The Son of Neptune: Chapters 17–27

by Rick Riordan
In this second book of The Heroes of Olympus series, Percy Jackson, Hazel Levesque, and Frank Zhang, recognized as the children of Roman gods at Camp Jupiter, journey to Alaska to free Thanatos, the god of death.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–7, Chapters 8–15, Chapters 16–27, Chapters 28–39, Chapters 40–52

Here are links to our lists for the Percy Jackson & the Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus series.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. moor
    secure in or as if in a berth or dock
    Dozens of boats were moored at the docks—everything from fifty-foot yachts to ten-foot fishing boats.
  2. dinghy
    a small boat of shallow draft
    At the end of the dock was a tiny boat, like a dinghy, covered in a purple tarp.
  3. euphoria
    a feeling of great elation
    Hazel tried to settle her stomach by thinking of pleasant things—the euphoria she’d felt last night when they’d won the war games, riding Hannibal into the enemy keep, Frank’s sudden transformation into a leader.
  4. queasy
    feeling nausea
    “You okay?” Frank asked. “You look queasy.”
    “Seasickness,” she confessed.
  5. sheepishly
    in a manner showing embarrassment or shame
    “Gods, Frank.... Sorry. I shouldn’t laugh.”
    “Uh, no problem,” he said sheepishly.
  6. emissary
    someone sent to represent another's interests
    She looked up at the ravens and imagined they were his emissaries. Their eyes were dark and maniacal, like his. She wondered if they reported her movements to her father.
  7. strew
    spread by scattering
    Her storage chest was open and her few clothes strewn across the floor.
  8. summons
    a request to be present
    Pinned to the wall was a note in red on the last piece of drawing paper, in writing that was not her mother’s: Wicked girl. I’m waiting at the island. Don’t disappoint me. Hazel sobbed in despair. She wanted to ignore the summons.
  9. skiff
    a small boat propelled by oars or by sails or by a motor
    She took the rowboat—a little skiff her mother had bought with a few gold nuggets from a fisherman, who had a tragic accident with his nets the next day.
  10. obsidian
    glass formed by the cooling of lava without crystallization
    It was a greasy black bird almost as large as an eagle, with a jagged beak like an obsidian knife.
  11. mulch
    small pieces of organic material spread on soil
    She imagined that if she fell asleep here, her body would sink into the earthen floor and turn to mulch.
  12. fitful
    occurring in spells and often abruptly
    The earth was asleep, but it pulsated with power. Its dreams were so malicious, so fitful, that Hazel felt herself losing her grip on reality.
  13. gnarled
    old and twisted and covered in lines
    Her hands were gnarled from hard work.
  14. relinquish
    do without or cease to hold or adhere to
    The Voice had never relinquished control while they were on the island.
  15. relentless
    not willing or able to stop or yield
    But the Voice that controlled her mother had urged her on relentlessly.
  16. fissure
    a long narrow opening
    The fissure in the earth had filled with gold and precious stones, bubbling in a thick soup of petroleum.
  17. morass
    a soft wet area of low-lying land that sinks underfoot
    The thing was two stories high, a swirl of rocky tendrils jutting like a spear tip from the oily morass.
  18. listless
    marked by low spirits; showing no enthusiasm
    “And why they bring only sorrow.” Her mother gestured listlessly around the cavern.
  19. incentive
    a positive motivational influence
    I brought you here for one reason only. Your mother required... incentive.
  20. outcropping
    part of a rock formation that juts above surrounding land
    A few yards to her left, an outcropping of rock the size of a garage jutted from the sea of grass.
  21. anemone
    a marine polyp that resembles a flower
    The grass swayed and rustled around her like the tentacles of a gigantic undersea anemone.
  22. haggard
    very thin, especially from disease or hunger or cold
    They had dry, brittle wings like cornhusks, and tufts of white hair like corn silk. Their faces were haggard, pitted with kernels of grain.
  23. cultivate
    adapt something wild to the environment
    “We are the karpoi, spirits of the grain. Children of the Earth Mother, yes! We have been her attendants since forever. Before nasty humans cultivated us, we were wild. We will be again. Wheat will destroy all!”
  24. millet
    a grain-like food that grows in grassy stalks
    Then Frank and Percy burst into the open and began to massacre every source of fiber they could find. Frank shot an arrow through Barley, who crumbled into seeds. Percy slashed Riptide through Sorghum and charged toward Millet and Oats.
  25. remnant
    a small part remaining after the main part no longer exists
    The remnants of the karpoi scattered in the wind.
  26. palomino
    a horse of light tan or golden color
    Hazel watched as the horsemen cantered past. They were human from the waist up, palomino from the waist down.
  27. malevolent
    wishing or appearing to wish evil to others
    This giant was another child of Gaea—a creature of the earth so malevolent and powerful, he radiated his own gravitational field.
  28. kindred
    group of people related by blood or marriage
    The female Cyclopes barked an order to her kindred, and three of them followed her up the hill.
  29. kaleidoscopic
    made up of varied and constantly shifting elements
    The light was anchored at the store, shooting up into the heavens, bathing the countryside in a weird kaleidoscopic glow.
  30. hypothermia
    subnormal body temperature
    They both looked at Percy, who was shaking like he had hypothermia.
  31. bluster
    act in an arrogant, overly self-assured, or conceited manner
    No way would Frank’s mother have gotten involved with that blustering war god.
  32. reprieve
    a relief from harm or discomfort
    I know why she gave you a reprieve.
  33. unwieldy
    difficult to use or handle because of size or weight
    As unwieldy as Mars’s spear was, the piece of tinder was worse. Iris was right. It weighed him down.
  34. makeshift
    done or made using whatever is available
    Soon Percy had made a makeshift rope harness and strapped it around the whale’s upper body.
  35. grouse
    complain
    “The red one,” Percy guessed.
    “I’m blind! I don’t know colors!” the old man groused.
  36. wily
    marked by skill in deception
    At any rate, she’s the only one I have trouble with. She’s wily, that one. Always does her own thing, never roosts with the others.
  37. bedraggled
    limp, untidy, and soiled
    She looked lost, bedraggled, and thoroughly depressed.
  38. tentatively
    in a hesitant manner
    She reached out tentatively, as if she wanted to take his hand but was afraid he might evaporate.
  39. plumage
    the covering of feathers on a bird
    She moved in jerky birdlike twitches, her coffee-brown eyes darting restlessly, her fingers clawing at her plumage, her earlobes, her shaggy red hair.
  40. spontaneous
    said or done without having been planned in advance
    Phineas sees the future. He knows tons of important events. But he can’t see small things—like random occurrences, spontaneous games of chance. That makes gambling exciting for him.
Created on Wed Jun 01 20:00:46 EDT 2016 (updated Sun Aug 27 09:40:27 EDT 2023)

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