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asphodelic 's review for:
The Eye of Zeus
by Alane Adams
"The director...has learned from better films that directors sometimes tilt their cameras, but he has not learned why." - Roger Ebert, 2000.
"Alane Adams has learned that "Percy Jackson" is successful, but she has not learned why."- Me, 2020.
This is probably the closest thing to plagiarism I've ever read in my life. The Eye of Olympus is much more than just plain derivative of [b:The Lightning Thief|28187|The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #1)|Rick Riordan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1400602609l/28187._SY75_.jpg|3346751]. It matches story beats, plot progression, character archetypes, and...well, a lot of other things. This book replicated everything from Percy except the charm.
Here's a list of general premise and character similarities with Percy Jackson. Percy is on the left, The Eye of Zeus is on the right:
- Narrators are both 'problem children' living in Manhattan
- Narrators are both demigods fathered by one of the big three
- Narrators are both at the center of a prophecy
- Ares is under suspicion
- One of the kids is knowledgable but cowardly (Grover / Damian)
- One of the kids turns into a tree
- Percy is called "Seaweed Brain" by Annabeth - Macario is called "Sun Brain" by Angie.
- Giving Greek deities silly nicknames and making things modernized.
Here's a list of matching story beats with Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief. They're all pretty much in chronological order. Percy is on the left, The Eye of Zeus is on the right.
- Encounter a mythical creature at a field trip to the museum - Encounter a mythical creature during a science fair
- Three kids go on a quest across the USA - Three kids time travel to go on a quest in ancient Greece
- Brief encounter with the Fates near the beginning
- Percy meets the Oracle of Delphi at Camp - Phoebe meets the Oracle of Delphi in ancient Greece
- Encounter Medusa in the first half - Encounter Python in the first half
- Heroes must escape Medusa's shop - Heroes must escape Arachne's shop
- Heroes must convince Charon to take them into the Underworld
- Heroes get past Cerberus using their wits
- Heroes meet with Hades
Other Problems with The Eye of Zeus:
- Typo on page 17: "A girl with black pigtails died pink at the ends..."
- Adams used "Hercules" instead of "Heracles."
- The tartar sauce joke on page 237 was ripped straight from the Percy Jackson musical
- There were like seven big monster encounters in the whole book. So there was little build up, the fights were so short, and the formula exhausted itself very quickly.
"Alane Adams has learned that "Percy Jackson" is successful, but she has not learned why."- Me, 2020.
This is probably the closest thing to plagiarism I've ever read in my life. The Eye of Olympus is much more than just plain derivative of [b:The Lightning Thief|28187|The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #1)|Rick Riordan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1400602609l/28187._SY75_.jpg|3346751]. It matches story beats, plot progression, character archetypes, and...well, a lot of other things. This book replicated everything from Percy except the charm.
Here's a list of general premise and character similarities with Percy Jackson. Percy is on the left, The Eye of Zeus is on the right:
- Narrators are both 'problem children' living in Manhattan
- Narrators are both demigods fathered by one of the big three
- Narrators are both at the center of a prophecy
- Ares is under suspicion
- One of the kids is knowledgable but cowardly (Grover / Damian)
- One of the kids turns into a tree
- Percy is called "Seaweed Brain" by Annabeth - Macario is called "Sun Brain" by Angie.
- Giving Greek deities silly nicknames and making things modernized.
Here's a list of matching story beats with Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief. They're all pretty much in chronological order. Percy is on the left, The Eye of Zeus is on the right.
- Encounter a mythical creature at a field trip to the museum - Encounter a mythical creature during a science fair
- Three kids go on a quest across the USA - Three kids time travel to go on a quest in ancient Greece
- Brief encounter with the Fates near the beginning
- Percy meets the Oracle of Delphi at Camp - Phoebe meets the Oracle of Delphi in ancient Greece
- Encounter Medusa in the first half - Encounter Python in the first half
- Heroes must escape Medusa's shop - Heroes must escape Arachne's shop
- Heroes must convince Charon to take them into the Underworld
- Heroes get past Cerberus using their wits
- Heroes meet with Hades
Other Problems with The Eye of Zeus:
- Typo on page 17: "A girl with black pigtails died pink at the ends..."
- Adams used "Hercules" instead of "Heracles."
- The tartar sauce joke on page 237 was ripped straight from the Percy Jackson musical
- There were like seven big monster encounters in the whole book. So there was little build up, the fights were so short, and the formula exhausted itself very quickly.