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A review by vermidian
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
4.0
This is a review I did after rereading this book. I originally read this before I had a Goodreads account.
This is a solid 4 star read for me, leading into a great series. There are some definite growing pains for this world to conquer, but Riordan is really good about taking feedback from his fans and improving his works to better suit them. He's a fantastic author and I highly recommend this series. The world he creates in this and his later extensions on the pantheons of various worlds are a lot of fun to read.
At worst, sometimes the humor comes off as a little juvenile, or the actions a little too abrupt or too adult for the characters who are meant to be twelve in this book. For example, how Percy's mom handles things in the end is very dark - though not entirely undeserved.
The modernized take on mythology is what really makes this series a lot of fun. Dionysus running a summer camp, drinking Diet Coke. Medusa selling statues for a living. Poseidon wearing white guy margarita-ville style shirts. It's a very joyful adaptation on a long respected subject. It's humorous, but never overtly disrespectful to the source material in my opinion. Others might not agree, but everyone has their own taste. This book on its own is a great little adventure novel, but the series as a whole is so much fun to read. Not only do you get to see the characters grow, but you get to see relationships bloom and the plot thicken and see the heroes change their world as only heroes can.
If you are looking into reading this book for the first time, I absolutely recommend it.
This is a solid 4 star read for me, leading into a great series. There are some definite growing pains for this world to conquer, but Riordan is really good about taking feedback from his fans and improving his works to better suit them. He's a fantastic author and I highly recommend this series. The world he creates in this and his later extensions on the pantheons of various worlds are a lot of fun to read.
At worst, sometimes the humor comes off as a little juvenile, or the actions a little too abrupt or too adult for the characters who are meant to be twelve in this book. For example, how Percy's mom handles things in the end is very dark - though not entirely undeserved.
The modernized take on mythology is what really makes this series a lot of fun. Dionysus running a summer camp, drinking Diet Coke. Medusa selling statues for a living. Poseidon wearing white guy margarita-ville style shirts. It's a very joyful adaptation on a long respected subject. It's humorous, but never overtly disrespectful to the source material in my opinion. Others might not agree, but everyone has their own taste. This book on its own is a great little adventure novel, but the series as a whole is so much fun to read. Not only do you get to see the characters grow, but you get to see relationships bloom and the plot thicken and see the heroes change their world as only heroes can.
If you are looking into reading this book for the first time, I absolutely recommend it.