After reading book two, this one got a little downgrade. It's a very good start to the series, setting a more mature tone in comparison to PJO and introducing lots of intrigue right away, including setting up the main conflict. The new elements are exciting and starting the book with complete confusion was fun. I liked the new characters well enough, but they haven't reached the level of old favourites yet. I'm excited to see how the whole story pans out.