Percy Jackson and the Olympians

[CaptainCanada]

A while ago I saw a teaser for Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (especially long name); I didn't think much of it at the time, but at some point later I read up a bit more on it. Based on a series of five books, it's part of the post-Rowling fantasy wave, ie, kid discovers he's actually part of a fantasy world that exists hidden within our regular world. In this case, though, he's not a wizard, he's a demigod...with his father being one of the Olympians.

The books got good reviews, and since I can always use some light reading material while working on my MA, I looked into the first book, The Lightning Thief. I read all five books in about two weeks; I enjoyed them a lot. It's quite creative, and since I'm a big fan of Greek mythology, the writer does a great job of integrating it into the story, including a lot of the characters' rough edges.

You can draw a lot of parallels with the HP books, but that's really just them using a lot of the same writing tropes (you can draw a pretty straight line between Hermione and Percy's brainy grey-eyed warrior pal Annabeth).

Anyone else read any of these?

 

[KB24]

I haven't read it, but with the all star cast I'm curious to see it eventually. Sean Bean is Zeus, why didn't anybody think of *that* before?!

But also, I am a little worried that everybody and their grandma who's written a youth fantasy has been turned into a movie recently. Some of them have been successful in the wake of Potter I suppose, but others have been just drivel and flooded the market. Spiderwick, Golden Compass, Mimzy, oiy, the list goes on.

 

[OmahaStar]

Anyone else read any of these?

Yep. I read the first book back in April, and in the last two weeks, have read books 2-4 plus the Demigod Files (three short stories and "interviews with the characters") also by Riordan. Now, I'm about a quarter of the way through book 5.

They're quick reads, and really addicting.

Oh, and I understand Riordan is doing a spin-off series starting next year about Camp Half-Blood. There's also a graphic novel in the works for next year.

 

[blockaderunner]

It got me interested as well. I actually put a hold on a copy of the book at my local library. I'm behind about 200 people who did the same. Must be popular.

 

[Lapis Exilis]

I haven't read them yet but have certainly seen them around and wondered if they'd be good for my nephews. What's the readability factor for 7-9 year olds?

 

[OmahaStar]

I haven't read them yet but have certainly seen them around and wondered if they'd be good for my nephews. What's the readability factor for 7-9 year olds?

Should be OK. There is no sexual content, and the violence is ... well, there's violence, of the sword-and-stone variety. But since they were originally done as bedtime stories for the author's small kids, I wouldn't think it would be a problem.

 

[CaptainCanada]

I haven't read them yet but have certainly seen them around and wondered if they'd be good for my nephews. What's the readability factor for 7-9 year olds?

Chapters Books puts them in the 9-12 section. There's some violence (particularly in the later ones), but it's nothing extreme - if you'd give your nephews any of the Redwall books, these shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Goju_246]

Am I alone in taking a guess that Nick will be the one to save the Olympians?

 

[OmahaStar]

Am I alone in taking a guess that Nick will be the one to save the Olympians?

Do you mean Nico, or is there someone named Nick I haven't encountered yet?

 

[CaptainCanada]

I assume he means Nico.

 

[OmahaStar]

I assume he means Nico.

I'm not. There are so many characters with similar names, I wouldn't be surprised if the writer had a chapter-long conversation between Nico, Nick, and Nicole.

 

[Thespeckledkiwi]

They are fantastic books in my own opinion. It was one of those rare books that I was eager for the final book to release.