percy jackson & the olympians 1 the lightning thief

Part of my reluctance to read the books was based on my having seeing The Lightning Thief movie ages ago.

Where Harry’s was more subtle, Percy can’t help but blurt out most of his retorts, even when he knows that he’ll pay for them. Both main characters have a sarcastic streak of humour, which I appreciate. Both series start with a young boy being plucked out of the relative obscurity of normal life and finding himself with newly discovered supernatural powers in a land filled with monsters, mythology, and facing off against enemies previously thought to be dead. The second comparison was to the Harry Potter series. The Lightning Thief never loses itself in the expanse of the mythology and provides continual action and suspense, alleviated with good humour. Or maybe it’s because of the novel’s tone. Maybe that’s because I’ve studied more Greek and Roman mythology at university so the gods and stories are more familiar. While Gaiman focused primarily on Nordic gods and borrowed bits and pieces from other cultures, Rick Riordan focuses on the Greek mythology and, honestly, I like it better. The first comparison was to the concept of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, which I read at the start of the year. I couldn’t help but make a couple of comparisons while I was reading The Lightning Thief. Rick Riordan imbues all his characters with a great sense of humour and each of them has an individual way of speaking so it was anything but monotonous. Percy has a more mature and engaging voice than other 12-year-old narrators I’ve encountered. Every time I left the room to go and explore a new city, I was excited to get back to my hotel and cuddle up with my Kindle. And then I started The Lightning Thief and I was wide awake. Whatever I tried to read, I could barely keep my eyes open. The Lightning Thief was the perfect remedy for my holiday reading slump. The complete series of Percy Jackson and the Olympians was my first purchase on my new Kindle Paperwhite and I desperately hoped that it would be worth the (admittedly small) amount that I spent on it. Then Tumblr got excited for the release of The Blood of Olympus (the final book in The Heroes of Olympus series) and my friend Elke raced through the first two Percy Jackson and the Olympians books in a day and a half.

A few people said they were for a much younger audience and that I shouldn’t bother with them. I’ve wanted to read the Percy Jackson books for a while. This is the one where Zeus, God of the Sky, thinks I’ve stolen his lightning bolt-and making Zeus angry is a very bad idea. Now I spend my time battling monsters and generally trying to stay alive. Until I accidentally vaporised my maths teacher. I was just a normal kid, going to school, playing basketball, skateboarding. I never asked to be the son of a Greek God.

Percy jackson & the olympians 1 the lightning thief