Book Review: Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

After learning that he is the son of a mortal woman and Poseidon, god of the sea, twelve-year-old Percy is sent to a summer camp for demigods like himself, and joins his new friends on a quest to prevent a war between the gods.

Percy Jackson has never spent more than one year at a school in his entire education career.   Between his dyslexia and ADHD he has “behavioral problems” and words sometimes literally float off the page while he is reading.  But he actually kind of liked the boarding school he was at in upstate New York.  He actually had a teacher and class that he did well in and a friend, Grover, who stuck out more than he did.  While on a field trip, when his substitute teacher turns into a monster and then he slays her with a sword that came out of a pen he’s a bit freaked.  But the fact that no one knows what he’s talking about seems to have him more freaked out.  When he gets expelled and sent home for the summer on his way home more strange things happen.  Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thing is an action filled fantasy for all Greek lovers young and old.

What I really liked about this book was that even though it’s for the middle grade age group I didn’t feel as if I was too old to be reading it.  For the most part the book isn’t set in a school and the characters don’t seem young.  The story is ageless.

I am a HUGE mythology fan and I love the different aspects that were used in the story.  I believe there need to be more mythology/demigod based books available.  Authors, here is a fresh idea that hasn't been overdone in the slightest.

I really enjoyed that, because it was a middle grade book, there was NO LOVE TRIANGLE.  Can I just say how over love triangles I am as of right now?  Or maybe just love stories in general.  While I do anticipate that in the later books of this series there will be some type of crush thing going on, I am happy to say that in this one it was love triangle drama free.

Rick Riordan was a middle school teacher and mystery writer.  His best selling book Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightening Thief was made into a movie that starred Logan Lerman a few years ago.