10 July 2009

Books: Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan


This novel chronicles the adventures of twelve-year-old Percy Jackson, who discovers he is a demigod, the son of a mortal woman and the Greek god Poseidon. Percy and his friends go on a quest to prevent an apocalyptic war between the Greek gods Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. The story contains a multitude of encounters with characters from Greek mythology still alive in modern times.

In this fast-paced, often funny look at the way Riordan updates the Greek mythology. Percy is sarcastic, often wry and a little bit impetuous. Still, the series has been compared to Harry Potter (and there is a small in-joke towards the end of the novel), but though Riordan borrows much from the historical mythology, the series first book does not get too bogged down in its own mythology, if you can excuse the joke.

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