Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief - Book One: Percy Jackson & the Olympians Book One

Loved this, definitely the best thing I've read in a while!!!

This book is in perspective of Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon. He discovers who his true friends are and why he is so different then all of his classmates. He goes on a quest to retrieve Zeus' Lightning Bolt with Annabeth Chase and Grover Underwood. Together they face many challenges along the way.

About Percy and his troubled past and his challenges of dyslexia and ADHD where he find out that he is a half-bood (no, not a vampire) more like a godling. He is on the run, until he is safe at Half-Blood Hill or though he thought. He takes Annabeth and Grover on his quest to find out what is going on. Follow him as he searches for items on his quest and battles monsters. (from a 10-year-old perspective - kewl adventures ... adult perspective - lacking a bit in storyline) Overall, good read and entertaining

I hate to admit, but I saw the movie first which I thought was decent. Then a friend said that the book was much better (aren't they always?) so I went and picked it up.
I thought this was a great children's book! A light, quick adventure with enough depth and character development to appeal to kids and adults alike. Although other reviews have compared it to Harry Potter I feel that although similar, this book is distinct. If I were to do a HP comparison I would first say that this book contains many 'scary' adventures but lacks the serious undertones of death/racism/etc that are found in HP. I feel that makes this book suitable for younger kids for which the HP series might be too 'dark'. On the flip side to this is that it may be enjoyed less by an adult audience since it is less complex. This is not really a criticism, just a comment on reader age group.
I would high recommend this book to both kids and adults! In fact I may be picking up the next book in the series on a future trip to the bookstore.

I really don't think I give kids enough credit. When I started reading The Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan I was amazed at how scary it was - and it was labeled as a children's book! Right off the bat, Percy Jackson, a kid at Yancy Academy vaporizes one of his teachers and then is told that that teacher never did exist. He also reiterates a story from Greek mythology about the king titan Kronos who eats his kids, not believing they are gods - seems scary to me!

There is violence and subject matter that may not be suitable for certain ages (family violence, even Greek mythology in general), but I really enjoyed reading this fast-paced novel. There is humor mixed throughout (similar to The 6th Grade Nickname Game) and you can't help but fall in love with the characters.

Fans of the Harry Potter series will love this book. To me, even though the majority of the main characters are 12-years-old, it feels almost more grown up than the Harry Potter books. Being a person who took Greek mythology in university, I appreciated all of the stories of the Gods and actually checked to see if I still had my textbook from the class. Reading just the first novel in this series has peaked my interest in the subject again.

But don't get me wrong - there are definite similarities between the Percy Jackson and The Olympians series and the Harry Potter series, but it's all part of the genre. In a book like this for kids, a boy will have his friends and he has to go somewhere to hone his talents. This is far from being the spitting image of Harry Potter and I think with it's references to Greek mythology, it might interest a few more readers.

After reading so many negative reviews from people saying that Rick Riordan copied the Harry Potter books, I just have to say that I knew nothing about these books when I bought them. In fact, if it wasn't for my husband giving me some money as a bribe for me to take the dog to the vet, I probably would never have bought them. As it turns out, I stopped by Wal Mart and had seen this series on display and thought they might be interesting. I didn't even know there was a movie made about them.

For the record, I loved the Harry Potter books and I am loving this series as well. Just take the many books that are out in the vampire genre nowadays - they all have many similarities but there are good ones and bad ones. As a reader, you have to be able to read a book for the sake of not comparing it to another book. Isn't that what a love of reading is all about?

In fact (and I'm almost done here), I read a passage by Riordan about the similarities between these two series' of books and he's really just following the patterns that have been set up for a lot of books written for children in the past. From that, it's easy to see how there will always be similarities in children's books - it's just that the most popular one of the time will be the comparison book, rather than the first of its genre.

(As a sidenote to books, I'm a musician who plays the piano and sings - do you know how many times I'm compared to people like Tori Amos? Or basically any female singer-songwriter who uses a piano? When, really, it was Kate Bush that pretty much started the whole thing - NOT Tori. But I digress.)

I highly recommend this series and I can't wait to read more books written by Riordan!

It's the best thing since Harry Potter. Not as good as Harry Potter, but it's definitely up there! If you read it, you'll be hooked!

I've read this book for a while now. Now I get to write a review!

I first checked this book out from the library and then didn't touch it again until the day before it was due. I regretted it immensely. I was hooked from the first few pages. I ran to the bookstore and bought it.

It's funny and everything about it is enjoyable. The Greek mythology worked well and Rick Riordan made it interesting. Percy is an extremely likable character. Annabeth and Grover too.

I definitely recommend this series. It never gets boring and will leave you wanting more.

Rick Riordan's talent astounds me. This series stemmed from bedtime stories that he told his son about the greek gods and a fictional demigod named Percy. And it became something so funny, spectacular and satisfyingly complete, that it was one of the only series` that I`ve ever been able to read straight threw without switching authors in between. I now compare all young adult books to the Percy Jackson series, and very few are even in the same ballpark.

There's nothing cooler than adding your own twist to greek mythology and applying it to modern times. I almost want to say that it's better than Harry Potter, but I'm a huge suck for magic. Nevertheless, this book is just as unique and makes me wanna be a half-blood than any comic super hero.

I enjoyed the detailed description of the scenes and the characters - it was easy to feel like I was in the story. A creative adventure that unfolds with many twists and turns. I would highly recommend this book.

A wonderful coming of age story about a young boy named Percy Jackson who turns out to be the son of Poseidon.

The gods exist, and Zeus is really p.o'd because his lightening bolt has gone missing. And due to a ban on the three brother gods to not have any more children after WWII and the law that no god can take what belongs to another, naturally Zeus assumes his brother Poseidon had one of his demigod children take the bolt in an attempted power play.

So young Percy Jackson is hounded by gods and monsters before he even knows who he is. That was quite the wake up as you can well imagine. But aided by his trusty friend Grover (who was WAY more awesome in the movie) and Annabeth, daughter of Athena, Percy is off to find the bolt, return it to Olympus, and clear his name. Fun times.

Wonderfully paced, the story doesn't run so fast that you miss out on anything, nor are you bored. The writer did fantastic research for this novel, he was even able to tie the three ages of the Olympians into the story.

My favorite part though was the idea that Olympus moves around in sync with the center of western civilization. Greece was once the center, it is where western civilization was born. But now the United States and Canada are considered the center, so Olympus has moved here, and the gods with it. Fascinating idea, it makes the story uniquely Riordan's.

And aside from Grover, the book is 10x better than the movie.

Seriously, why did I not begin reading this book earlier? I heard the series was popular and when the movie was released in theaters, I really enjoyed it... but I still didn't give the series a try. Anyways, I'm so so glad I didn't put it off any longer because I loved the book! I want to smack myself for not beginning the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series sooner.

If I thought the movie was good, well, the book was certainly much better (as is almost always the case). Percy may be a young MC, but he narrates with a voice that feels like he's speaking directly to you with a light sarcasm that simply makes you smile.

Percy Jackson's life is about to get a lot more complicated. His best friend Grover is actually a satyr and it turns out his substitute teacher was literally from the Underworld... and Percy himself? Well, he's actually a demigod- the son of Poseidon, the God of the Sea. If that wasn't enough, Zeus's lightening bolt has been stolen and Zeus is all too ready to place the blame on our young hero Percy, suspecting Poseidon has been plotting to overthrow him. Now Percy must set out on a quest with Grover, and fellow half-blood Annabeth, the daughter of Athena, in order to clear his name and retrieve the lightening bolt. Percy only has ten days to succeed and prevent a war between the Gods. No pressure.

The Lightening Thief was one fun, wild thrill ride that I wished would never end! I loved how Riordan brings Greek mythology back to life, adding in his own modern twists to create an immensely enjoyable story. There was ever a dull moment!

I'll be stealing- I mean, borrowing- the next book in the series, The Sea of Monsters, from my relative the first chance I get... that's for sure.

You can also check out the review at:
http://midnightbloomreads.blogspot.com/2010/08/lightening-thief-by-rick-riordan.html

I didnt really have anything to read until my friend introduced me to this series. I wasnt too crazy about reading it but boy i was wrong! I ended up loving the book!!! i think rick riordan is a great author and that the series is for all ages.
some advice:
dont watch the movie. it will dissapoint you ! you have to read the book first so you dont get confused . the movie was completely off, and you know wat they say, the book is always better. in this case, THE BOOK IS WAY BETTER.

but if i dont compare it to the movie, i can still say that its amazing. this series is my FAVOURITE!

What a great start to a new series! Kids will love to read this action packed story about a half God half human boy named Percy.

Percy is a Demi God, his mother is a human and his father is Poseidon. When things keep going bad for him at school he finds out his father is a god and that he is a demi god. Zeus seems to think Percy stole his Lightning Rod and wants to punish him. Percy heads out on an adventure to clear his name which has action on every page. He meets Annabeth and Grover who are also great characters. My girls loved Annabeth and like to pretend to be her.

I read this book to my kids and they LOVED it! I love reading to my kids trying to instill the love I have for reading. They were riveted during this story and kept asking for me to keep reading. If you are looking for a book for your kids this is it. I know a lot of books have a female main character and finding one for your boys to read can be difficult but I think this series will get kids and boys reading and wanting more.

This book was great! My son and I really enjoyed reading it and on more than one occasion he begged me to let him stay up so he could read me the next chapter! Your kids will love this book and we can't wait to read book two!

I really liked this book, and definitely loved the characters. I also love the greek mythology aspect of it, as it is the first modern story that I have read with it so well incorporated.

Unfortunately, I could tell exactly what was going to happen from about page 100, so that was kind of a letdown. Also, a lot of the plot twists and turns, and even the main layout, appear to be VERY SIMILAR to Harry Potter, so it's not totally fresh. The good news though? I LOVED Harry Potter and so this was definitely a good read, especially since I feel that we know more about what Percy is thinking than we ever did with Harry (seeing as how this book is written in first person).

All in all though, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes greek mythology, or anyone who doesn't even know a thing about it (a.k.a. me). Also, the chapter titles rock!

This is book written in a modern world where the Greek Gods still exist. Riordan does a great job weaving modern day happenings and history into a world where the God's manipulate our everyday surroundings and influence what happens around us.

This book was entertaining beginning to end. While I would not put it into the same realm as Harry Potter or Eragon (the writing just isn't there) this story is very engaging and the characters likeable. The great thing about this book is that it's gotten me interested in Greek mythology. You can't read it and not want to know more about the characters that fill its pages. Overall I would recommend it, and I've gone as far as to buy the next book in the series

This was a really cute book, and a very cleaver way to hide a classics lesson in the form of a quest story. Very rarely did I feel like Riordan was just inserting mythological references for the sake of adding them, they all seem to fit in with the plot. In fact, I think the ancient gods were very creatively inserted into modern society to explain why certain things today are the way they are.

The writing style was fairly simple, but if did not have that condescending tone or constant repetition that some children's books can have. I had most of the twists/revelations in the plot figured out before they were explicitly stated, but that didn't detract from the pleasure of reading this adventure.

This book was really good. It was exciting from beginning to end! I saw the movie after reading the book that thought that the movie was almost just as good. I'm a huge greek mythology fan and i'd LOVE to live in the world of greek mythology, minus the underworld.lol. ANY GREEK MYTHOLOGY AND HARRY POTTER FANS WILL LOVE THIS BOOK!

all i half to say is what an amazing book! i saw the movie it was sooooooooo much different than the book. i was not very impressed. :(