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The Lightning Thief
The Lightning Thief
Rick Riordan | 2005 | Children, Fiction & Poetry
6
8.6 (100 Ratings)
Book Rating
Percy Jackson is a series that I've been meaning to get around to for ages. Pretty much everybody I know who have read the books absolutely adore them.

So, when I needed a few quick reads to play catch up on my reading challenge, I decided that it was a good enough time to give the series a go.

...and it's not too bad.

There was a lot about The Lightning Thief that I enjoyed. The premise was a lot of fun. I liked the humor - especially the chapter titles. I liked the translation of Olympus from ancient European culture to modern American culture. I loved that this is a kids' series that rewards children for knowing mythology - if you're familiar with Greek myths at all, you'll know almost from the start of each encounter what Percy and the group are up against.

That's also kind where I started having problems, though.

The book is essentially non-stop action. Which isn't, in itself, a bad thing. But the action plays out like a series of video game encounters. Percy and his friends will travel so far in their quest, run into someone/a monster who will (sometimes accidentally) help them get to the next step of their quest, where they'll travel a certain distance again before running into something else. Repeat throughout the entire book. There are small moments of character building, but they're squeezed in where they'll fit between action scenes.

I'm more than willing to admit that that's just me, though. I'm not exactly the book's intended audience, and I can completely see how the pacing and whatnot would appeal to kids. I did enjoy it enough to continue on in the series, though.
  
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