Book Review: Percy Jackson & The Olympians by Rick Riordan

The Series:
The Lightning Thief
The Sea of Monsters
The Titan's Curse
The Battle of the Labyrinth
The Last Olympians

Although I could have written individual reviews for each of the five books in the series, I thought I would do one general review. The series follows Percy Jackson, who, at the age of twelve, finds out that he's the son of a god. The series follows the adventures of Percy, and his friends, as they fight to keep the Olympians from being overthrown.

I'm going to admit that I first read this book after seeing the preview for the movie The Lightning Thief. I'm one of those people that prefers to read the book first. Personally, I enjoy seeing where the book and the movie differ. Of course, it also helped that I love mythology, particularly that of Ancient Greece. After reading the first book, I was hooked.

My love for the series stems, in part, from the mythology. I thought it was fun to see how the Gods had adapted to modernization, and technology. Riordan also included various different minor gods/goddesses (i.e Hestia, goddess of the hearth). I was filled with geek joy about those minor gods, who were only briefly mentioned in my mythology courses.

Something that pleased me as a reader was the way that the stories improved as the series went on. The books begin when Percy is twelve, and as he aged, so did the stories. What I mean is that during The Lightning Thief, everything is black and white. The heroes are the "good guys", and the "bad guys" are completely evil. As the books go on, and Percy gets older, the reader sees the gray area. We learn the histories of many characters, and see Percy and his friends struggling with some of their decisions.

Many of you already know what a hit this series is. In fact, Riordan is planning another book in the Percy Jackson world, involving different characters. I'll certainly be picking it up. Overall, it was an enjoyable, funny, and extremely entertaining series.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians
By Rick Riordan
Series Published by Hyperion
Series Rating: B+/A-