The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Series: Percy Jackson & The Olympians
Source: Bought
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Publication Date: March 21, 2006

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' 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' stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. But to succeed on his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the true thief: he must come to terms with the father who abandoned him; solve the riddle of the Oracle, which warns him of betrayal by a friend; and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves.

I'm not going to lie here - the reason that I put off Percy for so long was because of the hype surrounding this series - I mean, we have buckets and buckets of fans. I don't even know if there's any haters, and let's be honest here - I tend to be a naysayer. But I'm super happy to tell you that I actually really enjoyed The Lightning Thief! But first, a quick backstory: Nitzan has been trying to get me to read Percy FOREVER. She was just telling me how awesome it was and everything else - and then, suddenly, whenever I looked at Pinterest, there were headcanons for Percy everywhere. And there were words on them, so I HAD to read them... and I became slightly obsessed. Then there was a discussion on Twitter, and the #PercyPowWow was born... that is the story of how I came to read Percy Jackson.

Now that I've cleared things up with y'all, let's start back at the beginning. I liked this more than I expected to! For some odd reason, I had this idea that I wouldn't really care for Percy as a character. Maybe because he's a guy, or because he's a pre-pubescent guy... whatever. Turns out that he's really great, though! Percy is just so snarky and lovable.

He loves his mom, and I actually think that he seems pretty smart. Flighty, yes. But still smart. I liked that he read like a twelve year old boy - it was nice that he matched up, and wasn't too mature or immature. I also liked the relationships that he formed with the other characters throughout. I loved his friendship with Annabeth & Grover, and I can't wait to see where those relationships will take him in the future!

Another thing that I liked about The Lightning Thief was the ridiculous jokes and the over-the-top plot twists throughout the book. I laughed out loud (hysterically) a few times, that's for sure. And every single plot twist - as ridiculous as they were - somehow made sense. Anyone who can fit pieces like that together most definitely gets my vote.

I liked the never-ending presence of the Greek gods, and the explanation for how they came to be in America. I, for one - have pretty much questioned every myth retelling ever, because of the fact that they all take place in America. It was WONDERFUL to have an explanation for once!

All in all, The Lightning Thief really was a fun read. I'm enjoying the series so far, and I can't wait for shipping Percy and Annabeth. Also, can't tell you how disappointed I am in the movie now.

Scene it Sunday #11 - Percy is Undetermined

The Lightning Thief
Series: Percy Jackson & The Olympians
Release Date: February 12, 2010
Leads: Logan Lerman, Brandon T. Jackson, Alexandra Daddario

A teenager discovers he's the descendant of a Greek god and sets out on an adventure to settle an on-going battle between the gods.

Book Scene, Percy is Undetermined -

Annabeth announced, "Percy Jackson, meet cabin eleven."
"Regular or undetermined?" somebody asked.
I didn't know what to say, but Annabeth said, "Undetermined."
Everybody groaned.

Movie Scene, Percy is Undetermined -

From the very beginning of the movie (as soon as Camp Half Blood happens) Percy is introduced as the son of Poseidon, and he's claimed almost immediately. They put him in his own private cabin, and he never lives in the Hermes cabin.

This is just one of the ridiculous changes that they made in the movie, but it's one of the bigger ones - it messed up Percy's entire developmental arc. In the books, he's shown as a relatively sweet and normal boy, who's obviously a little unsure. But in the movie, Percy is made out to be slightly arrogant, and a "hero". It's a stupid change. (Lets not even mention the fact that Percy is only twelve in the books, and is like 16 in the movies. Or the ridiculous quest. Maybe these will get mentioned at a later date... maybe.)

Did this change bother you? Have you seen this movie?