January 2, 2010 ~ I chose "The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1)" by Rick Riordan as my next book because this is the age group I enjoy writing for, I grew up loving mythology (thank you Clash of the Titans), and I want to read it before the movie comes out. Nine out of ten times the book is better than the movie. This should be promising...
The Lightning Thief at Amazon.com
January 3, 2010 ~ When I picked this up, I expected a great read and that is NOT what I got. Percy Jackson, a twelve-year-old with ADHD and dyslexia, is seemingly orphaned and becomes aware of his true identity. "You're a demigod, Percy." Sorry - the comparisons to Harry Potter are so evident. He goes to a new school (ahem) where he can train, learn to protect himself, and discover the truth about his origins. At Camp Half-Blood (not kidding), he is claimed by his father Poseidon and sent on a quest to find Zues' lightning bolt. He heads out for this adventure with his two friends, Annabeth (the smart girl) and Grover (the sidekick). I would not care so much about these parallels if the book was as well written and interesting as Harry Potter but it did not even come close. This is mostly due to the different writing style, character development (I didn't care about any of them), and forced subplots.
Perhaps my problem is that I am not twelve-years-old. If I were, the colloquial prose that fills the book might be refreshing instead of aggravating. The non-stop action might have been exciting to twelve-year-old me but it really had no purpose and did not support the main plot line. Yes, we are told that the demigods are hunted by Greek monsters and many children of Greek gods do not survive into adulthood. But the whole "Stop here, fight a monster. Stop there, fight a monster. Stop again, fight another monster." was just dumb. While the main plot was better, the ending, which was was supposed to be satisfying, was just disturbing.
On the positive side, I love the idea of young heroes on a quest, I thought the ideas of Greek gods having offspring in the modern world an interesting one, and it was easy reading - never burdensome. I had very high hopes for this book and sadly was disappointed. Boo. 2 of 5 stars is all it gets from me.
Note to the editor: I think you forgot something on page 120 "I managed to sidestep the first kid's swing, but these guys were not as stupid the Minotaur." hmm...
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