By Rick Riordan
THE SHORT
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief sure is a long name to pronounce, but the book was chock-full of humour, hilarious references to Greek mythology, and was a fun ride of adventure throughout. Riordan builds steadily up to the battle with Ares, and the plot flows logically from one step to another. One bad thing about it, however, is lack of a proper climax. The battle with Ares, sure, can be counted as the climax, but it is underdescribed, and one wonders how a demigod with little to NO training with a sword can defeat the god of war with waves. Giving back the bolt is all too easy, and readers are let down by Percy finally meeting his father, Poseidon, because that part was just boring talk talk talk about blah blah blah. Anyhow, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief was a good book, but not necessarily an excellent one.
THE REVIEW
So let's begin with, again, the book's main protagonist and titular character (We're talking about the Percy Jackson part, not The Lightning Thief part, right? ;) Percy Jackson. An ADHD boy with dyslexia, he finds out he's a demigod, a half-blood, born of a god and a mortal spouse. Percy seems like your typical American teenager, and Riordan brings this out in his sarcastic, snippy ways and comments. Riordan really doesn't go into detail into Percy's emotions and motivations, the main motivations of his being, "SAVE MY MOM!" It seems like Riordan was more obsessed with the action part of his novel, because Percy's emotions are almost never shown, even though it is written from Percy's point of view. One emotion that was present however, was the emotion of confusion. Because it seems like Percy is confused every single page of the book. As a result of this, readers cannot relate to Percy, cannot empathize with him. Another flaw of Percy is that he undergoes no development at all throughout the course of the book. He doesn't show any remorse, or even sadness or improvement since the beginning. And so, Percy turns out to be the flattest main character I have ever seen. Room for improvement, Riordan!
The other two main characters, Grover the satyr and Annabeth, are at least more interesting than Percy. Grover has the motivation of become a searcher, and he displays nervousness, and anxiety throughout the novel (like your typical Arnold from The Magic School Bus (don't judge me)). He may not have emotional complexity like Annabeth does, but just the fact that he is a satyr is amazing! Annabeth is the mysterious one. Mysterious past linked to Grover in some small way, mysterious mom with mysterious dad, man, just everything about her is mysterious. Not that it's bad (in fact, it imbues a new sense of wonder into her, otherwise she would be flatter than Percy), but sometimes I wish that we knew just a little bit more about her. And so, despite Riordan's best efforts to create a trio of interesting characters, he fails here. Too much action and not enough character development.
Moving on, we come to the villain. Wait, shouldn't that be villains? Because in this short book alone, we have Ares, Kronos, and then Luke all being revealed to be the bad guy. Talking about Ares first, I find it a little hard to believe that Ares would be tempted by Kronos to start a war in the first place. He didn't stand to gain anything from the ensuing war, and those are his brothers we're talking about. I mean, we know Ares is the god of war, but come on!
Moving on, let's look at Luke first, shall we? I think that Luke is the secondary villain in this story, but all his villain-y plots are only revealed at the end, and in the end his plots boil down to this: Summon a dog from the Underworld, place some flying shoes on Percy so he falls down to Tartarus, and...put a scorpion on Percy to kill him??? Not so villainy after all right? And it raises a lot of questions: How does Luke summon a dog from the Underworld? How does Luke steal a lightning bolt, and a helm of darkness right under two of the most powerful gods in history? How did Luke even know that Percy was going to Hades? And how would he know that Percy wouldn't lose the shoes? And why doesn't Luke just kill Percy with a sword (he's obviously more powerful than Percy) when he had the chance? Why leave it to a scorpion (villain assumes hero is dead cliche)?
Finally, we arrive at Kronos. Well, I have to give to Riordan, Kronos is just epic. Scary pit, menacing voice, he just fulfills all the criteria of being an awesome book baddie. I just wanted to see more of him.
I have a big problem with this book: The cliches! They are everywhere! Already from the beginning of the book there seems to be a small warning sign clanging in your head. Does Percy sound familiar? Child with illnesses finds out he is destined for something great? Just like the cliches that are present in EVERY single YA book before this book? It's like the authors just want to show that Oh, you're so good, there is potential in you. Just for once, I wish that there was a boy who was normal who found out he was destined for nothing. Is that so hard? Let me just point out an example that came before Percy Jackson: Harry Potter. Ok, not a child with illness but still a mistreated child, through a prophecy he finds out he is the Chosen One. Percy, ADHD, dyslexia, son of Big Three, EXACT SAME THING! One more: (I pointed it out above) The-villain-assumes-hero-is-dead-and-leaves- cliche? No? The thing with the scorpion, and Luke? If Luke thought rationally, he would have known that Percy was no match for him. And the scorpion isn't even fatal on bite. It even has 60 seconds before it acts! Does Luke want Percy dead or not?
At last, let's move on to the plot and the references to Greek mythology, the best part of the book by far. The allusions to Greek mythology are humorous, and Riordan manages to make normal America come alive with references back to myths like Medusa, or Mount Olympus, and he even makes it fun! Probably the most original reimagining of Greek myths since, well, since Greece itself! The explanations really make sense, and Riordan possesses this innate ability to make us laugh and remember these myths as well. My favourite part of the book. Riordan pays homage to Greek prophecies by crafting one of his own around Percy, and his imagination bounds free in recreating the myths in the modern day, although it does raise the following questions: Who created the Mist? How does the Mist know if the person is a mortal or a demigod? How do monsters reform? Where do they go when they die? Who decides how long they remain killed? And how do the servants of Hades, Lord of the DEAD, get killed?
Riordan sacrificed much just to perfect this: The plot. As a result, it is absolutely amazing. Riordan manages to craft a compelling mystery into an action-adventure story, and this is reminiscent of ancient Greek myths. The story moves logically from one step to another, and this is perfect. And to top it all off, a plot twist at the end that really surprised me: Luke. Riordan shows his ability to surprise all of us with the lightning bolt suddenly appearing in Percy's backpack, which was amazing.
All in all, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief was a really really fun book, one that can take your mind off all your troubles, although Riordan needs to perfect some things.
Rating: 8.6/10
Advice: Recommended for ALL ages!
I personally am not a die-hard fan of the Percy Jackson series, but I have to say, I can totally see why the die-hards love this book so much! Post your comments below on what book you'd like me to review next!
Next week: In an old house, Jared Grace finds a book. A book about fairies! Immediately, his world is turned upside down by it, and he finds that there is more to it than it seems...I review the very first Spiderwick book The Field Guide and the second one, The Seeing Stone! Be sure to check it out!
The other two main characters, Grover the satyr and Annabeth, are at least more interesting than Percy. Grover has the motivation of become a searcher, and he displays nervousness, and anxiety throughout the novel (like your typical Arnold from The Magic School Bus (don't judge me)). He may not have emotional complexity like Annabeth does, but just the fact that he is a satyr is amazing! Annabeth is the mysterious one. Mysterious past linked to Grover in some small way, mysterious mom with mysterious dad, man, just everything about her is mysterious. Not that it's bad (in fact, it imbues a new sense of wonder into her, otherwise she would be flatter than Percy), but sometimes I wish that we knew just a little bit more about her. And so, despite Riordan's best efforts to create a trio of interesting characters, he fails here. Too much action and not enough character development.
Moving on, we come to the villain. Wait, shouldn't that be villains? Because in this short book alone, we have Ares, Kronos, and then Luke all being revealed to be the bad guy. Talking about Ares first, I find it a little hard to believe that Ares would be tempted by Kronos to start a war in the first place. He didn't stand to gain anything from the ensuing war, and those are his brothers we're talking about. I mean, we know Ares is the god of war, but come on!
Moving on, let's look at Luke first, shall we? I think that Luke is the secondary villain in this story, but all his villain-y plots are only revealed at the end, and in the end his plots boil down to this: Summon a dog from the Underworld, place some flying shoes on Percy so he falls down to Tartarus, and...put a scorpion on Percy to kill him??? Not so villainy after all right? And it raises a lot of questions: How does Luke summon a dog from the Underworld? How does Luke steal a lightning bolt, and a helm of darkness right under two of the most powerful gods in history? How did Luke even know that Percy was going to Hades? And how would he know that Percy wouldn't lose the shoes? And why doesn't Luke just kill Percy with a sword (he's obviously more powerful than Percy) when he had the chance? Why leave it to a scorpion (villain assumes hero is dead cliche)?
Finally, we arrive at Kronos. Well, I have to give to Riordan, Kronos is just epic. Scary pit, menacing voice, he just fulfills all the criteria of being an awesome book baddie. I just wanted to see more of him.
I have a big problem with this book: The cliches! They are everywhere! Already from the beginning of the book there seems to be a small warning sign clanging in your head. Does Percy sound familiar? Child with illnesses finds out he is destined for something great? Just like the cliches that are present in EVERY single YA book before this book? It's like the authors just want to show that Oh, you're so good, there is potential in you. Just for once, I wish that there was a boy who was normal who found out he was destined for nothing. Is that so hard? Let me just point out an example that came before Percy Jackson: Harry Potter. Ok, not a child with illness but still a mistreated child, through a prophecy he finds out he is the Chosen One. Percy, ADHD, dyslexia, son of Big Three, EXACT SAME THING! One more: (I pointed it out above) The-villain-assumes-hero-is-dead-and-leaves- cliche? No? The thing with the scorpion, and Luke? If Luke thought rationally, he would have known that Percy was no match for him. And the scorpion isn't even fatal on bite. It even has 60 seconds before it acts! Does Luke want Percy dead or not?
At last, let's move on to the plot and the references to Greek mythology, the best part of the book by far. The allusions to Greek mythology are humorous, and Riordan manages to make normal America come alive with references back to myths like Medusa, or Mount Olympus, and he even makes it fun! Probably the most original reimagining of Greek myths since, well, since Greece itself! The explanations really make sense, and Riordan possesses this innate ability to make us laugh and remember these myths as well. My favourite part of the book. Riordan pays homage to Greek prophecies by crafting one of his own around Percy, and his imagination bounds free in recreating the myths in the modern day, although it does raise the following questions: Who created the Mist? How does the Mist know if the person is a mortal or a demigod? How do monsters reform? Where do they go when they die? Who decides how long they remain killed? And how do the servants of Hades, Lord of the DEAD, get killed?
Riordan sacrificed much just to perfect this: The plot. As a result, it is absolutely amazing. Riordan manages to craft a compelling mystery into an action-adventure story, and this is reminiscent of ancient Greek myths. The story moves logically from one step to another, and this is perfect. And to top it all off, a plot twist at the end that really surprised me: Luke. Riordan shows his ability to surprise all of us with the lightning bolt suddenly appearing in Percy's backpack, which was amazing.
All in all, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief was a really really fun book, one that can take your mind off all your troubles, although Riordan needs to perfect some things.
Rating: 8.6/10
Advice: Recommended for ALL ages!
I personally am not a die-hard fan of the Percy Jackson series, but I have to say, I can totally see why the die-hards love this book so much! Post your comments below on what book you'd like me to review next!
Next week: In an old house, Jared Grace finds a book. A book about fairies! Immediately, his world is turned upside down by it, and he finds that there is more to it than it seems...I review the very first Spiderwick book The Field Guide and the second one, The Seeing Stone! Be sure to check it out!
a highly accurate post friend, I really like her books
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