I looked at the cover of The Lost Hero in my hands. It showed Jason, Piper, and Leo on top of Festus, the automaton dragon, soaring through the clouds.
After the announcement, things kind of went crazy. The speculation intensified. The fandom was pulled back from the spiral of madness it had been in.
Now, I knew a lot of people would be initially angry when they got their hands on the book. Percy wouldn't be in this until the very end. Annabeth was in it, but only for about five chapters. The story, of course, followed Jason, Piper, and Leo.
While I didn't have major issues with the original, I did make a lot of changes.
First of all, Jason Grace. The character had a lot of potential. Son of Jupiter. Praetor of Camp Jupiter. Thalia's brother. The Roman counterpart to Percy.
In the original, he'd fallen flat. Too perfect. Too bland. "Diet Percy," some fans had called him. In my version, Jason had the same backstory: raised by wolves, trained at Camp Jupiter since age three, became Praetor at fifteen, a legendary hero who defeated Krios the Titan.
But I reframed it.
Jason Grace had never chosen to be a hero. He'd been manufactured into one.
Raised by a wolf goddess from infancy. Trained as a soldier from the moment he could walk. Molded into the perfect Roman warrior. Given the title of Praetor not because he asked for it, but because he was Jupiter's son and the legion needed a symbol.
Everything about Jason's life had been decided for him.
I guess you could say I took the Gojo Satoru path for Jason's character. He's defined by his strength, but it's a burden. He constantly worries if that's all anyone needs from him.He is lonely due to this. And sometimes, Jason wishes he wasn't the son of Jupiter.
His amnesia was, in a twisted way, a liberation for him. For the first time in his life, Jason didn't have to be the perfect Praetor. He could just be... Jason.
That, and more, made the character more interesting to read. I needed the readers invested in Jason as much as they were in Percy for the coming books.
Piper was also changed from the "not like other girls" character in the original books.
Piper's issue was about control.
Her mother was Aphrodite, the goddess of love, beauty, and manipulation. Piper had charmspeak, a power that literally made people do what she wanted.
And she was not a big fan of it.
She constantly wondered if any of her relationships were real or if she was accidentally influencing people. Her father was a famous actor, a man whose job was to fake emotions convincingly. Piper had grown up never knowing when he was being genuine.
So her whole arc was about agency in a world designed to remove it.
She didn't hate the Aphrodite cabin because they were girly. She hated that Drew enjoyed controlling people. Drew was the dark mirror, someone who weaponized charmspeak without guilt.
And the romance with Jason?
I'd made that the central question of the book: what is real and what is fake?
Both Jason and Piper knew the relationship was based on fake memories implanted by Hera. But they were developing real feelings now. Were those feelings genuine, or were they just playing the roles Hera had assigned them?
In the end, it became a very compelling romance arc between them.
I didn't really change much with Leo. The character was perfect to me.
I wrote in some more fun scenes with him, especially with Jason and Leo. Their dynamic was gold, Leo's chaos and humor balancing Jason's seriousness and sense of duty.
The plot structure was also changed from the original's more meandering one. There were too many locations.
I'd cut it down to three major locations:
Quebec, Boreas's Palace: The Greek and Roman reveal through Boreas and Aquilon's transformation. The first real teamwork moment. Khione is introduced as a recurring villain.
Medea's Department Store: Gaea's plan is revealed here. Each character is offered what they want most. The trio bonds, becoming friends rather than just quest partners.
California: The final battle with Enceladus.
Gaea was also more present in the book, an active antagonist manipulating events.
Camp Half-Blood and other side characters weren't excluded. I'd even added some more scenes with Annabeth and her desperate search for Percy.
Overall, I thought it was going to be well received, well, after the first big blowup of Percy not being in it and the main cast from the last five books only being mentioned for about three chapters.
The book was set to be released on March 20th. And right after that, I was going to begin shooting The Usual Suspects.
I was going to call Margot when Michael, one of the editors for my ASOIAF books, walked into the office.
I was in Lucy's office, so I thought he was here to see her.
"She's out with a client," I said to him.
"I'm here to see you, actually."
"What? You're already done with the last chapter?" I asked.
"Almost done with it. I thought we could talk about it now instead of just over email."
"Yeah, sure," I said, gesturing for him to sit.
A Feast for Crows had been released a year ago, and I was already halfway through finishing the next one.
Now, if I followed what Martin released in my old life, the next one would be A Dance with Dragons. But I'd decided to do it another way.
Dance with Dragons was a big book, which I believed had some issues. Well, many issues. So I decided to split it into two.
The next book to be released was to be called After the Feast. And the one after that? Well, I hadn't really decided the name yet. I was leaning toward Blood and Fire, but A Dance with Dragons was still on the table.
After the Feast was going to have the POVs of:
Jon
Tyrion
Daenerys
Theon
Bran
Davos
Asha
Barristan
Jon Connington
Victarion
Areo Hotah
Quentyn Martell's POV was completely cut. That was one of the major changes from the original.His story would be shown through the other POV's.
The book would cover major events:
Jon: Wildling integration, Stannis at the Wall, Melisandre burning "Mance," Alys Karstark, helping Stannis take Deepwood Motte, sending Mance south.
Tyrion: In Pentos, his journey with Griff and Young Griff, the stone men, being captured by Jorah, enslaved, and sold in Meereen.
Daenerys: Ruling Meereen, the Sons of the Harpy, dragon problems, chaining the dragons, marriage negotiations, and her wedding to Hizdahr, ending with her flying away on Drogon.
Theon: All the intrigue in Winterfell. Probably my favorite part of the original book.
The book would end with Kevan's death and Varys's true motives being revealed.
So yeah, some major stuff happens in the book. It also helps cut down some bloat in the plotlines, which I felt would help me when I finally came up with an ending for the series.
The sixth book would have the Battle of Ice and the Battle of Fire. Stannis's fate and the second siege of Meereen would be revealed fully in the book.
There would be more Aegon, more of Davos in Skagos, Lady Stoneheart's confrontation with Jaime, and some major reveals with Bran and Bloodraven, furthering the White Walker storyline.
The book would end with Jon's death, and it would be the big cliffhanger for the seventh book, The Winds of Winter.
Michael and I began to go through the edits, him pointing out some issues, minor pacing issues and a few continuity notes.
Then Lucy and two others walked in.
And she looked pissed.
"Whoa, whoa, what happened?" I asked, standing up.
"It's bad, Danny," Lucy said.
"What? What happened?"
Lucy's jaw was tight. "Some idiot got his hands on one of the copies of The Lost Hero."
The man next to her spoke up. "We're sure it's an employee from one of the warehouses."
Lucy snapped, "I don't care. We need to contain the leak."
"What the fuck," I said, standing up fully now. "When did this happen?"
"Now. An hour ago, actually," Lucy said.
"Where?" I asked.
Lucy took out her phone and showed me.
Green text. Of course it was on 4chan.
> just got my hands on the new percy jackson book early lmao
> NO PERCY AT ALL
> literally not a single chapter with him
> the entire book is about three new randos
> jason (discount percy), piper (aphrodite girl), and leo (tries way too hard to be funny)
> annabeth shows up for like 2 chapters and does NOTHING
> grover isnt even in it
> plot is dogshit. they fly around on a dragon. fight a giant. the end.
> gaea is the main villain, something about giants
> literally feels like fanfiction
> adler really thought he could replace percy and annabeth with these knockoffs and we'd be cool with it
> cant believe i waited years for THIS
> DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK
"What the fuck," I said again, louder this time.
Lucy held up her hands. "Don't worry. We're going to fix this."
"Well, you better," I said.
I pulled out my phone and began scrolling through the reactions in the fandom.
It was not good. Not good at all.
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@PercyJacksonDaily (23k retweets, 67k likes)
BREAKING: Someone leaked The Lost Hero early and says PERCY ISN'T IN IT AT ALL. Can someone confirm this isn't real??? Please???
@Annarever (8.9k likes)
I'm seeing the same thing on Tumblr. People are saying it's about three NEW characters.
@CampHalfBloodHero (5.4k likes)
If this is true, I'm not buying it. We waited FIVE YEARS for this. FIVE YEARS. And Percy isn't even in it?!
@ReaRachel (12k likes)
I don't want to believe the leaks, but if they're true... why would you write a Percy Jackson book without Percy Jackson??? That's like writing Harry Potter without Harry Potter!!!
@Mytolo88 (15k likes)
The leak says the new trio is Jason, Piper, and Leo. WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE? BITCH!! I DON'T CARE ABOUT THEM.
@Overen34 (105k likes)
BOYCOTT THE LOST HERO.