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The Lightning Thief: An Amazing Blend of Greek Mythology and the Modern Day

I first read this book over a year ago. It immediately captured my attention because it was full of Greek mythology. It was worth every second.

This is the story of a boy named Percy Jackson. He is shown to be an ordinary boy with learning disabilities. As a natural magnet for disaster, he had been kicked out of many schools. He was just a natural trouble maker. Until he finds out that his "learning abilities" are symptoms of being Olympian.

His best fried is Grover, whom Percy finds out is actually a satyr, sent to watch over him. After Percy ditches Grover, Grover tracks Percy and his mother down at a beach house. Grover tells Percy's mother about Percy's encounter with Mrs. Dobbs earlier, and they quickly rush to get Percy to a place called "Camp Half-Blood" which is a sort of safe place for "heroes",which are demigods- half-god, half-human children. It is a safe haven against the many monsters who want to kill demigods.

On the way, they are attacked by the Minotaur and Percy's mother disappears in a golden shower of light. Percy manages to kill the Minotaur by luck and is taken into the camp grounds, which are protected from monsters.

Percy had to overcome the grief of losing his mother and join the camp activities. He is automaticlly put into the Hermes cabin. He learns that there are twelve cabins for the twleve "big" Greek Gods including Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, Hermes, Ares, Athena, Aphrodite, Apollo, and Artemis. The children from each god live in thier respectable cabins. There are no children, howerver in Zeus's, Hades's, and Poseidon's cabins because many years earlier, Poseidon, Zeus, and Hades agreed they would not father anymore human children because of a prophecy that revealed that one of thier children would determine the gods's fates.

Inside the camp, Percy becomes sort of a small legend when it is discovered that his father was Poseidon. He finds out that because he exists, it mean that Poseidon broke his part of the oath. Then he finds out that the master bolt of Zeus's lightning was stolen, and Percy was the one accused. He is granted a quest by the creepy Oracle in the house attic: He must to find the bolt and prove his innocence, with limited time of course.

He, Grover, and a new friend Annabeth, a sharp-minded daughter of Athena, set out to find the master bolt. They encounter several monsters, including Medusa, as they make their way to the Underworld, land of Hades, which is where they believe they will find the bolt.

On the way, they three run into Ares, who tricks them and gives them a backpack. Once they reach the Underworld, they meet Hades, who tells them he is innocent and accuses Percy of taking his Helm of Darkness too. Percy finds out that the backpack Ares had given him had Zeus's bolt inside of it. Percy escapes the Underworld and finds Ares. They battle and Percy wounds the God of War's heel. Ares gives Percy the Helm of Darkness and Percy returns it to Hades. Then, Percy goes to the Empire State building in New York, which is where the Greek Gods live. He gives the bolt to Zeus, and then returns to Camp Half-Blood.

Percy returns to the camp, only to be attacked by Luke, a son of Hermes. Luke, who had been a friendly sort of guy, tells Percy that it was he who stole the bolt. Luke tries to kill Percy with a scorpion, and then leaves the camp. The book ends when Percy wakes up and Chiron, one of the camp officials, tells him that he was cured and then Percy leaves to attend another school for the year.
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The beginning was attention-grabbing. It was different than what I usually read because of the main character being a boy. I am more accustomed to reading books where the main character is actually a girl. There was a sketchy area in the first few chapters where the book plunged from a realistic world to a fantasy world. I say this because the way Rick Riordan phrases the area when Percy is attacked by Mrs. Dobbs seems almost like a hallucination. I suspect this was intentional however, to stress how weird the situation was from an ordinary boy's point-of-view. It was very effective to me. The voice of the story is incredibly realistic, with amazing characterization of Percy and Grover, and everyone else in the story. For the most part it keeps a reasonable pace for the events occurring. It does not linger over areas in between the main events of the story, so there are no really "boring" segments. At the same time, it does not rush or drag through the important events. The significance of each main event is obvious. The ending had great closure, and at the same time it hinted at the future of Percy and the camp.

This was a great start to an amazing and unique series. Even people who don't love Greek mythology would enjoy this book. A tiny bit of knowledge of Greek mythology would help, but I wouldn't say it is required. Riordan is descriptive enough that it wouldn't matter all that much if you didn't know anything about Greek mythology. Anyone can find something they like in this book. There is action, adventure, mythology, imagination, and so much more. While the target reader for this book is probably middle teens to late teens, I believe it is great for early teens to at least middle twenties. Older people could enjoy this book too, in my opinion.
I classify this book as a MUST read.