The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #1
First Published by Disney Hyperion Books on June 28, 2005
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Mythology
377 pages
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
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Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can’t seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. And lately, being away at boarding school is only getting worse—Percy could have sworn his pre-algebra teacher turned into a monster and tried to kill him. When Percy’s mom finds out, she knows it’s time that he knew the truth about where he came from, and that he go to the one place he’ll be safe. She sends Percy to Camp Half Blood, a summer camp for demigods (on Long Island), where he learns that the father he never knew is Poseidon, God of the Sea. Soon a mystery unfolds and together with his friends—one a satyr and the other the demigod daughter of Athena—Percy sets out on a quest across the United States to reach the gates of the Underworld (located in a recording studio in Hollywood) and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods.
Review
I’ve been meaning to read this series after watching Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief movie a long time ago. And I can’t believe it’s been 8 years since that movie was out! I love everything with Greek/Roman mythology in it, so imagine my big stupid grin when I saw this one in the big screen. But unfortunately, during those time, I hate long reads. I always assume that series always ends with cliffhanger so whenever I get an idea to try the first book, I always get discourage. But last night, I finally did it. I’m not sure what I was thinking or why I finally did it, it just…happened.
Even if 8 years have passed, I can still clearly picture out the movie and I thought it’s going to be a problem. But after reading the whole book, I think it was a good thing as I was able to picture out every scenes in the story so easily and clearly; the settings, the people and especially the gods. Ofcourse it has its own disadvantage as well as I’ve got to know who’s the bad guy and all, but it didn’t really destroyed my whole reading experience. While reading, I was always alert as I’ve been anticipating when will they discover the bad guy, but overall, it was the least of my concern as the more pages I read, the more immerse I am with the story.
The first thing I noticed when I read the first page of this book was the impeccable writing style and the tone this story exudes. The main character of this story is Percy Jackson who’s only 12 years old, and as expected, he’s a bit troublesome. And amazingly, Rick Riordan was able to make the tone of this story reflects what 12 years old will act and sound like. Plus, I also love the fact that it’s consistent. I don’t really mind dual or multiple POV unless they’re executed badly or confusing but sometimes, I would like to know what the other main characters are thinking. For this book, it’s all taken from Percy’s POV which sometimes give me a feeling that he is talking to me directly, and that’s definitely a good thing.
I don’t think I need to summarize the story because the sypnosis above already did it perfectly. Since I don’t have a lot more to say, I think I’ll share some of the things I noticed from the book that wasn’t in the movie or vice versa (only those that I can remember though *wink). The movie was amazing, especially on the part where Percy and the gang was in the quest of finding Zeus’ missing lightning bolt, but ofcourse the book was better (it always will). There’s some scenes in the book that wasn’t included in the movie, and vice versa. But the main difference that I noticed was the ending. Ofcourse they have the same bad guy but the book has an addition of unsuspecting bad guy and that really surprised me. Even after watching the movie, I have to say that this book still managed to surprise and amaze me.
What can I say about Percy? At first I don’t really have a high regard to his character. He’s only 12 years old so some attitude problem there and then should be expected but he’s troublesome than what I imagined. But when he found out that he’s half-blood and all we’re properly explained about his behavior, I finally understood him. I get to like his character little by little as I proceed then get amazed with everything he accomplished especially on his fighting skills. I also love the fact that he love his mother so much. And speaking of his mother, I really admire her for everything she did to keep Percy safe. I also find it more amazing how she’s very eager to solve her problem just by herself and not being dependent to anyone.
There are some few characters in this story that I really like and that includes Annabeth (Athena’s daughter) and Grover (satyr). This trio kind of reminds me of Harry Potter and his gang. Percy and his friends were in a dangerous quest but once in a while, this story manages to really makes me laugh especially when there’s Grover involve lol. Aside from the two, I also like Chiron (centaur) and believe it or not, Hades (I bet that made you curious eh?). It’s not really like as in very like, but I kinda understood his character and he’s not really that mean than what we all expected him to be.
This story had quite a lot of characters but after finishing it, it felt like they were fewer. Well, I guess it’s because this story focus more on Percy’s adventure plus not all half-bloods we’re named, only those that are significant.
Everything looks and sounds perfect really, but I just can’t seem to give this one a 5 star rating just yet. Besides, I can always come back when I think my rating was incorrect. So for now, I’ll giving it a 4.5 star (which isn’t really far from 5 stars *wink).
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This sounds so good. I have read a few of his YA books and they are very readable. His language, world building and descriptive style have a wonderful flow to them.
Yes, you’re absolutely right. Aside from JK Rowling and Kelly Oram, Rick Riordan did so great with everything including the build up of character as well as describing the environment which I really find it hard to read on other fantasy books from other author. Hope you’ll get the chance to try this series as well Kim 🙂
I was like why is this familiar, OH YEAH I somehow saw the movie *headdesk*
Hehe, the movie was like 8 years ago so that’s fine 😉 Hope you’ll get the chance to try the book too 🙂
That sounds like one I might like too.
Hope you’ll get the chance to try it Mary. It was really really good 🙂
I adore this series, it was seriously so much fun and I loved all the random humor. So glad you really liked this as well!
Oh, I’m glad you enjoyed this one too. Now I can’t wait to read the next book hehe
I haven’t read any of these books yet. I know we have most of them on some bookshelf in my house so I have no excuse. Glad you enjoyed it as much as you did.
I hope you’ll enjoy this series too soon when you get the chance to read it Carole 🙂
I read this so long ago that I only vaguely remember the details but it was a fun series. It was also the first YA series that I read along with my nieces and nephews.
For What It’s Worth
Yes, this one is definitely a fun read. Now I can’t wait to finish all the books in the series 🙂
I started reading his new series when my son was born and I was hooked but for some reason never finished. I am going to probably be buying all his books for him to have when he is older
I hope we both got the chance to finish this series Lily 🙂
I confess that I never tried the books. I only saw the movie
It’s hard not too if the actor portraying Percy is a cutie hehe. But I hope you enjoyed the movie too Melliane 🙂
I have not read any of the books nor have I watched the movie. That is bad, right? 🙂
Hehe, you still have a lot of time to try at least one Nadene so don’t worry, you’re still good 😉
It’s a very unpopular opinion but I actually really like the movie. But I see it as entirely separate from the book and I have to admit that I absolutely love the book more. The writing style is brilliant and full of humor, as you said, and I loved how realistic the characters were. I can always identify with Annabeth. And the story is great too. Can’t wait to hear what you think of the sequel.
I liked the movie too, and yes, the book will always be better 🙂 I can’t wait to read the next books as well