The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Book Details
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Paperback, 400 pages
2010, Hyperion Book CH
ISBN: 142313494X
Series: Book 1 of Percy Jackson & the Olympians

Synopsis
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. And worse, he's angered a few of them. Zeus's master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect.

Now Percy and his friends have just ten days to find and return Zeus's stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. But to succeed on his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the true thief: he must come to terms with the father who abandoned him; solve the riddle of the Oracle, which warns him of betrayal by a friend; and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves.

Review
The Lightning Thief was a phenomenally written and highly educational adventure. The story of Percy Jackson is woven with authentic mythology and when you're reading it, you know you are experiencing something monumental.

It's amazingly creative and extremely detailed. I found myself visualizing every event, setting, god and mythological creature described with ease. Percy's struggles and how he deals with them show an evolution of character that is usually saved for later in a series. From thinking like a human in denial to becoming the confident demigod he's destined to be, the progression is nothing short of spellbinding.

Rick Riordan has a way of hinting at a characters true identity before revealing it that allows older readers to guess who the character might be. I found this to be great fun as it allowed me to utilize some of my high school mythology lessons I once thought to be long forgotten.

I was hooked in the first ten pages and could not drag myself away from the story. Percy Jackson and the Olympians appears to be almost overqualified to fill the void left in the middle grade fantasy genre created by the ending of the Harry Potter series. This is a series everyone, young and old, should experience. Definitely not to be missed.

Rating

Links

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