Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

Title: The Lightning Thief
Author: Rick Riordan
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Mythology
Source: Paperback, Library
Rating: 3 out of 5 paws


Percy is your typical 12 year old kid.  School is not his favorite thing in the world and he tends to lean towards trouble.  Then while on a field trip, Percy swears a monster tried to kill him.  When his mom finds out she decides it's finally time to tell him who his father is..Posiden, God of the Sea.  He then goes to the one place he will be safe, a camp for Half Bloods.  While there he discovers he needs to go on a quest and retrieve a stolen lightning bolt, one stolen from Zeus.  Along with his friends, Percy travels across the county to enter the Underworld to stop a war between the gods and save his mom.

So I admit I watched the movie before I read the book, and that kind of tainted my image of the story. I have a strong interest in Greek Mythology (well mythology in general) and Rick's story is an interesting twist to the mythology I have come to know.  One things that stood out for me was Percy's age, I feel like he could have been older than 12 but that's just me, and can see why it would appeal to a younger reading crowd.  Rick's series is the perfect way to introduce young readers to the beauty that is Greek Mythology.  Rick's writing is perfect for the age group he aims for, as an adult it seemed a little too simplistic, but again I am reading this as a 34 year old woman not a 12 year old girl.


I loved how loyal and brave Percy comes off, he starts out as a trouble-marker, but we see that maybe some of those things weren't exactly his fault.  I liked how the monsters slowly came into play like with the algebra teacher turning into a monster, Fury I think.  He develops into his powers, but I think he could have learned how to use them and be a little more powerful with them sooner, and more often in the book.  Sometimes it seemed like he got out of situations based on pure luck.  I hoped for more magic I guess, but I guess mythology didn't use much magic.  I love how Rick include Annabeth and shows her with power and strength of her own.  This shows young girls that you can be just as powerful and strong as male counterparts.

I liked that RIck included some beings everyone can be familiar with in this novel like the Minotaur, Furies, Fates, and Medusa.  I hope he tackles some other creatures in the other novels, maybe ones we don't see so often like sirens, something.  The Ever After Casino was interesting and I loved how the movie portrayed this scene, it was interesting but creepy at the same time, along with Medusa's Shop of garden statues.  How creepy to think she tries to sell the statues, or maybe she doesn't make a sale but uses people in her gardens.  Poseidon has always been one of my favorite gods, and I had hoped for a little bit more from him and was disappointed that we didn't see more of him or any indication that he might have been watching over Percy the whole time.

While I enjoyed reading this book and will read the whole series, I don't see myself becoming a super fan girl that way I have with other novels like The Lunar Chronicles or Harry Potter.  But I still think it is a cute story, great for the age range and some adults.  I recommend it if you haven't read it yet.