The Lightning Thief
Ratings1,802
Average rating4.1
Not great, but a quick & fun read.
Definitely a YA novel. As long as you aren't expecting something... more mature, it's an enjoyable enough series.
In the first book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, we meet Percy Jackson, the half-son of a Greek God. He is sent to Camp Half-Blood, where he learns more about his past, about his father, and learns that the fate of Olympus is in his hands - someone has stolen one of Zeus' lightning bolts and Percy must find it! The book is a great adventure and is part one of a series - great for children who are just getting into the joys of reading and are looking for something that will continue to go on and on. It will hold their attention and make them excited for more. Those who are fans of the Harry Potter series, of Fablehaven, of A Series of Unfortunate Events will enjoy Percy Jackson and the Olympians, especially the Lightning Thief.
My daughter has read these and it's been driving her crazy that I haven't read them yet so we can watch the movies. I told her I would start reading them this month and ever since the 1st of February she's been asking how much I've read. While she doesn't love these as much as Harry Potter she sure does love them.
I love Greek mythology. It's probably one of my favorite things I learned about in school so this series already has a point in its favor just because of the subject matter. I love how Riordan brings the mythical characters into the real world. The story moved along quickly and there was always something to keep you biting your nails.
What I didn't like? The betrayer was too obvious to me. And I felt like it should have been obvious after what happens in the Underworld, but no one ever saw it until the end. Kinda lame.
But all in all I thought this was pretty good. It's no Harry Potter, but it'll do. ;)
love this series XD
the suspense makes me feel suffocated
BUT IT'S AN AWESOME BOOK
OK, I know I'm several years behind on this, but in case you haven't read it yet, I deem it: pretty fast-paced and fun! I get why infinity kids are into it. I like that it rewards nerdy knowledge of Greek mythology. Oh and having read (listened to) this I can now stop wondering if those “Camp Half Blood” T-shirts are offensive or not.
The audiobook was pretty solid. My favorite was his “bro voice” for Luke. I kind of want an audiobook read entirely in “bro voice.” Or maybe I don't? Maybe it's possible to have too much of a good thing?
I was expecting another dynamic classic along the lines of Harry Potter - something genre- and age-defiant. I was disappointed. This book was average, in my opinion, and rather predictable for those readers over 13.
2nd reading with my son: Summary: A young teen discovers that he is a demigod and that he (and a few others) have to go on a quest to stop a war between the gods.
I think this is my first re-read of a Rick Riordan book. Because of the new Disney+ series, I read this book with my son and then watched the series. My daughter opted out of the book after the first chapter or so because she was not a fan of the monsters.
This series has a lot of monsters, it is part of the greek mythology genre. My son was not bothered by the monsters, but if you have a child sensitive to fantasy violence, you will want to avoid both the book and the Disney+ show.
The book is a little formulaic. The “chosen one” has a hard life until they discover that they are this other person and have been hiding. There is a reveal of their real identity, often due to either an attack or a revealed power. And then there is a quest or task that they need to do (and that no one else can do) to save the world.
The Disney+ series stays closer to the original story than the older movie did. But it there are variances with the story and a few things that I wonder at why they changed details from the books. On the whole I thought the adaptation was faithful and the changes were reasonable.
The writing is easy enough that my third grader could read on his own, although we mostly read together or listened to the audiobook in the car. I was a bit surprised by how much Greek mythology my kids have picked up through various media. While my son and I were reading this, my daughter binged all of the Hercules cartoons. There were a lot of overlapping characters between those two, so my son and daughter have been discussing Greek mythology and seeing the Greek roots of other stories. Having some background in Greek mythology helps to understand other books since so many books or movies riff off of those older mythology tropes.
I generally liked the book a bit less this time because it felt more formulaic on the second reading. But I liked the Disney+ series and think the storytelling and visual effects were well done.
It is a bit off-topic, but I was a fan of the Disney+ series Iwáj, Iwájú at least in part because it told a unique story without some of the more well-worn young adult/pre-teen tropes.
Originally posted on my blog at https://bookwi.se/lightening-thief/
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Short Review: Very good young adult book about a boy that discovers he is the son of one of the Greek Gods. Lots of mythology and monsters, but appropriate for fairly young readers. I would say 9-11 if advanced readers, would be ok. Probably up to about 15 years old or so. I have read the first four in a week. So I am enjoying the series.
Full review on my blog at http://bookwi.se/lightning-thief/
This book lives up to its hype. I love the premise and I love/hate the fact that if I talk about this book in a general way it sounds like Harry Potter (Adolescent boy with a somewhat troubled life who sometimes has weird things happen around him finds out something about his parentage that changes everything he's ever known and is then whisked away to have adventures with other kids like him.) I love the portrayal of the Greek gods and the modernization of their stories. I will relish the sequel.
It's interesting how cyclical culture can be. When Harry Potter first came out, I recall a lot of people being upset at the similarities between Potter and the Tim Hunter stories. Neil Gaiman, author of the latter, rightfully came to the defence of the Potter books, saying that both he and Rowling were just pulling from the same cultural touchstones and working in the same genre of YA heroic fantasy.
Now, reading a lot of the comments on the Percy Jackson books, I see a lot of people who read Harry Potter being upset that Riordan was copying what Rowling did. I'll admit that there are some similarities, but it's more that they're both modern urban fantasy based on a Campbellian model of the hero's journey, rather than any intentional ‘copying'. In fact, if I had to pick something to compare this to, it would be to describe it as a YA version of American Gods, albeit it one that focuses exclusively on Olympian gods rather than multiple pantheons.
The really selling point of the book, though, is the character of Percy himself. He brings a refreshing level of sarcasm and humour to what could have been a fairly staid story, and keeps you interested in the larger world.
Menurut saya buku ini menarik, apalagi yang suka dengan cerita yunani, dan untuk fast reading pun buku ini masih bisa membuat bekas di kepala.
If you like Ancient Greek Mythology this is the book for you! Even if you don't you'll love it.I've just finished reading this a fews days ago and absolutely loved it,I didn't want to put it down.
When I started reading this i had no interest in Ancient Greek Mythology but the second I started reading it i was hooked.It's such and interesting topic and there is so many exciting things to learn.
If your looking for a fun,exciting adventure story to read this is the one for you.I recommend to to everyone, it's an absolutely brilliant piece of work by Rick Riordan.
Thoroughly enjoyed reading this with my son. He has been running around with a ballpoint pen uncapping it and calling it Riptide. It is a great intro to Greek myths. But a little too predictable if you are an adult.
My rating is based on the level of fun I had reading it with my son. For an adult I'd probably rate it a 3 - a solid like but not the best book I've ever read.
Obviously a children's book, but the subject matter is such fun that I just didn't want to put it down.
Meh. I though it was okay. It's Harry Potter with Greek Gods instead of Witches and Warlocks and minus the complex plot and fantastically creative mind of J.K. Rowling. I read it out loud to Max (age 8) and he loved it so, success.
An attempt to combine Harry Potter with Holden Caulfield that's interesting but not as compelling. It suffers a lot from “adult-trying-to-think-and-talk-like-a-kid” syndrome.
I'm going to finish the series, though, because I hear it gets better and I love adventure and mythology.
I've waffled back and forth between 2 and 3 stars, but decided on 3 because if my sons were reviewing it they'd give it 5 stars. They love these books and I can see why. Percy is an appealing character and Riordan writes with lots of energy.
The pink poodle was hard to take though.
I picked up this book after reading the fairly high acclaim it received on this site. Unfortunately, I abandoned it about 5 chapters in. There is too much derivative work in this book: an orphan/child-with-one-parent discovers his magical destiny via intense instruction. Honestly, I found myself replacing Greek gods and mythology with British wizards and re-reading a dumbed down version of Harry Potter.Don't get me wrong - derivative work, in and of itself, is not a bad thing (I look to [b:Wicked 37442 Wicked The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (Wicked Years, #1) Gregory Maguire http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255675230s/37442.jpg 1479280] as a good example of an obviously derivative work that forged a drastically new path). However, I don't see enough unique content in this book to be excited about.
This was a fun book. I love Greek mythology. This was a new twist that I could appreciate. The book was a bit on the ‘young' side of young-adult fiction. I still liked it and I am looking forward to reading installment #2.
7.5
Extremamente nost??lgico. Tem tanto charme quanto eu me lembrava, com uma ??tima constru????o de universo e uma ??tima explora????o dos arqu??tipos dos deuses e seus monstros.
H?? certos problemas na tradu????o (de quest??es adaptativas ?? um ou dois casos de uma frase estar faltando palavra ou simplesmente n??o fazer sentido - ?? bom notar no entanto que nada disso implicou na minha nota ou opini??o em geral) que provavelmente pertencem ?? primeira edi????o e talvez tenham sido corrigidas em edi????es futuras.
Meu c??rebro lembrava de v??rios momentos do livro mas havia confundido a ordem dos mesmos: cenas que eu achava que aconteciam no segundo livro aconteceram no primeiro e vice-versa.
Ansioso para reler o resto da s??rie.
I read the beginning of this book out loud to my students and it got them hooked. Just a super-fun romp through what might be like if you were the progeny of a Greek/Roman god.
