods and have fought them off and on for centuries. But Percy pushes Bob into the River Lethe, which erases the memories and Bob forgets everything. Percy then becomes friends with Bob. When he and Annabeth are attacked in Tartarus, Percy calls Bob to save them. Jason also protagonist, is the son of Jupiter. He is a good leader and takes charge of the group in Percy and Annabeth's absence. Piper is Jason's girlfriend and also a demigod. She is the daughter of Aphrodite and possesses the gift of charmspeak. Charmspeak is occasionally bestowed upon the children of Aphrodite; it's the ability to persuade someone to do anything with your voice. Leon is another protagonist and the son of Hephaestus. He has the very rare gift of being able to produce flames with his hands and is impervious to fire. He often feels excluded and unrecognized. Hazel is one of the protagonists and the daughter of Pluto, god of the underworld, and therefore can sense the tunnels...... middle of paper ......rs and the sun for him. The conflict in the story is good versus evil. Eight demigods fight Gaea and her evil monsters to close the gates of death. Gaea wants to conquer the world and destroy all humanity and the gods. At the end of the book, the conflict persists because Gaea, the immortal, is a static character still trying to rise and control the world. The tone of this book is adventure and suspense. The eight demigods are on a perilous mission to close the gates of death, and they don't have much time. The House of Hades is told in the third person, but with a lot of detail about the protagonist and his feelings. The chapters alternate between the adventures and points of view of the seven main characters, but the story is always told in the third person. The theme of this book is that nothing is impossible when you have support and friends...