The Lighting Thief is a the first fantasy novel of the series written by Rick Riordan. It tells a tale of a twelve year old boy named Percy Jackson, who was diagnosed with ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder)and dyslexia and have always cause trouble and always end up getting kicked out for strange things happening around him. After discovering his true heritage and the reason behind for all the incidents involving him, a new world opens for him. Because of his father, he is being blamed by the Zeus for stealing his prized master bolt, known for blowing Kronos up into thousand pieces and it's up to him to retrieve the master bolt in order to prove his innocence and his father, Poseidon. Now as he travels west, he is a target for mythical monsters that are supposedly come from myths and encounters other mythical and godly beings. With ten days to complete his quest before an unnecessary war breaks out, he travels with a satyr named Grover Underwood and Annabeth Chase, a fellow demigod (half god, half human) and daughter of Athena.
I highly recommend reading this amazing book. It's like read The Odyssey except (personally) not like what Odysseus faced (mainly women). There were other mythical creatures that were included in from other myths such as Medusa, a chimera, and more. While reading this amazing novel, you get to learn part of the other myths such as the story of Athena being challenged in weaving, the reason how Medusa was taken away from Athena. Even if I already knew these myths, it was pretty awesome how Riordan layers his story with so much Greek mythology. He must have done some well researched work to apply so much Greek myths into his story. I personally don't think there aren't many good novels with Greek mythology and for that, I'm pretty disappointed. This is kind of offensive to the Twilight fans, but there are just way too much vampire romance stories. There isn't much originality in them because most vampire stories include a forbidden romance and a school life carrying a deadly secret. Again, it's not because I hate vampire stories, but with too many stories about them, it's tiring.Other than that, this book is so amazing, I could reread this all over again, only the book is due so I'm waiting for the next book: The Sea of Monsters. I would say the age ranges from 9-12. Honestly, I would have read another harder book, but I was way too interested in the plot that I couldn't resist. This is a great book to read and it's really easy to read so I recommend this to everyone who would love a modern version of The Odyssey. This is definitely a great starter on a series, especially for those who are now bored and into fantasy series, such as the ever-lasting legend (i think i might've exaggerated on this) of the Harry Potter series.
Of all the quotes,I decided to pick this one, where it shows how mothers are to children.
"Your mom stayed with him to protect you. She was ... a smart lady. She must've loved you a lot to put upwith that guy—if that makes you feel any better."
One of Sally Jackson's greatest sacrifices for Percy is marrying and living with Smelly Gabe. A mother's love shows a great affect towards the child. To sacrifice one's own future by living with such a gruesome husband who thinks of you lowly and to work to help support the family shows how much a mother really cares for her child. When Grover tells Percy this, we realize that everything Sally does is for Percy.
This quote kind of reflects on what most children who are in the same situation as Percy (before he found out about his true heritage).
"I felt angry at my father. Maybe it was stupid, ... but I resented him for going on that ocean voyage, for not having the guts to marry my mom. He'd left us, and now we were stuck with Smelly Gabe"
There are a lot of children whose father left them and their mothers when they were young and even before they were born. Children are always observing situations so they can sense between was is bad and wrong. If they see their mother/ father in miserable situation like Percy's mother was in, they would instantly blame the spouse. In this case, Percy never met his father, and seeing him not being with his mother, he felt that he and his mother were abandoned to live on their own. Anything that is bad towards him, children would instantly blame on the parent for leaving them, not coming back and support them.
Curious, I decided to watch the movie after I completed reading the novel. I wouldn't do so much comparisons because there were ALOT of changes, both minor and MAJOR parts. If you have read the book before watching the movie like me, you would know what I mean. Even some of the characters proven wrong from my perspective when I read the novel. For example,Grover, a satyr and Percy's guardian. I thought Grover seemed to have a timid personality, but brave at time when needed. In the movie, Grover shows none of that whatsoever, and doesn't seem to push himself to be courageous like how he is in the novel. Also, for the relationship between Annabeth Chase, a fellow demigod and daughter of Athena and Percy doesn't show that kind of relationship like how it was in the novel. Annabeth's reason for her attitude with Percy was because of her mother's relationship with Percy's father, but it doesn't exactly show that in the movie other than the fact that Annabeth was slicing Percy in a fight at Camp Halfblood. There were some events where it never happened in the book such as Hades showing up in a campfire at Camp Halfblood and the Percy's journey to go look for three pearls before going to the Underworld in order to escape after rescuing his mother, and Hades's missing helm of darkness. Also, I kind of wanted the god of war, Ares to take part of the movie. Unfortunately, he wasn't and was replaced with Luke. I also think the antagonist, Luke shows more of the reason how Percy's quest was being made. In the book, there was a prophecy and that Luke was not entirely the one who started the (close) war between the gods. If I continue even further, I don't think anyone would watch the movie, nor even understanding what I am talking about. If you did read or watch the movie, you would understand. But in either case, I'm pretty much spoiling it so I should really stop with the comparisons. However, I do I like how the actor, Logan Wade Lerman, portrayed the main character, Percy Jackson. If I was him, I would probably be just like him. He shows almost the same characteristics as Percy in the situations such as being attacked by unknown mythical creatures, countering gods, and the truth behind his heritage. Other than the fact there were scenes from the book being removed and replaced, it's packed with adventure of heroism for Percy Jackson. I still recommend reading the book first before reading the book. Unless you can't handle the fact you have to read a three hundred seventy-five page book, then just go right ahead and watch the movie, and maybe perhaps read the book after? Actually, I would highly recommend reading this novel especially for those who are in ninth grade because for me, the theme for most of the novels I had read last year was heroism. This is definitely a modern variation of The Odyssey.
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