The Lightning Thief
November 4, 2009
People have been telling me for a very long time that I need to read Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. I had checked The Lightning Thief out at one point and then (rather stupidly) did not get around to reading it before it was due back at the library. So when I saw it on the express loan shelf I jumped at it.
Percy is a mostly normal sixth grader. He has ADHD and dyslexia but he tries really hard. Unfortunately for him he seems to attract trouble like a magnet. It’s hard to remember how many schools he’d been to before he ended up at his current boarding school. And he’s pretty sure that one of his teachers tried to kill him. When weird things start to happen on his way home for summer vacation and his mother finds out she decides it’s time for Percy to go to the one place she knows he’ll be safe. And she decides it’s time for him to know who he really is – a demi-god.
The thing that struck me while I was reading this is that I’ve forgotten most of everything I knew about Greek mythology. And I really used to like Greek mythology. It was one of my favourite classics in my first year of university (my professor was rather smitten with Apollo, which was amusing). When I was reading little tidbits from that class would push their way forward from the depths of my memory.
It was a lot of fun to read. I really liked how it present mythology in a fun way that didn’t talk down to kids. If I had read this when I was a kid, right after checking out the rest of the books in the series I would have been digging for books on mythology. As it is I promptly added the rest of the books in the series to my request list.
If you haven’t started this series yet I highly recommend it.
November 4th, 2009 at 10:06 am
Oh! I love this series! So!!! Much!!!
It just keeps getting better and better, and you’ll be very disappointed there are only 5 books.
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sassymonkey Reply:
November 4th, 2009 at 11:02 am
I was very impressed with the first book. And thrilled that the second book is already showing as “in transit” to me on my library account.
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November 4th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
I loved this book. Looking forward to the movie!
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sassymonkey Reply:
November 4th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
The casting for the movie is very encouraging. I highly approve of the casting for Zeus and Poseidon.
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November 4th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
I really need to read on in this series! I have only read the first book so far…
Kailana´s last blog ..Stepping Out of the Comfort Zone
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sassymonkey Reply:
November 4th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
The second book is on it’s way to me right now. I was very tempted to run out and buy a box set.
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November 4th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
I have heard of this series but haven’t considered reading it yet … maybe I will now.
Kristen M.´s last blog ..Two Traveling Piglets
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sassymonkey Reply:
November 4th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
I really liked it. It feels like a long time since I’ve said that about a series.
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November 4th, 2009 at 10:32 pm
I’ve heard about this one from other bloggers too. Your review is concise and makes me want to read it sooner rather than later!
Kathleen´s last blog ..The Tattered Cover Bookstore
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sassymonkey Reply:
November 5th, 2009 at 9:42 am
Yep, I’m a bit late on this series. To tell you the truth, I kind of like being late on series. That way I can gobble up a bunch of them without having to wait a year or two between releases.
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November 5th, 2009 at 8:16 pm
I really really want to read this book. And see the movie.
Court´s last blog ..Arabella
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sassymonkey Reply:
November 7th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
After reading it I’m feeling very eager about the movie. I’m liking the cast a lot and it’s making me feel very hopeful that they didn’t mess it up.
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January 2nd, 2010 at 4:25 pm
Almost finished this one right now and you’re right – I have to go get the rest of this series NOW! It’s funny and brilliantly written. Thanks for bringing it to my attention, because I never gave it a second look in the store.
And.. ooo! There’s a movie?? Must go look this up!
kit-cat´s last blog ..Firespell
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January 2nd, 2010 at 7:57 pm
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