The Sun and the Star

Cover art
Authors	Rick Riordan Mark Oshiro
Cover artist	Khadijah Khatib
Country	United States
Series	Camp Half-Blood Chronicles
Genres	Fantasy Greco-Roman mythology Young adult fiction
Publisher	Hachette Books
Publication date	May 2, 2023
Pages	481
ISBN	9781368081153
Preceded by	The Tower of Nero

The Sun and the Star is a fantasy novel co-written by authors Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro. A standalone follow-up to the 2020 novel The Tower of Nero, it was released in North America and the United Kingdom on May 2, 2023, and was published by Hachette Books.^[1]

Plot

Two months after the defeat of Nero and Python, Rachel Elizabeth Dare provides the prophecy for Nico di Angelo and his boyfriend Will Solace's quest into Tartarus to rescue the Titan Iapetus, better known as Bob. Concerned that Bob's situation must be getting more dire, Nico convinces a reluctant Chiron and Mr. D to issue them an official quest. Before departing, the two contact Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase for advice based upon their own experience in Tartarus.

Making their way into the Underworld through the Door of Orpheus, which Nico and Percy had previously used, the two demigods are immediately set upon by the demon of nightmares, Epiales, who reveals that their mother is after Nico before Will manages to kill the demon using his newly-discovered power to emit light. Nico and Will seek out the help of the troglodytes, who agree to lead them to a shortcut to Tartarus. But first, they pass the farm of Menoetes, who only agrees not to tell Hades about their quest in exchange for some stolen fruit from Persephone's garden. Although the heist is successful, Will encounters Persephone herself, who offers him advice on his struggles to understand Nico, suggesting that Will embrace his own inner darkness rather than rejecting it, before gifting Will the stolen pomegranates.

Pleased with their success, Menoetes reveals that Bob, while reforming from dying while helping Percy and Annabeth, was captured by the primordial goddess of night, Nyx, who seeks to force Bob to go back to being Iapetus despite Bob's continuous rejection of his past. Nico reveals that he had encountered Nyx while traveling through Tartarus before getting captured by the giants and she took an interest in him, realizing that Nyx is using Bob as bait to get at Nico. The trogs lead the demigods to the River Acheron where the nymph Gorgyra agrees to help them in exchange for Nico and Will sharing their story with her.

Using Gorgyra's canoe, Nico and Will descend into Tartarus where the power of the river forces them to confront their insecurities and differences of opinion, particularly on the nature of the Underworld. Locating Bob's pet saber-toothed skeleton cat, Small Bob, the demigods discover that Percy and Annabeth's giant friend Damasen is still reforming and can't help them before finally reaching Nyx's home, the Mansion of Night, where Bob is imprisoned in a continuous regeneration cycle. By combining their powers, Nico and Will free Bob before Nyx arrives with Nemesis, Hypnos, a reformed Epiales, and an army of monsters to cut off their escape.

Nyx reveals that she has created cacodemons out of manifestations of Nico's darkness, and urges him to accept his darkness and stay in Tartarus, where the goddess believes that he belongs. With the encouragement of Will and Bob, Nico fights back against Nyx's manipulations, embracing the fact that he is more than just his darkness while Will accepts his own darkness to tap into Apollo's plague powers to fight Nyx. Taking control of the cacodemons, Nico decides to release them, symbolically letting go of his demons and fulfilling the part of the prophecy that he would have to leave something of equal value behind. Nemesis, Hypnos and Epiales turn on Nyx and restrain her long enough for the group to get on the Acheron which Nyx can't cross. To Nico's surprise, the cacodemons, which he renames Cocoa Puffs, decide to join them of their own free will.

As Bob sails the group back up the Acheron to the Underworld, Nico is visited in a dream by Hades and the spirits of his mother Maria and sister Bianca. Hades reveals that he had sent Nico the prophecy so that he would rescue Bob, and arranged this dream. Maria and Bianca express their love and pride in Nico, as does Hades who admits that Percy's actions have made him rethink his behavior towards his son, particularly when Hades realized that the quest had risked Nico losing someone else that he loves. Hades, Maria and Bianca urges Nico to enjoy his future with Will and find happiness.

Returning to Camp Half-Blood, Bob declines an invitation to stay, instead deciding to head west to figure out his future, looking forward to finally having the freedom to do so. Nico adopts the cacodemons and contacts Piper and her new girlfriend Shel to discuss their shared grief over the loss of Jason Grace. With a more hopeful outlook on life, Nico looks forward to what the future holds for him.

Background

The Sun and the Star was announced on October 6, 2021. Being straight, Rick Riordan decided to co-write this book with YA author Mark Oshiro to make sure that both Nico's point of view as a gay person and Nico and Will's romantic relationship would be as authentic as possible. Riordan and Oshiro created the synopsis and manuscript together and will receive equal credit for the book. In addition to writing acclaimed books about young LGBTQ+ characters, Oshiro is a longtime fan of the Percy Jackson universe.^[2][3]

On September 28, 2022, the cover art was announced alongside the final release date for the project. The cover art was done by Khadijah Khatib, and the release date for North America and the United Kingdom is May 2, 2023. Riordan also announced that he would be doing a limited North American tour with co-author Oshiro.^[1]

References

External links

• Official website