Title: Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Lightning Thief
Author: Rick Riordan
Genres: Fantasy, Mid-Grade
Format: Paperback
Pages: 375 Pages
Publication Date: 02/02/2010
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
★★★★☆
Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school...again. And that's the least of his troubles. Lately, mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy's Greek mythology textbook and into his life. Book #1 in the NYT best-selling series, with cover art from the feature film, The Lightning Thief.
I'm having difficulty reviewing this book, and here's why: It's the first book in a series that I have never read before. I plan to read every book in this series in succession, and to review each book that i read. Because this is a series, I do not anticipate the characters or the writing to change a lot.
The only thing that changes, then, is the story.
This is a challenge for me as a reviewer, because I like to review books as a whole. I'd love to review the characters, the story, the writing, and the ties to Harry Potter, but I feel that this ought to be saved for a final review of the series as a whole.
And I do intend to write that. I'm making notes for that review. Seriously, I am.
But right now I'm sitting here staring blankly at a screen that I've erased three times in an effort to find the right approach to this book. How do I tell you, as the reader, whether or not this is a book worth reading without reviewing the series as a whole?
Well, maybe for you the jury will be out on that until I've reached the conclusion. We'll see.
Here's what I can tell you.
This book is nothing like the movie. Apart from the general sense of the characters (and I do mean general, as neither Annabeth nor Percy are like their actor portrayals in the movies) and the basic outline of the plot, the events in the book are altogether different than those in the movie.
Maybe not completely different, but different enough to be remarkable. So if you're thinking that you can skip this book and the second and go right on to the third, I wouldn't.
I'll talk to you later about the characters and other factors, when I'm done with the series, but for now, how about we talk about the story in this book. I've already told you it's different from the movie, so you're prepared for that.
Lightning Thief was interesting to me because the quest moves chapter to chapter from one event or sub-plot to the next. Riordan divides up his chapters logically and it gave me a sense of closure to one part and the opening of a new part.
This kept me moving through the book quickly. It's not short, by any means (though I wouldn't call it a long book either), and the fact that I could expect a new adventure every chapter kept me turning the page.
I enjoyed reading about how Percy handled his challenges, and reading about the ways that his challenges changed him as he worked his way through his quest. Considering that this was the first in a series of five books, Percy did make some significant changes to his behavior and attitude throughout the story.
These are things that impressed me, and they are the reasons that I would recommend this book.
Unfortunately, I did personally find that the first third of the book or so was on the slow side. I feel that I should talk about this, specifically for those people who saw the movie and therefore have particular views of how this story progresses.
To start with (minor spoiler alert), Percy doesn't know who his father is at the beginning, and it takes quite some time for him to figure it out, in spite of some glaring clues. Until he can get it figured out, any quests (and therefore interesting story lines) are impossible.
So the movement in the beginning of the book leaves something to be desired, at least for my taste. It picked up after that point -- and I mean it really picked up -- but if I was quick to put a book down, I might not have gotten that far.
I recommend this book, and therefore (tentatively) the series. I'll be starting Sea of Monsters later today and will be reviewing that story just as soon as I'm finished. Remember that I'll be reviewing the entire series at the end!
The only thing that changes, then, is the story.
This is a challenge for me as a reviewer, because I like to review books as a whole. I'd love to review the characters, the story, the writing, and the ties to Harry Potter, but I feel that this ought to be saved for a final review of the series as a whole.
And I do intend to write that. I'm making notes for that review. Seriously, I am.
But right now I'm sitting here staring blankly at a screen that I've erased three times in an effort to find the right approach to this book. How do I tell you, as the reader, whether or not this is a book worth reading without reviewing the series as a whole?
Well, maybe for you the jury will be out on that until I've reached the conclusion. We'll see.
Here's what I can tell you.
This book is nothing like the movie. Apart from the general sense of the characters (and I do mean general, as neither Annabeth nor Percy are like their actor portrayals in the movies) and the basic outline of the plot, the events in the book are altogether different than those in the movie.
Maybe not completely different, but different enough to be remarkable. So if you're thinking that you can skip this book and the second and go right on to the third, I wouldn't.
I'll talk to you later about the characters and other factors, when I'm done with the series, but for now, how about we talk about the story in this book. I've already told you it's different from the movie, so you're prepared for that.
Lightning Thief was interesting to me because the quest moves chapter to chapter from one event or sub-plot to the next. Riordan divides up his chapters logically and it gave me a sense of closure to one part and the opening of a new part.
This kept me moving through the book quickly. It's not short, by any means (though I wouldn't call it a long book either), and the fact that I could expect a new adventure every chapter kept me turning the page.
I enjoyed reading about how Percy handled his challenges, and reading about the ways that his challenges changed him as he worked his way through his quest. Considering that this was the first in a series of five books, Percy did make some significant changes to his behavior and attitude throughout the story.
These are things that impressed me, and they are the reasons that I would recommend this book.
Unfortunately, I did personally find that the first third of the book or so was on the slow side. I feel that I should talk about this, specifically for those people who saw the movie and therefore have particular views of how this story progresses.
To start with (minor spoiler alert), Percy doesn't know who his father is at the beginning, and it takes quite some time for him to figure it out, in spite of some glaring clues. Until he can get it figured out, any quests (and therefore interesting story lines) are impossible.
So the movement in the beginning of the book leaves something to be desired, at least for my taste. It picked up after that point -- and I mean it really picked up -- but if I was quick to put a book down, I might not have gotten that far.
I recommend this book, and therefore (tentatively) the series. I'll be starting Sea of Monsters later today and will be reviewing that story just as soon as I'm finished. Remember that I'll be reviewing the entire series at the end!
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