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37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Who's yo' Daddy?, 4 July 2006
Percy Jackson has always been different from other kids. He's dyslexic and suffers from ADHD, and is always getting into trouble. He's been expelled several times, and the only thing that holds his interest is Greek mythology.
We soon learn that Percy has close ties with Mount Olympus, and when monsters from mythology start popping up looking for his blood, he ends up at a very special school for kids like himself, where he starts to put things together to find out who he really is.
Before he knows it, he's off on a quest with his two friends, Grover and Annabeth, to recover a powerful lightning bolt, property of Zeus, which has been stolen, supposedly by Percy himself. Zeus, Poseidon and Hades are having a little disagreement about the theft of the said lightning bolt, and unless Percy can retrieve it and return it in time, the resulting fallout will have earth-shattering consequences.
This great (albeit relatively unknown) first book of the series is an easy read, and is sure to encourage young readers to improve their knowledge of Greek mythology, especially the stories of the Minotaur, Medusa and the gods Poseidon, Ares, Zeus, Hades, Kronos, Athena and so on. Highly recommended for young readers in search of an original and imaginative adventure series.
Amanda Richards
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24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
En-Lightning!!!, 10 Sep 2006
When this book arrived, I placed it on my bookshelf thinking I'd get around to reading it when I had nothing better to read. To put it bluntly, I really didn't think I'd like a slick American High school version of the Legends of ancient Greece (sort of Buffy meets Hercules) - but I was wrong. As soon as I started reading it I was hooked.
The pacing is dazzlingly fast; it starts at a run and ends at a gallop without ever once pausing for breath! Younger readers who might be unfamiliar with the heroes of Greek legend will probably enjoy the twists of the plot - however, adult readers might see these coming, (ie the identity Aunty "M" - owner of the Garden Statue Emporium), but somehow, this only adds to the enjoyment!
The other thing that had put me off this book ever so slightly was setting it in a school for halfbloods (children of the Greek gods); coming so close to "Harry Potter and the Halfblood Prince" it felt uncomfortably derivative ... like yet another Harry Potter wannabe. However, knowing how slowly things move in the world of publishing, I realised the whole half-blood concept would have been imagined by the author at least a couple of years before HP 6 appeared.
Okay, so it's set in a boarding school for kids with magical/supernatural abilities - but don't let this put you off. So far, the Percy Jackson series has captured the efficient and succinct plotting of the first three Harry Potter books; likewise, it is something of a whodunit, in that one of the teachers or pupils at Camp Halfblood is really a baddie. The clues are subtle but entirely fair.
I liked that Percy's dyslexia and Attention Deficit Disorder were put down to his subconscious familiarity with ancient Greek and his need to be ever ready to fight off hoards of deadly monsters. I usually find the current trend of giving the hero such contemporary "issues" irritatingly contrived - but in this case it works fine.
In short, I can't imagine anyone NOT enjoying this book!
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Four Stars Because I'm Mean By Nature, 8 Feb 2007
When I first saw an advertisement for this book in a review, I thought 'oh, that sounds interesting'--but not quite interesting enough to actually get a copy. Then I happened to come across it at my school library and decided to read it . . .
Well, the story is that Percy Jackson -- a 'troubled' boy who's been expelled from six schools in six years and bullied by his stepfather (who richly deserves the fate he recieves at the end) -- suddenly discovers that he is a Greek demigod, and suddenly finds himself at a camp for the other offspring of Gods and mortals -- 'Camp Half-Blood'.
But when he discovers that he is the only one who can stop a war of the Gods, he has to travel the length and breadth of America with his two companions -- Grover, a satyr, and Annabeth, the daughter of the goddess Athene (or, in this case, Athena), encountering various figures from Greek mythology on the way.
I really loved this -- the author has managed to successfully pull off an American interpretation of the Greek mythology -- it is very succinct, but not so succinct that it is boring or patronising. There is some very good humour in it and now I want to read all of the sequels.
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