I'll admit it, I was skeptical of this book. I must have picked The Lightning Thief up 20 times before I finally bought it a few weeks back. I thought it might be "too young" or another rip off from Harry Potter, so I always put it back down and wandered on to something else. I was wrong. This book is fun! Truly, that is the first word that comes to mind when I think of Percy Jackson.
Basically, our hero, Percy Jackson, is failing out of yet another boarding school and starts to notice some strange things going on around him. He ultimately learns that his his father is a god. A Greek god, no less. Through a series of events, he learns who his father is and accepts a quest that leads him to the gates of hell and beyond. Literally. I mean he goes to the underworld and faces Hades.
The best part of this book, for me, is the idea that the gods are still out there, walking amongst the mortals. It reminded me of Neil Gaiman's American Gods, but a much lighter (and obviously more PG) version. I loved seeing characters such as Ares, the god of war, show up in this book, complete with bad-ass biker attitude- and the bike to go with it.
I did feel like the story could have been more developed, but this is a book about a 12 year-old boy, and so probably targeted more toward that age group than my own. I'm looking forward to reading the next books and seeing how the story evolves. If you're looking for a light, easy read, this book will fit the bill and then some.
While I haven't seen the movie yet, I've heard good things and am looking forward to it. If you've seen it, feel free to let me know how it compares!
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I read all the books in the series. Like you at first, I was skeptical because it seemed like a children's book more than Young Adult, especially with that cover, but my daughter read it and loved it, so I decided to give it a chance.
ReplyDeleteI COULDN'T PUT THEM DOWN. All of them! These books are filled with action and you learn so much about mythology. They are great.
About the movie: I saw it Friday night. The movie was nice and fun, but it was NOT true to the book and I was disappointed about that. I don't want to spoil anyone, but the movie messes too much with the plot and is missing key characters. I feel that not including these characters could change how the rest of the movies play out, if they are ever made.
1) LOVE the jordie la forge nod in the pic, it bugs me to watch lavar burton on reading rainbow without his visor!
ReplyDelete2) I'll have to check it out, I've been reading the Septimus Heap series right now, and am enjoying it, Angie Sage has a nice, concise writing style and good story (imo at least :)
I did the same thing... just picked it up at Borders the other day, looked at it hard, then decided to put it down. I'll have to check it out now though. I love mythological worlds. :)
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ReplyDeleteLove this series. I could've written that all in caps just to indicate I'm shouting it from the rooftops!! Saw he movie twice this weekend. LOL. I know. I know. :)
ReplyDeleteNow, as for the book, Percy reminded me of a 12 yo Jace from The Mortal Instruments.
The book series is awesome...Lots of action, adventure, and fun. This series got my 10 year old son reading so that gets it high marks from me...The movie is good, but it does not follow the book and as mentioned above, some key characters are missing. Just keep in mind that most movies are not true to the books and you will enjoy the movie.
ReplyDeleteI was going to pass on this one, but now that I'm reading all these good things about it, I'm thinking I'm going to add it to my TBR list after all. Hubby will be oh-so happy that another YA book is on my nightstand. ;)
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