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The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1) Review
User Submitted The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1) ReviewsNovember 23, 2008 Modern Heroic Tale A young man thinks his biggest problems in life are his ADHD and dyslexia, maybe a bully or two, but then he discovers that he's half god. This very clever book (written primarily for middle school to early highschool students, but rewarding and enjoyable for adults, too) imagines that the Greek gods are still around and still up to their old ways-especially going out and having children with mortals. The writing is very witty; the author had me laughing out loud more than once. The plot is great and never slows down. Readers are rewarded for knowledge of Greek mythology by having an idea of where the author is going with his story. You can read the beginning of a description and know right away which monster or god it is. Keep in mind, this is a book written for young adults, so don't get too happy when you figure out the Oracle's prediction way before the other characters do. Also, seeing as this is a book about the gods' influence on Earth, don't be suprised by the large amount of deus ex machina in the plot. My one and only complaint is that I felt the chapter headings contained too many spoilers. November 12, 2008 Really impressed by the accuracy - Like many of the books I wind up falling in love with, I stumbled upon The Lightning Thief by accident. I was wandering around Border's and found this gem on a table with signs saying "If you liked Harry Potter, then you might like these..." They were right. The concept of the famous gods from ancient mythology still existing and following the path of Western Civilization across the world is genious. And the demigod characters who star in this new series are wonderful! I found myself wishing that I was a member of Camp Halfblood and wondering which cabin I'd be a part of myself. (After careful consideration, I decided I'm clearly a child of Athena.) One other thing that was really exciting for me when reading this novel was the almost complete accuracy surrounding the old Greek myths. I was a Classics minor in college, so I'm a stickler for detail when it comes to getting those stories right. Mr. Riordan REALLY succeeded and that's not something I can honestly say I've ever found before. November 9, 2008 I'm sure a lot of people are saying this,but look out Harry! Where do I start? Alright,first of all,there is great character development and great characters.The story is great,almost everything about this series is great. For those of you who haven't heard,this is about a tween named Percy Jackson.He has been kicked out of five boarding schools already and Percy has just gotten a letter telling him that he won't be invited back to Yancy Academy,the school that he is currently at. While on a field trip he has a bizarre encounter with a demon who he knows as his pre-algabra teacher. Through a whole turn of events Percy winds up at Camp Half-Blood,for all the demigods,or offsprings of the Greek gods.Percy finds out that he is the son of Poseidon.Meanwhile,he makes a friend,Annabeth,and finds out that Zeus is holding Percy as his prime suspect for the stealing of his master lightning bolt. So Percy and his friends go on a quest to seek the theif and give back to Zeus what is rightfully his. I reccomend this book to fantasy lovers and,actually,anyone who reads.You won't be dissapointed. November 5, 2008 Wonderfully Creative 12 year old Percy Jackson has always known he is different - he's been kicked out of several boarding schools, he's dyslexic, and he's never known who his father was. But he is about to find out just how different he is - characters from Greek mythology have entered his life and his best friend Grover is not who Percy thinks he is. Before he knows it, Percy is accused of stealing Zeus's master lightning bolt and has just ten days to find and return it. Percy and his friends Grover and Annabeth embark on a journey to find the lightening bolt that will change all of their lives. "The Lightning Thief" is a wonderfully creative children's book by Rick Riordan. There are, perhaps inevitably, some similarities to the Harry Potter series - Percy has two close friends, a boy and a girl; he calls himself a half-blood; Annabeth has a baseball hat that makes her invisible when she wears it; only Percy can be the hero of the quest; and the trio even encounters a bunch of spiders. But Riordan is a talented enough writer to make readers forget the Potter comparisons and enjoy the series on its own merits. The concept of Percy battling Greek Gods and Goddesses is a unique one and Riordan does an excellent job of incorporating Greek mythology into the story. Children will no doubt want to know more about mythical characters such as Poseidon, Zeus, Chiron, Charon, Medusa, and more after reading the book. Percy's journey is indeed an epic one and readers will love reading about his dangerous journey across the country. The book is written in the first person from Percy's point of view and Riordan does an excellent job of capturing Percy's voice. The great thing about Percy's character is that while in many ways he is extraordinary because of who his father is and the adventures he has, he is also an ordinary 12 year old boy who struggles in school because of his dyslexia, who is a loyal friend but also gets into fights, and who loves his mother even if he doesn't always obey her. Children of all ages will identify with Percy on some level. "The Lightning Thief" is the first in the five book "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" series, a series that looks like it will be a lot of fun. November 4, 2008 5 STARS?!!! You'd better believe it! This series of books (still going) is awesome. It's like the Harry Potter series for today's kids. But don't let that discourage you; I read these books and I'm 18. Anyone with ANY interest in mythology SHOULD READ THIS BOOK SERIES. It's an interesting twist on the idea that the Greek gods still exist today and there is a new danger that threatens them and the whole world. I don't want to give the story away but it is so well written and such an interesting story that you have to read it for yourself. YOU HAVE TO!!! October 31, 2008 Amazing Book Rick Riordan is a great author and his book The Lightning Thief is one of my favorite books. Two of my favorite qualities in a story are plot twists and suspense. There are many action scenes in this book and all of it leads up to a major plot twist in the end. In his characters you see a great amount of pride and confidence in themselves. They all have great courage and want to do what's right for each other. In the setting he picks for this book you see an amazing new world, a hybrid of the modern world and ancient Greece. I like how he can explain how the whole world doesn't know that the Greek Gods exist. Overall this is a fantastic book and series. I hope many people get the chance to read this book as I have. - Thomas Adamson, 12; Sherwood Middle School October 27, 2008 I read it all in less than 8 hours . . . . . . which it pretty unusual for me. Most of time, I don't have all day and night to read a book: I've got work, homework/exams, and (here's the notorious one) the Internet. And when I do have some free time, I still can't finish an entire book in one day. The shortest time of finishing a novel is two daysm and that was with Mikhail Lermontov's "A Hero of our Time" and two others that I can't think of at the moment. But this book, "The Lightning Thief" from the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series, I read just yesterday. And it took me only eight hours to read it straight through! I think it's the first time that's ever happened. What's also surprising to me is the subject matter. I'm not really fascinated with Greek Mythology. Slavic, yes, but Greek, no. So I was a bit puzzled that I was unable to put the book down. Maybe it was Rick Riordan's clever way of giving the myths more modern personalities and appearances. Whatever the reason, I just couldn't put the book down. Percy Jackson both a hero and an anti-hero. His ADHD and dyslexia are what makes him interesting, and I could almost picture what the boy really looks like. His two friends, Grover and Annabeth, aren't your ordinary sidekicks. Both have had haunted pasts, and they would do anything to make sure that Percy is never hurt nor killed. Other characters (especially the Greek ones) are worthy of recognition. Aries is a tough one: he's like Bruce Campbell with a sword instead of a chainsaw. Hades will sure scare little kids, but what makes him compelling is that he isn't your ordinary villain: he's got a heart alright. Dionysus sure can be annoying at times, but you know that he's trying to do some good at least. Medusa is one hell of a woman: she can sound innocent while thinking evil thoughts. The plot twists throughout the novel work and sometimes they don't. I figured out who Percy really was when it cam e to his special powers on a specific element. But the biggest plot twists that are found in the last seventy pages or so are the most unexpected. The pacing is wild. It goes from New York City to the north side of New York State to St. Louis to Denver and finally to Santa Monica so quickly. And it's a mystery in how you can get so much information about Greek Mythology in that sort of wild flow. Some parts do tend to drag a bit. The sequences in Camp Half Blood almost bored me, but the pace picked up when something goes wrong in the area. So, in short, this is one of the greatest children's books of our time. And it's for all ages, not just kids. A- October 26, 2008 Must read This is definitely a must read. I had a lot of fun with it and found looking at the world through Percy was done very well. Things are described as a young boy would see them, which makes for some very interesting descriptions. I especially liked Pery's random thought process and the flow of the writing which complemented the humor in the book. I found my self smiling often and I don't think i ever got annoyed with characters trying too hard to be funny. On to a few of the disappointing features. I really enjoy a bit of mystery in the story and with the characters, but I believe that mystery should be built up fairly and smoothly. It seems that one of the author's favorite ways of building up mystery is to start a conversation, then introduce some sort of distraction so that right before something interesting is revealed... its not. Occasionally this is fine, but there are several instances of this in the book (just a little variety please). Though i was happy with the final twist in the end of the book. Also I really like the greek aspect of the book, but it seems like the author is simply dropping in greek myths here and there to fill plot. I would like to hear more on how things have changed. (it's been several thousand years from the original stories, shouldn't their be new monsters or significant people as well?) I know he name drops a little here and there and for the first book its not really a problem, but i hope that he'll start to come up with a little more original ideas down the road while still maintaining the greek myths and theme. Overall I'm very excited to continue the series and i would recommend reading the first without hesitation. October 16, 2008 Gods and humans - oh my! I loved "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan very much. It is about a boy named Percy. Percy is a normal kid who struggles in school. He has learning disabilities and ADHD just like me. Percy is in a boarding school in New York. The class goes on a field trip to the museum. His math teacher tries to kill him. Percy finds a pen that turns into a sword. When Percy used the sword, the teacher vaporized into dust. It is then that Percy realized he is different from other kids. After that, Percy goes home to see his mother and brother. Percy's real father left him when he was a little boy. On a family vacation, Percy and his mother are chased by a minotaur. Percy thinks his mother is dead and runs toward a tree. The tree leads him to half-blood hill. Soon he is at a camp for half-bloods. Half-bloods are children that have one human parent and one Greek god parent. At camp, he makes two new friends. Annabeth is the daughter of Athena, godess of wisdom. Grover is a satyr. Grover is in a wheelchair when he is with full humans. The three of them spend the summer at the camp training to be like the gods. The three friends go on a adventure when Percy is accused of stealing Zeus's lightning bolt. They must prove that Percy did not steal it. They travel across the country to Los Angeles. Los Angeles is the entrance to the Underworld. When they get to Los Angeles, they see that there has been an earthquake. The earthquake was caused by Zeus's lightning bolt. The lightning bolt came down and landed in a crack in the earth. Percy picks it up and decides to go to Mt. Olympus to return it to Zeus. The three friends hold a fundraiser to get money to pay for the flight back to New York. Mt. Olympus is located 600 stories above the Empire State Building. Percy returns the lightning bolt to Zeus. Percy also sees his father, Poseidon, the god of the sea. Poseidon is proud of Percy and his accomplishments. Through all of this, Percy also has to solve the riddle of the oracle. The oracle states "you shall fail to save what matters most in the end." The oracle has to do with his mother. In the Underworld, Percy decides not to save his mother's life. Instead, he wants to stop the war between the gods. He leaves his mother with Medusa's head so she can make her own decisons. Things turned out well for Percy. His mother is still alive, he prevented a war between the gods, his friends are doing well and Percy has become a hero. I loved this book because I enjoy Greek mythology. This book made the gods come alive and live in modern day America. It was very easy to read and I can't wait to read the second book in the series. There are four books in the series and the fifth one will be printed next year. Percy Jackson and the Olympians is a great series and I recommend it to any kid who likes adventure stories. October 14, 2008 My 13 year old son DEVOURED these books!!!! The Lightening Theif was recommended to us by a book store clerk. We purchased the book at the beginning of the summer and it sat in our schoolroom for months. One day my 13 year old son said "I want to read that lightening book we bought at the bookstore." He read the book in about 3 days and begged for the second. The second book came from Amazon on a Friday afternoon and he finished it Saturday night! Again, he was begging for more. When the UPS truck arrived today he ran outside to get the package ripped it open and ran to his room to start reading. It takes a lot to grab a 13 year old boys attention away from xbox, and wii or playing football and basketball outside but this book series has done it!! Thank you Rick Riordan! The following review is from my 13 year old son: "Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightening Theif is a great book! I liked the book a lot!! It just kept on going with exciting things and right when you think it is going to die down more exciting things happen. It has a great story that is easy to follow after you get through the first two chapters. It is about a boy named Percy Jackson who lives with his Mom and his Stepdad. Percy gets kicked out of school and ends up going on a quest to find Zeus' master bolt which was stolen from Olympus. The Olympians blame Percy for the theft so Percy has to clear his name, and find the theif." For more The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1) reviews click here.
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