Book Review: Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series by Rick Riordan

Summary (The Lightening Thief):

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's 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's 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.

 

Review:

The books in order are: The Lightening Thief, The Sea of Monsters, The Titan's Curse, The Battle of the Labyrinth, and The Last Olympian.  This was a great series, appropriate for children as well as young adults.  Books written from a young boy's point of view aren't my personal favorite, but I enjoyed this series nonetheless.  The imagery is great, there is some well-placed humor, especially from Percy's friends Grover and Tyson, and each book's plot is very fast-paced.  I like how Riordan weaves the real and surreal worlds together.  I haven't thought much about Greek mythology since middle school, but the Percy Jackson series is Greek mythology come to life.  Fans of Gregor the Overlander, Cirque du Freak, Tyger Tyger and Scott Westerfeld will enjoy this series.

Just One Gripe:

They are really more childrens' lit than YA books.

The Best Thing About This Book:

The personificaton of Greek mythology is excellently done.

Appropriate for a younger audience:

Yes

As this is more of a children's series, I am scoring it against other children's books. A five star children's book is not equivalent to a five star adult book, in my opinion.

Score:

Characters: 5/5

Plot: 5/5

Setting/Imagery: 5/5

Originality: 5/5

Ending: 4/5

Total Score: 24/25

The Percy Jackson series were 3 star books for me personally, but I am rating them against other children's lit and they deserve 5 stars for that genre.