The Lightning Thief

The Lightning Thief is the first book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, by Rick Riordan. The main premise is that 12-yr-old Percy discovers he is a half-blood, which means one of his parents is one of the Greek gods. In this case, it is Poseidon. Percy then has to go to a camp for half-bloods to learn how to defend himself against the monsters that will try to harm him in the regular world. Once there, Percy is given a quest in order to clear his name against a charge of thievery from Zeus.

I thought this was a pretty interesting book. I recognized all of the Greek gods and monsters who were mentioned, although sometimes it felt like the author was just trying to make as many references as he could. However, it made me feel smart every time I recognized another one, or predicted who someone was going to be before their name was given, so bonus points for that.

The story itself kept my attention. I think the dialogue was as close as it could be for an adult writing from the perspective of a twelve-year-old, although some of the words he chose to use instead of profanity or a harsher insult were pretty funny. This book is geared a little more toward middle school since the protagonist is so young, but I enjoyed it, and I think it would be a good read for any age person who likes either mythology or adventure.