What an intriguing novel. It is the first book in a series of five novels in the Percy Jackson and The Olympians series. I have wanted to read this book since I first heard they were making it into a film. I did not realize at the time what sort of novel it was, who it was geared towards or the more specifics of the series, but I liked the general idea of it.
In this first novel of the series we meet a host of mythological characters and find out that the gods of Olympus and all of their connections remain alive. This is the story of Perseus (Percy) Jackson and the other Heroes who are half-bloods, half-god half-mortal. The reader is quickly thrown into the action when a teacher/monster attacks Percy and he realizes that he is not like other kids his age. Fast forward to where Percy and his mom encounter his best friend Grover (a satyr) at their rented beach house and the story gets fully underway.
We get our first brief glimpse of Camp Half-Blood and the quirky and interesting characters, from Chiron the Centaur, to Mr. D (Dionysus) the god of wine and the grape harvest and the various other Heroes in attendance at Camp Half-Blood. And then just as quickly Percy, Annabeth and Grover leave on a quest to find Zeus’s missing thunderbolt.
I truly enjoyed the quickness of the book and the premise of the stories, especially why Riordan wrote them. I also thoroughly enjoyed the intertwining of mythology with modern-day America and the idea of Western Civilization. And really any book that can get my 9-year-old cousins to read has to be a good enough book! Throw in the Greek history they are learning and it makes it even better. Not sure why their parents won’t let them read Harry Potter, but will let them read this, but I guess that’s left up to them.
1 thought on “Book 21: The Lightning Thief – Rick Riordan”