The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1)

5/15/2017

The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1) by Rick Riordan

Blurb:

Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can't seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. And lately, being away at boarding school is only getting worse – Percy could have sworn his pre-algebra teacher turned into a monster and tried to kill him. When Percy's mom finds out, she knows it's time he got to the one place he'll be safe. She sends Percy to Camp Half Blood, a summer camp for demigods (on Long Island), where he learns that the father he never knew is Poseidon, God of the Sea. Soon a mystery unfolds and together with his friends – one a satyr and the other a demigod daughter of Athena – Percy sets out on a quest across the United States to reach the gates of the Underworld (located in a recording studio in Hollywood) and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods.

Review:

"Don't get me started on Charon!" Hades yelled. "He's been impossible ever since he discovered Italian suits!"

I had no intention of reading Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Originally, I had some stupid reasons for that decision and then I saw the movie(s) a couple of times and at some point I simply decided that reading these books would never happen. What changed then? Well, for one thing The Trials of Apollo was published and I witness its arrival in the book community. It's terribly hard resisting something that everyone is gushing about so I started toying with the idea of reading these books. The final straw, however, was a friend of mine who told me I really need to read this. (Moreover, the books recently appeared in English at the library I visit most often soo... Well, it's safe to say that I have no willpower whatsoever.) Thus, I have finally read The Lightning Thief. And it was quite fun, very fast-paced and I'm already excited to read the next book.

The problem with this book was, I think, that I have already watched the movie. I'm pretty sure it ruined quite a bit of the fun because I was already expecting most of the things that happened – especially the whole "the gods live in America now" bit that would probably have been very enjoyable hadn't that already been such a deeply engrained fact for me. Only after the first hundred pages (basically, once the story strays from the movie plot) did things pick up for me quite a bit and I started enjoying this book a lot more.

Consequently, I'm really looking forward to all of the books that I have no clue what they're about. I really don't have anything more to say at this point because this book was such a clean slate for me. It wiped away the movie and now I'll be able to properly embark on a journey with Percy. Fingers crossed that I'll find the next books just as awesome as everybody else.