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Book Summary and Reviews of The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

The Lightning Thief

Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1

by Rick Riordan

  • Critics' Consensus (1):
  • Readers' Rating (6):
  • Published:
  • Jun 2005, 384 pages
  • Rate this book

About this book

Book Summary

There is no such twelve-year-old boy as Perseus 'Percy' Jackson. The Greek gods are nothing more than old myths. They certainly never have children with mortals in the 21st century, nor is there any such place as Half Blood Hill, a summer camp for demigods on eastern Long Island. Percy never met a satyr or a daughter of Athena. They most emphatically did not take a quest together across the United States to reach the gates of the Underworld and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. There is subtle social critique for sophisticated readers who can see it. Although the novel ends with a satisfying conclusion (and at least one surprise), it is clear that the story isn't over. The 12-year-old has matured and is ready for another quest, and the villain is at large. Readers will be eager to follow the young protagonist's next move." - School Library Journal.

"Percy is an appealing, but reluctant hero, the modernized gods are hilarious, and the parallels to Harry Potter are frequent and obvious. Because Riordan is faithful to the original myths, librarians should be prepared for a rush of readers wanting the classic stories." - Booklist.

"This wild romp of a book will intrigue and amuse middle schoolers, whether they know the Greek myths or not. Best of all, it looks as though this is just the first adventure for Perseus, Glover, and Annabeth." - Children's Literature.

"The sardonic tone of the narrator's voice lends a refreshing air of realism to this riotously paced quest tale of heroism that questions the realities of our world, family, friendship and loyalty." - Kirkus Reviews

This information about The Lightning Thief was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

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Auds

Greek Mythology and humor
Have you ever wondered how life would be if Greek gods existed and impacted people’s lives? This book is exactly that but with children of the gods and humans, called demigods. Percy Jackson, a 12 year-old boy, has always had mysterious, and weird events happen to him. But after one disastrous day when his human mom is taken away from him, he finds out that he is a demigod. He is sent to Camp Half-Blood and learns about the world of Greek gods. With his newfound powers and friends, he is sent on a quest to return Zeus’s thunderbolt which has disappeared mysteriously causing chaos between the gods. In addition, Percy is determined to save his mother from harm no matter the consequences. While on this quest, he and his friends discover there is a new, dark evil starting to form and its goal is the destruction of the Greek gods. Will Percy make it through his difficult quest with his friends’ help and save his mother? Read this book and find out. Also, get ready for some sarcastic and funny comments made by the characters in the book, especially Percy Jackson.

Viv

Percy Jack and the Olympians
At first, I saw the movie commercial and thought , is there a book for it? A friend told me that I should start reading the series. I tried it and it was one of the best books I've ever read. This book was filled with Greek mythology that got me interested in borrowing a couple from my public library.

Jackie

Great Book!
This book is very good and it is outstanding book to young and the mature readers out there. Rarely, this book got interested from the very beginning. This book talks about mainly about Greek Mythology so I would recommend at least study a bit before reading this book.

Interesting
Greek Mythology
Addicting to read
- Confusing for the people who don't know about Greek Mythology

deja bontato

percy jackson and the olympians
This book was the best, so far, children's book I've ever read. It has rich details that explain the life of a child who finds out he's a son of a Greek god. I loved this book and can't wait to read the next one.

maddie

it was fantastic
percy jackson and the Lightning Thief is a very exiting and gripping story so I never wanted to stop reading it.

So that is why I gave it 5/5.

Rachel Jones

The Lightning Thief
Fantastic! With heart-stopping moments and hilarious characters, you won't want to put this book down.

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Author Information

Rick Riordan Author Biography

RYE-ohr-din

Rick Riordan is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of over twenty novels for young readers, including the Percy Jackson series, the Kane Chronicles, the Magnus Chase series and the Trials of Apollo. He is also the author of the multi-award-winning Tres Navarre mystery series for adults.

For fifteen years, Rick taught English and history at public and private middle schools in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Texas. While teaching in San Antonio, Saint Mary's Hall honored him with the school's first Master Teacher Award.

While teaching full time, Riordan began writing mystery novels for grownups. His Tres Navarre series went on to win the top three national awards in the mystery genre – the Edgar, the Anthony and the Shamus. Riordan turned to children's ...

... Full Biography
Link to Rick Riordan's Website

Name Pronunciation
Rick Riordan: RYE-ohr-din (first syllable is pronounced like rye bread)

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