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
good book, it was funny and eventful and I loved how it represents the Greek gods and their myths as I am very interested in Greek mythology.
My first problem with this book is that there was a lot of talk about Greek mythology in a Latin class. That just seemed like an odd setup. The author could have made it any class he wanted, and chose to make such an odd pair. It grated on me every time it came up.
Although the idea of using Greek mythology is quite clever, the story itself is fairly trite. Our "hero" is possibly one of the dumbest 6th-graders ever. It could be that he was written that way on purpose so as to allow for long expositions by other characters, but I found it annoying that he could not pick up on what was staring him in the face.
Perhaps my many problems with this book came from the fact that I listened to it, and the narrator decided to tell the whole story in his surfer-dude voice. Any seriousness there may have been to the story itself was completely driven out by this. If this is the reason I didn't like the book, it's a pity, because I'd heard really good things about this series. If I ever decide to read the next two books, I'll make sure to actually read them myself.
Although the idea of using Greek mythology is quite clever, the story itself is fairly trite. Our "hero" is possibly one of the dumbest 6th-graders ever. It could be that he was written that way on purpose so as to allow for long expositions by other characters, but I found it annoying that he could not pick up on what was staring him in the face.
Perhaps my many problems with this book came from the fact that I listened to it, and the narrator decided to tell the whole story in his surfer-dude voice. Any seriousness there may have been to the story itself was completely driven out by this. If this is the reason I didn't like the book, it's a pity, because I'd heard really good things about this series. If I ever decide to read the next two books, I'll make sure to actually read them myself.
American Gods meets Harry Potter meets Hercules.
I have a very difficult time appropriately rating children's novels because, for lack of a better way of saying, I feel they're too easy for me. I get hung-up on the writing and have to remind myself of the intended audience. So I tried very hard to give a non-biased (in that regard) rating for this book.
I liked some of the added humor, for starters. The fact that the children lost track of time (via magic) while inside a children's hotel and casino in Vegas was a great adult-reference metaphor for all the people who lose track of time while gambling in Vegas. I thought Hades had some funny quips too.
I also liked some of the real-world conflicts that the characters had to deal with. They were problems and road-blocks that children all over the world have to deal with. ADHD, domestic abuse, absent parents, etc. I felt that was a very mature inclusion.
The monsters were frequent and I can see how a kid would enjoy and learn all about the different mythological gods and beings. From an educational standpoint, I can get behind it. As a reader, I felt it was a little over-saturated with creatures and it made each individual monster feel less important and more like an annoying road-block. This is one aspect of the book that made me drop my rating.
The other reason I am not going higher than 3 stars is because I was getting way too many Harry Potter re-skin vibes. I mean, some characters freak out or get concerned if Percy says the name "Kronos" the same way people in HP don't like to hear Voldemort. You have kids of roughly the same age, the same genders and group size (Harry/Ron/Hermione vs Percy/Grover/Annabeth). Also, there's a boarding schools for these kids (Half-Blood Hill vs Hogwarts). There's surprising betrayal, the kids think the obvious bad-guy (Hades/Snape) is the bad guy but surprise it's actually the guy you didn't expect (Quirrel/Spoiler).
All in all I might continue with the next one. I didn't hate this but I didn't love it, either. It was okay.
I have a very difficult time appropriately rating children's novels because, for lack of a better way of saying, I feel they're too easy for me. I get hung-up on the writing and have to remind myself of the intended audience. So I tried very hard to give a non-biased (in that regard) rating for this book.
I liked some of the added humor, for starters. The fact that the children lost track of time (via magic) while inside a children's hotel and casino in Vegas was a great adult-reference metaphor for all the people who lose track of time while gambling in Vegas. I thought Hades had some funny quips too.
I also liked some of the real-world conflicts that the characters had to deal with. They were problems and road-blocks that children all over the world have to deal with. ADHD, domestic abuse, absent parents, etc. I felt that was a very mature inclusion.
The monsters were frequent and I can see how a kid would enjoy and learn all about the different mythological gods and beings. From an educational standpoint, I can get behind it. As a reader, I felt it was a little over-saturated with creatures and it made each individual monster feel less important and more like an annoying road-block. This is one aspect of the book that made me drop my rating.
The other reason I am not going higher than 3 stars is because I was getting way too many Harry Potter re-skin vibes. I mean, some characters freak out or get concerned if Percy says the name "Kronos" the same way people in HP don't like to hear Voldemort. You have kids of roughly the same age, the same genders and group size (Harry/Ron/Hermione vs Percy/Grover/Annabeth). Also, there's a boarding schools for these kids (Half-Blood Hill vs Hogwarts). There's surprising betrayal, the kids think the obvious bad-guy (Hades/Snape) is the bad guy but surprise it's actually the guy you didn't expect (Quirrel/Spoiler).
All in all I might continue with the next one. I didn't hate this but I didn't love it, either. It was okay.
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