Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief
ISBN: 9780141329994
Description
Percy Jackson didn't want to be a half-blood. He never asked to be the son of a Greek God. He was just a normal kid, going to school, playing basketball, skateboarding. The usual. Until he accidentally vaporized my maths teacher. That's when things started really going wrong. Now he spends his time fighting with swords, battling monsters with his friends, and generally trying to stay alive.
Zeus, God of the Sky, thinks Percy has stolen his lightning bolt - and making Zeus angry is a very bad idea.
Reviewed on 1st March 2013
The first book in the Percy Jackson series hast often been likened to Harry Potter, but although there are clear similarities (fantasy world, magic powers, summer camp/boarding school etc) I felt it was sufficiently different to stand on its own as a story and beginning of a series.
The story is told in the first-person, which allows the language to be modern, relaxed and appropriate and the reader to learn about the world with the characters. After Percy is attacked by his Maths teacher, he is sent away to a special summer camp, where he learns about his past and is sent on a quest. In style, it feels more like a cross between Brandon Sanderson's Alcatraz and Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider series.
I did feel that the chapters were quite short and felt rushed in places, and there wasn't as much focus on character as there could have been. I felt it lacked some realism in emotion and Percy in particular didn't react in a realistic manner in several situations. The many references to Ancient Greece were well written and showed a lot of research by the author, but sometimes did feel a bit like a lecture.
An enjoyable read, though probably not enough to convince me to keep reading the rest of the series.