Friday, July 24, 2009

Percy Jackson & The Olympians series by Rick Riordan

I am a huge fan of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson & The Olympians series. I was introduced to Book 1: The Lightning Thief by our librarian at school. I opened up the book and barely put it down for a second until I had finished. I borrowed the next three books from the library in quick succession and then waited anxiously for the final book, Book 5: The Last Olympian, to become available. I finished it this morning and--BOY HOWDY!--this is an amazing series.

In a nutshell, the hero of the story is Percy Jackson--a demigod (son of a Greek god)--living in the modern day. Turns out Mt. Olympus and all those "mythological" stories we learned about in school aren't exactly ancient history. Mt. Olympus just moved to the new seat of western civilization and culture: New York City. The gods, and their magic, is still around us all the time. As mortals, we just lack the ability to see it; something called The Mist keeps us from seeing a giant monster for what it really is. On the other hand, being a demigod, Percy and his other demigod friends, are always running in to trouble with the aforesaid monsters...plus the ever-present drama that is Mt. Olympus and the Olympians. These demigods are the new heroes of our day--like Hercules of ancient times. As heroes, the adventures never stop and each new book is better than the last.

I am recommending this series to anyone and everyone. The stories are fabulously exciting and definitely entertaining. If you liked Harry Potter you'll almost definitely like these. The story's pattern is sort of the same, but there's enough unique material here you won't find yourself constantly comparing the two. Anyway, check them out. Percy Jackson rocks my world.

A++

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

My youngest sister has read these books several times and when the last one came out, she re-read the entire series again before she read the last one. I'm a fan of the books because, although I have never read them, they are the first books that my sister has read consistently and completely. She's 15 and it took these books to get her to start reading real books. (she reads manga's, but they aren't the same.)
Thanks for reviewing them and I might have to borrow the first one from my sister. :)