The Lightning Thief Review
The Lightning Thief ReviewAuthor: Rick Riordan
Year: 2005
(Percy Jackson and the Olympians Book 1)
There are some stories that you like, and some stories that would get brought up when describing the events of your life. When I was younger, and looking for the next big series to read after Harry Potter, I soon got the Lightning Thief. And yeah, I really loved it. And how I started writing was a Harry Potter fan fiction, but then I got bored and started writing the sequel that would dip into the Percy Jackson series. But then after I trashed it, I started over, and wrote a stand alone fanfic, and that was my largest story on paper, and if it wasn’t for that I wouldn’t have been a writer. And the books I really love, so there’s my back-story. Maybe I’ll make a creative topic about my full journey with the books. Anyway, with Sea of Monsters coming out, and me staring at my book collection so intimidated I might as well give up, I decided to reread the series, and pump out some more reviews. Anyway, the story of Percy Jackson, is well, about Percy Jackson. He’s a dyslexic kid with ADHD who can’t get anything right, as he goes from boarding school to boarding school. Then boom, he’s slammed into a world where Greek Mythology is real, the gods have come to America because of western civilization, and he is the son of a Greek god. And after a turn of events, he is framed of taking Zeus’s Master Bolt, and must go on a quest with his best friend Grover, a timid and nervous boy, and a Annabeth, a somewhat stuck up but still awesome girl who is the daughter of Athena. Anyway, the book is a children’s book, but one of those children’s story that are good for teenagers and adults as well. However some of the jokes kind of seem just for kids, and the whole series is kind of like that. First, I’ll start with the characters. Percy is the main hero, and he’s a good hero. He’s a much more modern and relatable character than the ones I’m used too. And he has the classic chosen one thing going on, and that’s always epic. And he’s sarcastic, and funny, and still keeps things upbeat while also unsure at times, making him a great standard hero for the story. Grover is another good character, who has a goal completely irrelevant to the plot, which helps, and he has back story is really important later. For this book alone he’s a good sidekick, but overtime this is his younger state. He’s good comedic relief, and a good character. Annabeth, again, is a smart mouth kind of stuck up girl that proves that the dumb blond stereotype is not real. She has a lot of depth, but for now, let’s just say she’s another awesome character. The rest of the side characters are all really nice, but some of the other favorites of the series aren’t in yet, but you’ll be satisfied with who’s in. Whether it’s Luke, Dionysus, or these cool monsters, they’re cool side characters. Then the story. If you have seen the movie, well fuck you, you should have read the book first. Definitely read the book first, as you won’t have to deal with a shitty movie, and some of the big reveals will be cooler. And even though you don’t have any control over this, try reading it while you’re young. While I was a kid, and naïve, and couldn’t guess where the story was going, it hit me in the face a little more. Now I might be able to guess a thing or two, but back then every big reveal my jaw dropped like OH MY GOD!! As for how much you’ll get sucked in, I read this in like two maybe three days. I was on the road working for my mom, and not having anything to do in an R.V. but read, I read that sucker really fast. It’s not that long, so you can get through it pretty quickly. And it’s one of those stories where it goes from chapter to chapter, and each scene is so nice. Like you’ll be like, "Remember that one scene,” and then "remember that one scene the next chapter?” It never slows up, only at small moments it needs to, and that’s it. It’s not a rush, it’s an adventure, and a very fun one at that. As for a cool world, I love Camp Half-Blood, and not being stuck in it like Hogwarts made me less was more. I love the world, and I like having a sense of realism in my fantasy, so this camp hidden from the world just off of Long Island I feel is pretty fucking cool. And the Lightning Thief gets better after you’ve read the series, as it gets that classic feeling. That good old feeling that I get from childhood nostalgia, seeing the characters before they’re developed, and all the good old scenes from the beginning of the story I love, and have read the shit ton, not because this is the second time I’ve read it, but because I made an altered version, and had to examine the pages pretty closely. It’s a great story, and the first read I’d give an eight, but because of all my experiences of it, I’m giving it a ten. I was going to give it a nine, because I know the story isn’t all that fantastic to get a ten, but god dammit, writing this review reminded me how important the Lightning Thief is to me. The story of Percy’s beginning although having some problems, I love the shit out of regardless, hold it as the beginning of my favorite book series, possibly of all time.
The Lightning Thief gets a 5/5
Spoilers: Okay, remember the awesome capture the flag sequence? Yeah, then Percy was shown to be the son of Poseidon. I really didn’t see that coming, I was sort of counting on son of Zeus. And just the camp and it’s twelve cabins, I really like the idea of this camp. It’s a fun place that the characters go to to escape from the world, and escape from being attacked by monsters and all this other shit. And the mystical elements are just awesome, and it really does teach you Greek Mythology. And then the whole Ares thing, I liked how it made Hades not just the villain, and how he was kind of a good guy in a way. But then the big reveal of the traitor friend, and it was Luke. And yeah, I didn’t see that one coming as a kid either, which I love, because going in naïve like that makes this so much better. And I like guys like Charon, and the mother of all monsters chick, and the lizard waterbed salesmen, it just made this quirky story that was so likeable. And it really is the beginning of one of my favorite stories in media.
Badges
The Lightning Thief gets THE CHARACTER BADGE
The Lighting Thief gets the "The Creativity badge"
The Lighting Thief gets THE LONG LASTING BADGE
The Lighting Thief gets THE HALL OF FAME BADGE
