The Lightning Thief
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Product Description
Book 1
Twelve-year-ancient Percy is about to be kicked out of boarding school . . . again. But can he really be expected to stand by while a tough picks on his scrawny best friend? Or not defend himself against his teacher when she turns into a monster and tries to kill him? Of course, no one believes Percy he’s not even sure he believes himself. Until the Minotaur chases him to summer camp . . .Amazon.com Review
Book Description
Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school…again. And that’s the least of his troubles. Lately, mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy’s Greek mythology textbook and into his life. And worse, he’s angered a few of them. Zeus’s master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect.
Now Percy and his friends have just ten days to find and return Zeus’s stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. But to make it on his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the right thief: he must come to terms with the father who abandoned him; solve the riddle of the Prediction, which warns him of treachery by a friend; and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves.
With take in art from the major motion picture, this first installment of Rick Riordan’s best-selling series is a non-stop thrill-ride and a classic of mythic proportions.
Amazon Interview: Rick Riordan on The Lightning Thief
In our exclusive Q&A with Rick Riordan, bestselling leader of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, learn about his inspiration for the character Percy Jackson, his long-time interest in Greek mythology, and more.
Amazon.com: Since The Lightning Thief was published in 2005 it’s sold more than a million copies, and the four subsequent books in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series have been blockbuster bestsellers among kids and adult readers alike. When you were writing the first tale starring Percy Jackson, did you ever imagine it would become such a phenomenon? How has the success of the series affected your life?
Rick Riordan: I had no expectations additional than to make a excellent tale for my older son, Haley. I had no thought it would become a book, much less a series, until he encouraged me to write down the tale.
I hoped the tales would get kids reading, but I never anticipated such exponential growth. It was not an overnight success, nor was it heavily marketed at the beginning. The Lightning Thief was passed around from kid to kid, teacher to teacher, parent to parent, and the series got larger with each book. It really was a grassroots phenomenon. Still, I have distress thinking in terms of millions. I measure success by anecdotes–the kid who told me he never liked books until he establish The Lightning Thief, the parent who thanked me for turning her daughter into a reader, the teacher who said I turned her class around because they bonded over reading Percy Jackson every day. That’s what it’s all about for me.
It hasn’t changed our life much additional than building me busier, but doing something I like! I still drive the same car. My kids go to the same schools. We try our best to keep things simple at home.
Amazon.com: You’ve said that you wrote this series for your son, Haley, who, like the book’s hero Percy, has been diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia. How does Haley feel about being the inspiration for a bestselling series?
Riordan: Both my sons are permanently my first audience. I read the manuscripts to them aloud to make sure they work for young readers. Both are proud, though being teenagers they are also embarrassed by the attention they get sometimes. They don’t like it when classmates question them to get my autograph. Haley likes to play down his importance in the genesis of the series, but I reflect he’s loved growing up with Percy, and I know it has increased his interest in writing. Recently he came into my office and announced the manuscript he is effective on now has a larger word count than mine!
Amazon.com: Percy’s tales are based on Greek mythology–classic tales that have been passed down for thousands of years. What lessons can kids today learn from the very ancient myths?
Riordan: The tales have everything–romance, magic, mystery, action, and fantastic characters. The Greek gods are our first superheroes. They have incredible powers, but they are also very human and theme to jealousy, envy, rage, etc. Kids especially respond to them because they are both powerful and accessible. Who wouldn’t want to be the son or daughter of a Greek god? By reading about the struggles of gods and heroes, we learn a lot about being human, and that’s something that hasn’t changed over the millennia.
Amazon.com: Have you ever visited Greece? What was it like?
Riordan: I’ve been to both Italy and Greece, but only after I finished the Percy Jackson series, which is ironic. One doesn’t need to travel there, but, to appreciate the tales from mythology. Persons are reasonably universal. Greece really reminded me reasonably a bit of my home in Texas–hot, green, hilly, to some extent arid, except the ocean is much better in Greece.
Amazon.com: Percy’s guardian satyr, Grover, is fervently connected to the Planet, the well-being of animals, and humans’ emotions. Moreover, Percy’s life is relatively free of equipment, in contrast to many people today. Is there a message about the natural world that you’re hoping to convey through Percy and Grover?
Riordan: I don’t consciously place messages in the books, because my job is telling a excellent tale, not preaching. But, I do pick up on themes from Greek mythology that still resonate in the modern world, and certainly man’s relationship to scenery is one of persons. I’ve permanently been fascinated by the god Pan, and his reported death in very ancient times. It seemed a very significant theme for modern readers.
Amazon.com: Percy encounters many dangers throughout his adventures–some that could be considered beyond the abilities of a normal 12-year-ancient. Though we know Percy is no normal kid, where does he find the find the might to overcome all the challenges that he encounters?
Riordan: None of us knows what we’re capable of until we are called to action. Percy may have demigod abilities, but he’s a very normal kid in a lot of ways. He goes from a 12-year-ancient who is unsure of himself and his relationship with his friends and family tree, to a 16-year-ancient young man who steps up and leads a war to save Olympus. Most heroes are born out of dire circumstances, and Percy is no exception. He’s worried, unsure, doubtful, mad–all the things we would be if we were called to deal with a crisis. But he does the job anyway, and that is the definition of courage.
Amazon.com: It’s regularly said that writers write about what they know. Were you interested in the very ancient world when you were Percy’s age? What kinds of books were your favorites when you were a kid?
Riordan: I’ve permanently loved mythology. I had a fantastic English teacher who showed me that The Lord of the Rings (the only series I would read at age thirteen) was based on Norse myths, and from then on, I was a mythology buff. I taught mythology in my own classroom when I became a teacher, and it was consistently my students’ favorite unit.
Amazon.com: If you learned, like Percy, that you were the son of a Greek god, who would you want your immortal parent to be?
Riordan: I’d like Poseidon or Athena, but with my luck, I’d end up with Dionysus.
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After starting the book, I learned that 30-50 pages at a time were missing–it jumped from page 89 and then the next page was 135. This happened a few times in the book. Obviously, a publisher’s reject but it was described by seller as being in very excellent condition. Would never trust this seller again.
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
WOW! This book was incredible! This book is a rival for the infamous Harry Potter series. I absoloutly LOVED this book. Percy is a cool kid. This series is probably the best I have read in a long time. I would recomend this book series to anyone. By an anonymous fan.
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
Riordan should keep his thoughts about the inferiority of women out of his books. The formula of fantasy derring-do can be done excellently lacking dumbing it done or treating woman as inferiors, humiliating people in all-purpose or belittling women. The derision of women in these novels disrupts the tale. The many derisive references to fools and such nullifies any mechanism of developing a “terrible” character and lessens nearly all of the characters. Riordan lacked the imagination to make a world lacking incorporating grave attitudes that should have died an undignified death by now.
Many of Riordan’s phrases are like ice water in the face and paraphrasing from additional better books is shameless. Bah, garbage.
This was the first work by Riordan I read. Incredulous what I read, I got the second novel to make sure the first wasn’t an anomaly. Riordan gets no more of my money. One can find better fantasy from authors like Dahl, Grahame, Hiassen, Lewis, Rawn, or Lackey.
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
This was an brilliant novel. I highly suggest you read an adaption of The odyssey by Homer prior this tale. The book is much more understandable afterwards. All in all Ithis book was very enjoyable and I look forwards to reading the next.
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan is one of the rare children’s books I cannot recommend. I’m disappointed because I wanted to like the tale, but it is so derivitive. Sorry to say, The Lightning Thief reads more like the tale of young Hercules than an original work of fiction. Anyone who has read Greek mythology will admit the many borrowed thoughts. Anyone who has watched Hercules or Xena will know how the plot is going to work out.
Putting Percy Jackson in a more modern setting doesn’t help much either, and the early set up of the tale seems to be torn from the pages of Harry Potter where poor Percy is the theme of abuse and a misfit that doesn’t fit in who later discovers a magical world. As a replacement for of Hogwarts though, Percy journeys off to Camp Half-Blood where special kids like him go to train against monsters.
Reading this book was a chore and I couldn’t wait until it was over. I’ll read the others but only because I’ve already bought them. My kids, but, says they’re not going to continue. They give the tale two thumbs done.
My advice on this one is to buy the first book only. That way if you don’t like it, you won’t have wasted your money on the additional books.
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5