The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1)
Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson is on the most dangerous quest of his life. With the help of a satyr and a daughter of Athena, Percy must journey across the United States to catch a thief who has stolen the original weapon of mass destruction—Zeus’ master bolt. Along the way, he must face a host of mythological enemies determined to stop him. Most of all, he must come to terms with a father he has never known, and an Oracle that has warned him of betrayal by a friend.
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Community Reviews
Let me start off my review with my main reasons for reading this book. I did not pick it up because it, in and of itself, looked intriguing or appealing. I picked it up because so many of my students have read it and it felt wrong for me to have been side-stepping it for so long. I have way too many friends and students who think this series is like sunshine out of Zeus's. . .well anyhow, I thought I'd give it a try.
The story revolves around idiotic Percy Jackson. Whose real name is Perseus. And he had noooooo idea he was even vaguely connected to this ancient Greek world. But seriously, Percy is amazingly thick. Perhaps because it's written for the early middle school age range, the author thought the kids as well wouldn't pick up on these things quickly, so why not make its hero a bit slow? All well and good if you're ten. At my age, I just want to thump Percy. And he needs some serious lessons in how to play nicely with others. However, if he played nicely he wouldn't be as interesting. I have other problems with Percy, though. He is quite a defeatist. Except when it's inconvenient. He's so quick to blame his bad grades on his dyslexia and his ADD/ADHD (seriously Rick Riordan -- they are actually very different. Pick one and stick with it). He's so quick to blame his less-than-happy life on his inability to get along with his stepdad. He can't seem to work through his problems on his own. This becomes even more apparent when he needs sidekicks. His sidekicks are not much better. They consist of a satyr who teeters between tears and fits of rage at humans (nasty polluters) and can't seem to get anything right, and a young girl who should be way more bitter, resentful, and bad-tempered than she is. As it is, she seems downright kind and sweet. She's almost too willing to just let years of in-bred prejudices, tough times and a virtually orphaned life behind.
Frequently, people complain about the similarities between this and Harry Potter. I really don't think it's so much a similarity to Harry Potter but just simple use of the Hero's Journey (which Potter also employs). The basic plot touchstones of Percy Jackson are the same as Harry Potter, as the same as Gregor the Overlander, as the same as Lord of the Rings, as the same as the Epic of Gilgamesh. It's just a Hero's Journey, get over it.
Having said that, Rowling is a far superior author to Riordan. Where Rowling challenges, stretches, and creates, Riordan just sort of falls flat. It's not just the noticeable lack of tough vocabulary words -- it's Riordan's attitude. Instead of taking a third-person narration, which allows Rowling to elevate her tone, Riordan gives the narrator the voice of his main character. Which only does favors to the ten- and eleven-year-old crowd. Yes, it's cutesy fun. But am I challenging my brain at all? Nosireebob. But the voice of a kind of slow-on-the-uptake albeit inquisitive young boy should make for exciting action, right? Not so much. I'm not being pulled along by the story. More, I'm wading through it like muck. At this point, I'm continuing because I want to watch the movie tonight and now I've challenged myself to finish reading it by dinnertime. But I got so bored I took time out to start writing my review.
After a while, I manage to go back to it and finish slogging my way through the rest of the book. I was left feeling distinctly dissatisfied. None of the climactic scenes had any kind of punch or oomph, to the point where I was left wondering if there was a climax. Nothing was really that exciting. Oh, and there's a twist bad guy at the end. Which really isn't that much of a twist. In fact, it's kind of hit-you-over-the-head obvious, and I would imagine it might still be so for a ten-year-old.
My overall impression is not great. This was a lackluster attempt at reworking ancient ideas. Cool in theory, poorly executed. I really don't want to read another, but everyone says the next one is better. But everyone said this one was great, too. Until then, I'll merely lament the fact that this book more or less just wasted my afternoon and move on to the next book on my reading list.
The story revolves around idiotic Percy Jackson. Whose real name is Perseus. And he had noooooo idea he was even vaguely connected to this ancient Greek world. But seriously, Percy is amazingly thick. Perhaps because it's written for the early middle school age range, the author thought the kids as well wouldn't pick up on these things quickly, so why not make its hero a bit slow? All well and good if you're ten. At my age, I just want to thump Percy. And he needs some serious lessons in how to play nicely with others. However, if he played nicely he wouldn't be as interesting. I have other problems with Percy, though. He is quite a defeatist. Except when it's inconvenient. He's so quick to blame his bad grades on his dyslexia and his ADD/ADHD (seriously Rick Riordan -- they are actually very different. Pick one and stick with it). He's so quick to blame his less-than-happy life on his inability to get along with his stepdad. He can't seem to work through his problems on his own. This becomes even more apparent when he needs sidekicks. His sidekicks are not much better. They consist of a satyr who teeters between tears and fits of rage at humans (nasty polluters) and can't seem to get anything right, and a young girl who should be way more bitter, resentful, and bad-tempered than she is. As it is, she seems downright kind and sweet. She's almost too willing to just let years of in-bred prejudices, tough times and a virtually orphaned life behind.
Frequently, people complain about the similarities between this and Harry Potter. I really don't think it's so much a similarity to Harry Potter but just simple use of the Hero's Journey (which Potter also employs). The basic plot touchstones of Percy Jackson are the same as Harry Potter, as the same as Gregor the Overlander, as the same as Lord of the Rings, as the same as the Epic of Gilgamesh. It's just a Hero's Journey, get over it.
Having said that, Rowling is a far superior author to Riordan. Where Rowling challenges, stretches, and creates, Riordan just sort of falls flat. It's not just the noticeable lack of tough vocabulary words -- it's Riordan's attitude. Instead of taking a third-person narration, which allows Rowling to elevate her tone, Riordan gives the narrator the voice of his main character. Which only does favors to the ten- and eleven-year-old crowd. Yes, it's cutesy fun. But am I challenging my brain at all? Nosireebob. But the voice of a kind of slow-on-the-uptake albeit inquisitive young boy should make for exciting action, right? Not so much. I'm not being pulled along by the story. More, I'm wading through it like muck. At this point, I'm continuing because I want to watch the movie tonight and now I've challenged myself to finish reading it by dinnertime. But I got so bored I took time out to start writing my review.
After a while, I manage to go back to it and finish slogging my way through the rest of the book. I was left feeling distinctly dissatisfied. None of the climactic scenes had any kind of punch or oomph, to the point where I was left wondering if there was a climax. Nothing was really that exciting. Oh, and there's a twist bad guy at the end. Which really isn't that much of a twist. In fact, it's kind of hit-you-over-the-head obvious, and I would imagine it might still be so for a ten-year-old.
My overall impression is not great. This was a lackluster attempt at reworking ancient ideas. Cool in theory, poorly executed. I really don't want to read another, but everyone says the next one is better. But everyone said this one was great, too. Until then, I'll merely lament the fact that this book more or less just wasted my afternoon and move on to the next book on my reading list.
Listened to this with my 12 year old daughter. Of course, the tie in with Greek mythology is a good thing, but this book is just the same plot over and over again - Percy getting into a situation - either because of trickery or his own stupidity - where he has to fight monsters. And, of course, he always survives as do his friends. It gets very repetitious after the 3rd time. I can see why the young children like these books, but I would think that even a 12 year old would get bored of reading the same situation, just different characters, again and again.
I bought this book 'for my son'. I figured he might read it being a fan of the movies. Plus it was a series I had always wanted to read. Two birds. We started reading it together, when he grew tired I found I couldn't put it down. I read the book in hours.
I was a little surprised how different the book was from the movie. I figured it would be different, they always are, but wow! Pleasantly surprised and starting on The Sea of Monsters now!
I was a little surprised how different the book was from the movie. I figured it would be different, they always are, but wow! Pleasantly surprised and starting on The Sea of Monsters now!
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