The Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series by Rick Riordan
The Lightning Thief (Book One) - 375 pages - Miss Simer’s Rating: ***
Myth meets reality in this fast-paced Rick Riordan novel, which is the first in the Percy Jackson series. Twelve-year-old Perseus Jackson is living in modern-day New York City , unaware that he is being pursued by monsters intent on murdering him because of his family history. You see, Percy’s father happens to be the god of the sea, Poseidon. Percy discovers his half-blood heritage and that his life is meant to end with a hero’s fate, which is never good. Percy is accused of stealing Zeus’s lightning, the symbol of all his power. In order to survive Zeus’s deadly threats, he must go on a quest to the underworld to retrieve the lightning and face Hades, god of the underworld. With friends Annabeth, daughter of Athena, and Grover, a satyr (half-goat), Percy embarks on his quest. He encounters Hades, Ares, nymphs, naiads, centaurs, minotaurs, and many other mythological creatures during his journey. Will Percy be successful in finding and returning the lightning to Zeus? Will he finally meet his father, Poseidon? Find out in this mythological adventure!
The Sea of Monsters (Book Two) - 279 pages - Miss Simer’s Rating: ***1/2
Halfblood Percy Jackson is back in this sequel to The Lightning Thief. The son of Poseidon, god of the sea, and a human mother, Percy is anxiously waiting for the summer so he can return to Camp Halfblood and reunite with his friends Chiron and Annabeth. When he learns that the camp is under attack and is on the brink of being destroyed, Percy and Annabeth take action. The only thing that will save their camp is to find the Golden Fleece, which has an incredibly strong healing power. Unfortunately, it is on a remote island in the Sea of Monsters, guarded by a flock of man-eating sheep and a very unfriendly Cyclops. With some notable characters returning, including Luke, Percy’s nemesis, and new characters introduced, including Tyson, a young Cyclops who has a special relationship to Percy, this book is easy to follow and action-packed. In my opinion, it probably isn’t necessary to read The Lightning Thief first, but I’d recommend it as a seperate read!
The Titan’s Curse (Book Three) - 312 pages - Hank H.’s Rating: ****
When fourteen-year-old Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon gets a very important call from his friend Grover, a satyr, he gets prepared for a fight. His two demigod friends, Thalia and Annabeth accompany him to be his aides. When the three reach Grover, he tells them that he has found two half-blood children. The goal is to recruit these half-blood children to fight against the evil forces of Lord Kronos. But it isn’t as simple as it seems to just take the children with them. They have many obstacles to overcome. This is a very entertaining and action packed book, which interjects Greek mythology in a modern day setting.
The Battle of the Labyrinth (Book Four) - 361 pages - Miss Simer’s Rating: ***
In an attempt to stop the evil Lord Kronos from using his Underworld army to invade Camp Halfblood, Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Tyson head into the mythical Labyrinth. There is no shortage of terror-inducing monsters in and out of the Labyrinth, including the vampiric empousai, snaky dracaenae, Laistrygonian giants, Calypso, the Sphinx, a Hundred-Handed One, Hephaestus, Daedalus and Kronos himself. This fourth novel foreshadows the fifth and final novel in the series, in which Percy will finally have his chance to face Kronos and Luke in one last battle.
The Last Olympian (Book Five) - 381 pages - Miss Simer’s Rating: ***1/2
Percy and his friends at Camp Halfblood are doing what they can to prepare for an all-out war between the Titans, led by Kronos, and the gods, led by Zeus. The campers learn that Kronos is planning to overtake Olympus, but he has dispersed many distractions to keep the gods away from their home base. Typhon is winding his way from the west coast to the east causing weather-related destruction in his path. Poseidon’s sea palace is threatened, keeping him very busy and away from the main battle that is to come. It is up to Percy, Annabeth, and their fellow campers to stop the Titans from taking Olympus - at all costs! This is an entertaining and action-packed finale to a fantastic series - and the author leaves the door open to another Camp Halfblood series in the future.
This is such an exciting book! Rick Riodran definitely makes a good story! In this book, myths come together with the real world, when Percy Jackson deicovers that he is a son of Poseidon, the god of the sea, earthquakes, and horses. He embarks on a dangerous quest to clear his fathers name. Definetly an exciting novel! - Vincent (on the Lightning Thief)
This novel is action-packed, full of suspense, and leads
to a dangerous quest that involves apocolyptic doom upon
earth. I also love how the author takes that old boring
mythology and turned it into modern based mythology.
These books are very good reads. If you liked the book Eragon, then this is the series for you. Demi-gods, The Gods, and many more will be found in these books so if you like fantasy, these are the books for you.
Between moving schools alot and getting kicked out of school, Percy Jackson always knew there was something different about him. His best friend Grover knew too, but kept it a secret between him and a mysterious but good teacher. All goes wrong that possibly could this first year though, and Percy learned the other side of him. Read more to find out what happened to him the next many years of his life.