Review: Percy Jackson & The Olympians- The Lightning Thief

Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school. Again. Seems like this kid has been going through boarding school after boarding school year after year, causing trouble that he did not mean to do to other students. Every year, strange things have been happening to Percy, not that he takes special attention to it, though. Until one year, he realizes that his best friend is a satyr, his mother was taken hostage in the underworld, his father is one of the Olympians, and he finds out he's a demigod with a quest to fulfill. Everything changes for Percy: from a normal pre-teen boy with dyslexia, he has to step up and try to save the Western civilization from utter chaos by finding the thief who stole Zeus' master bolt.

Thoughts - I loooove to read and plus plus points await those books that will make me want to learn new stuff: to make me spend hours on end on Wikipedia or Google, trying to find out more about a specific topic. This book was definitely a good start: it made me interested in Greek mythology again! Let's see.. the last time I read something about Greek mythology, I was in seventh grade and we need it for school. Now, I want to dive for Bufinch's mythology and re-read it! Good thing my parents bought me a hardcover book -- it literally lasts so much longer!

Anyway, the way Rick Riordan writes about the gods makes me feel as if they are alive, walking around earth and not just names from myths, legends, and lore. He also writes about these characters in such an unconventional way -- I love the fact that he doesn't portray Hades as a bad guy. In fact, Rick Riordan never really portrays any of the gods as bad people, just moody little beings. After all, these gods have every right to. They rule the earth, right? The characters are also smart, witty, funny and three-dimensional [well, except for Smelly Gabe for me. Gosh, I hate him!]

The book is written in a humorous way to make the subject light while keeping the readers interested in the facts that the author is churning on about. Dang, now I wish these books had been written when I was a young adult. It'll make me remember more about these Olympians, quite useful if you have an exam or something! He even provides codes for you to remember the gods names alone - ie the formation of the gods in Olympus and in Camp Half-Blood, as well as numbers for each of the gods. Ingenius.

This novel is very, very excellent. Good start for the rest of the series. It kept me hooked! And yes, I want to read the next novel, but will probably get a copy when I find one on sale. The cheapskate in me strikes again [then again, I have a bazillion interests to fund too].

So, is this the next Harry Potter series? Maybe. Maybe not, but Riordan certainly provided a breath of fresh air to an otherwise aging lore!  This is very much worth your time and effort so do read it. The book isn't like the movie, don't be fooled!

And so, on to the rating & information:
Published: 2005  
Publisher:  Disney Hyperion
Available from: your local bookstore everywhere, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, maybe even your local used bookstore!
Read it if: You want a light YA read and something that tackles the greek gods.
Book was acquired by: myself. Bought it in a bookstore while my friend and I were browsing around and she said I had to read it before the movie comes out. And I did!
fickle fan rating:  [read more about my rating at my new blog fickle fan.