The Lightning Thief: Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1

I held off buying THE LIGHTNING THIEF for a couple years. The market seems glutted with YA fantasy at the moment, and I read quite a bit of it with my 9-year-old. We've discovered several good series, but THE LIGHTNING THIEF seemed too long to hold his attention when it first came out. This year we noticed it in the book fair at school, then saw that it was an Accelerated Reader book. So I picked it up and read a couple chapters to try it out. I was 50 pages into it when I realized I needed to be reading this to my son. I did read it to him. We FLEW through the book (375 pages!) in 6 days because he kept pestering me to read it to him. We finished it up in a 5-hour marathon yesterday, hanging onto every page as Percy and his friends tried to save the world and put things to rights in their own lives. THE LIGHTNING THIEF is a great book for adults and kids. I've already recommended it to a couple of adult friends who experienced the same kind of can't-put-it-down pull that I did. Percy Jackson, the hero of the book, comes across as every kid you'd ever meet or ever would. He's no brainiac (he has dyslexia and ADHD) but he has friends who are. But he is courageous and clever, stubborn and loyal. He is the best he can be, and he's getting even better. Riordan works in many of the Greek myths in the novel. There was a time when knowing Greek mythology was a pre-requisite for having a "classical" education. Many morals and philosophies are presented in the tales. From the very beginning of the novel, we find out Percy is different when he ends up fighting a harpy in the museum while on a school trip. He's been kicked out of 6 schools in 6 years, lives with his mom and step-dad, Smelly Gabe, an evil guy who deliberately makes Percy's life hard. Then, when he's on a well-deserved vacation with his mom, he finds out he's a Half-Blood, the son of one of the Greek gods. But his mom doesn't know who his dad was and that's just one of the mysteries Percy ends up solving. The cool part of the book is peeling away all the mysteries of Percy's life and who really took Zeus's magic thunderbolt. Along the way he gains powers that set my son's head to spinning with hope and delight. Percy's a superhero without the costume, and there are plenty of villains in his world. Riordan is a teacher who obviously loves kids as well as the subject matter. The Greek gods were a cantankerous lot, and Riordan delivers them well. Not only does he give his readers the stories, but he also brings the gods on stage and gives them personalities. The series is supposed to run for 5 books. I think it will go on longer. I hope so. I've already ordered books 2 and 3, and my son and I are looking forward to them. The books take a while to read outloud to younger readers, but the effort is well rewarded. The story is rich and deep, and will keep your child's attention. In addition, you'd be surprised how much you can talk about even when you're not reading. And your child may just want to wander around the internet learning more interesting facts about Greek mythology. THE LIGHTNING THIEF is well worth reading and is probably in most public and school libraries.

This book is an absolute win for young readers. It’s fast-paced, funny, and full of adventure, making it incredibly easy for kids to stay engaged. The mix of modern-day storytelling with Greek mythology is clever and educational without feeling like schoolwork. Percy is a relatable hero—imperfect, brave, and humorous—which makes kids root for him from the start. It sparked so many great conversations in our house and genuinely made reading feel exciting again. Tip: If your child enjoys this one, keep the next book ready—most kids want to jump straight into the series! I highly recommend this book & I hope this review is helpful 👍🏻

This review can also be found on my blog: Reader Rayna Alright, this is my first time reading this book – ever. I’ve always heard good things about this series and I gotta say – I have to agree! This first book in this series was so fun and a super fast read for me. I immediately bought the second book on my kindle so I can keep reading the series. So we have Percy, a troubled boy who has been bouncing around from school to school for years, and this time he thinks he may have a chance to stay – until one day on a field trip he’s attacked by his math teacher who’s actually a Fury from the Underworld. He’s unsure if what actually happens after that was real, but after several events that take place he does, in fact, learn that he is a demigod. I found Percy to be a very typical kid, but also he’s willing to do whatever it takes to prove his innocence and gets his mom back. I found that he accepted a lot of the circumstances surrounding him pretty easily, which I think wasn’t entirely realistic, but at the same time how would I react if I were thrown into that situation? I did, however, enjoy the group dynamic between him, Annabeth, and Grover. I think that the three of them work really well together. I wanted to know more about the other characters, to take a look into their past and really get to know them, but I also know that since it was from Percy’s point of view that he may not actually be interested in that sort of thing, but I also have the feeling more will be introduced in later books. I also knew who the traitor was as soon as the gift was given and I’m like, “It’s going to be ____.” I was right, which is fine, but I think getting to that point was what really drew me into the story. There were so many different gods and goddesses, creatures and mythical beings, and I loved how they were incorporated into the story. Sometimes I felt like it was kind of mushed together, like almost too many were introduced, but it also makes sense if they’re traveling across the country; of course they’d see as many as they did. I felt like there was a decent amount of action and that as the story progressed Percy learned a lot about himself and some bits of his family’s history. I think that was really well done in terms of introducing that kind of thing to the reader. Overall, I felt like it was a very fast-pace book, which sometimes felt like things were rushed, but also a kid wouldn’t always dwell on some of the things that I feel older teens or adults might dwell on, which was good. Sometimes the plot was pretty predictable, but I didn’t find myself annoyed by that like I would in other books I’ve read; rather, I found myself wanting to know how Percy was going to figure it out himself. I found the characters to really represent the traits of their god/dess parent in different ways, and I found that the plot was really driven forward constantly the whole time. I seriously had a great time reading this book and I’m very excited to start the next one soon. I give this first book 4/5 stars.

The Lightning Thief is the perfect mix of adventure, humor, and mythology. The story moves quickly, the characters are super likable, and the world-building makes you want to keep turning pages. It’s written simply enough for younger readers but still entertaining for adults. If you enjoy Greek mythology or just want a light, engaging fantasy book, this is a great pick. Totally worth reading.

Soy maestro y los niños en mi aula, encantan este libro para literatura.

Finally got my son into reading with this book. So happy i bought the other 4

Gerne wird immer wieder der Vergleich zu Harry Potter gezogen... aber man kann und darf ihn nicht ziehen. Das Einzige was diese Bücher gemein haben ist, dass sie dem Fantasy-Genre entspringen. Punkt um. Um was geht es eigentlich? Die Götter - die griechichen - sind lebendig. Und wie zu frühen Zeiten zeugen sie munter Kinder mit den Menschen. Percy Jackson ist so ein Kind; ein Kind Poseidons. Dass das die Monster der griechichen Legenden und vorallem sein Großvater, der Titan Kronos, aber auch die anderen Götter nicht so prikelnd finden, stellt sich schnell heraus. Und wie zu alten Zeiten muss Percy als Halbgott und Held in die Welt hinaus ziehen, um Aufgaben zu erfüllen. In seinem ersten Abenteuer muss er die Blitze Zeus' wieder finden, um einen Krieg unter den Göttern zu verhindern. Dass dabei nicht alles so ist, wie es anfangs erscheint, macht die Geschichte spannend. Bei dieser Rahmenhandlung ist klar, dass ein Vergleich zu Harry Potter vorallem inhaltlich hinkt: auf der einen Seite ein Zauberlehrling - auf der anderen Seite ein Halbgott. Aber wo uns Rowling am Anfang ihrer liebenswerten Harry Potter-Reihe noch im unklaren lässt und Harry mehr oder weniger belanglose und vorallem wenig brutale Abenteuer erleben lässt, ist bei Riordan von Anfang an alles klar. Percy ist ein Held und muss entsprechend handeln. Hier wird mit harten Bandagen gekämpft und der gewaltsame Tod spielt bereits zu Beginn eine Rolle. Dies mutet uns Rowling erst in den letzten Bänden zu und das hat zumindest mich beim Lesen dieser Bücher sehr enttäuscht. Neben dem tollen, schnellen und spannenden Stil, den Riordan schreibt, sind vorallem seine Anlehnungen an die griechiche Mythologie hervorzuheben. Alle Kinder, die ungerne lernen, sollten jetzt aufhören diese Rezension zu lesen. Denn das was Riordan über die Götter, die Titanen, die Monster der griechichen Sagenweld schreibt, ist richtig. Hier vermittelt der Autor, der Geschichtslehrer ist, echtes Wissen. Zeus, der seinen Vater Kronos in den Tartarus geworfen hat, Hades' Unterwelt und vieles mehr ist ein Abbild alter griechicher Geschichten. Darüber hinaus gelingt es Riordan die Persönlichkeitsstrukturen dieser Wesen zu erfassen und in unsere heutige Zeit zu portieren. Warum sollte also der Meeresgott nicht in kurzen Hosen und Hawaii-Hemd auftreten, warum sollte der Kriegsgott Ares nicht auf einer Harley in schwarzem Bikeroutfit durch das Land fahren? Und auch hier hinkt der Vergleich mit Harry Potter; denn Harry Potter hat kein mythologisches Vorbild. Wer Potter gelesen hat und toll findet und wem es nur um eine gute Geschichte mit Fantasymerkmalen geht, wird hier genauso seine Freude dran haben; keine Frage. Die Geschichten der griechichen Mythologie sind Parabeln und hier und da immernoch aktuell. Wenn man also einen seichten Einstieg in diese Welt haben will, warum nicht über Percy Jackson? Wer die griechichen Geschichten kennt, wird seine Freude an Percy Jackson haben und wie es Riordan gelungen ist, diese ins Heute zu übertragen. Ein gelungenes Buch - im Übrigen wie die anderen dieser Reihe auch - und wer als Erwachsener keine Scheu vor Jugendbüchern hat (mit dem Kindle sieht's ja auch keiner im Zug) wird auch ein bis zwei Tage Kurzweiliges erleben.

Bought as a present for teenager. She really enjoyed it and ended up reading the other ones from this series as well.