My Opinion: Percy Jackson - The Lightning Thief By Rick Riordan

Book Cover

So today's topic is regarding the infamous children's series - Percy Jackon. It's written by a guy called Rick Riordan. The series has 7 books in total and I'll be discussing the first book today which is called 'The Lightning Thief'

First impression -  The chapter names are absolutely so laughable. Like, take a look:

Chapter Titles

"I accidentally Vapourize My Pre-Algebra Teacher" Okay wow, congratulations. I wish I could do that too because my pre-algebra teacher is terrible. Anyways, then we have "I ruin a perfectly good bus" Like boy, why would you do that. The bus did nothing to deserve the ruination. After that we have, "A God Buys Us Cheeseburgers" and spoiler alert: a god did buy them cheeseburgers from a local McDonalds...!! I could go on forever about how wacky these chapter names are but I'll stop (for now). Let's actually get into the story now!

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief is about a 12-year-old boy named Percy Jackson who finds out his life isn’t normal and it’s totally wild! He’s actually a demigod, which means he's half god and half human. 

Percy has always felt like he didn’t fit in. He has ADHD and dyslexia, which makes school really hard. One day, on a school trip, his math teacher turns into a monster and attacks him! Percy somehow fights her off with a magical sword his Latin teacher gives him. Soon after, his best friend Grover tells him he’s a satyr (half-goat, half-human), and they rush to a place called Camp Half-Blood.

Percy Jackson

On the way, Percy’s mom is captured by a Minotaur. Percy defeats the monster but is heartbroken because he thinks his mom is gone forever. At camp, he learns that the Greek gods are real, and they have kids with humans called demigods—like him. Percy finds out Poseidon is his dad, which is a big deal because the gods think he stole Zeus’s lightning bolt. Now Percy has to go on a quest to find the real thief and stop a war between the gods.

Percy And His Gang

After Percy finds out he’s a demigod and accused of stealing Zeus’s lightning bolt, he gets a quest to find it and return it to Mount Olympus. Percy teams up with Grover and Annabeth, a super-smart daughter of Athena because every hero needs a team! They travel across the U.S. to get to the Underworld in Los Angeles because they think Hades (the god of the Underworld) has the bolt. Along the way, they run into a bunch of monsters and traps.

While travelling, they end up at a weird garden shop full of statues. Turns out, the statues are actually real people who got turned to stone by Medusa. She tries to turn Percy and his friends into statues too, but Percy outsmarts her and uses a sword to chop off her head. (Gross, but awesome!) They keep her head in a bag, which comes in handy later.

In St. Louis, they go to the top of the Gateway Arch, but it’s a trap! A monster called the Chimera (a fire-breathing lion with a snake tail) attacks Percy, and Echidna, its creepy mom, is there too. Percy jumps into the Mississippi River to escape, and that’s when he realizes he can breathe underwater because he’s Poseidon’s son.

Ares

In Denver, they meet Ares, the god of war. He’s super intimidating and makes Percy feel like something bad is going on. Ares gives them a backpack and sends them to a water park to retrieve his shield, which is part of another trap. Even though it’s dangerous, they complete the task. But Percy doesn’t trust Ares because he seems way too shady.

When they get to Las Vegas, they stop at this super cool hotel called the Lotus Casino. It’s full of video games, amazing food, and fun stuff, so they decide to take a break. But there’s a catch—once you’re inside, you lose track of time. Percy realizes that people have been trapped there for decades, thinking only a few hours have passed. They barely escape and discover they lost several days, which makes their quest even harder.

Finally, they make it to Los Angeles and find the entrance to the Underworld. They meet Charon, the ferryman of the dead, and convince him to take them across the River Styx. When they meet Hades, Percy accuses him of stealing the lightning bolt, but Hades is like, “What are you talking about? I thought you had it.” Hades even threatens Percy because he thinks Percy stole his Helm of Darkness, another magical item that went missing.

Hades And The Underworld

Then Percy realizes the truth—the lightning bolt was hidden in the backpack Ares gave them. It was all a trick!

Percy and his friends leave the Underworld to stop Hades from hurting Percy’s mom. On the beach, Ares shows up and admits he was behind the whole thing. Ares wanted to start a war between the gods for fun because he’s the god of war. Percy fights him in an intense battle, using his sword skills and powers from Poseidon. Percy manages to injure Ares, which is a huge deal because gods are almost impossible to beat. Ares runs away, and Percy gets the lightning bolt back.

Percy brings the lightning bolt back to Zeus at Mount Olympus, which is at the top of the Empire State Building. Zeus is kind of mad, but he forgives Percy and Poseidon. The gods don’t go to war, which is awesome. But Percy finds out that the real bad guy behind everything is Kronos, an evil Titan who wants to take over the world.

Poseidon

There's so much more in the story too like how (spoiler alert) Percy gets betrayed by someone he considered a great friend. How to mean Pecy's stepfather and what happens to his stepfather at the end of the story. What happens to Percy after his mom returns, et cetera.

And that's about it. The storyline is genuinely pretty awesome if I'm being honest! The book has so much action and adventure, but it’s also funny. Percy is super relatable, and he learns a lot about himself, like how being different isn’t a bad thing. Plus, it’s full of Greek mythology, which makes it even cooler. If you like stories about heroes, monsters, and saving the world, this book is perfect!

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