4 Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Rick Riordan, whose real name is Richard Russell, is an American author born on June 5, 1964. He was born in San Antonio, Texas, United States of America. His books have been translated into 42 languages and sold more than 30 million copies in the US. Riordan's first full length novel was 'Big Red Tequila'. His big breakthrough was 'The Lightening Thief', the first novel in the Percy Jackson series. Since then, he has written 'The Kane Chronicles' series and 'The Heroes of Olympus' series. 'The Heroes of Olympus' series was the sequel to the Percy Jackson series. 'The Kane Chronicles' focused on Egyptian mythology.
Life and Career:
Riordan graduated from Alamo Heights High School. He went to University of Texas in Austin and studied English and History; he received his teaching certification in those subjects at University of Texas in San Antonio.
He married Becky Riordan on June 5,1985. They moved to Boston in 2013 when their two sons were of college and high school age.



SUMMARY:
Percy Jackson thinks he is just a normal kid who gets into trouble wherever he goes. But when a monster chases him and kills his mother, he begins to suspect something is wrong. He finds out he is a half blood, one of his parents is a mortal human and the other parent, an immortal Greek God. He goes to the Half Blood Camp, the only place on earth protected from monsters who are attracted to half bloods. He learns he is the son of Poseidon, the sea god. Zeus, brother of Poseidon, has had an argument with Poseidon as his main weapon of power, the major bolt has been stolen. Zeus thinks Percy stole it for his father and Percy thinks Hades, the Lord of Death, another brother of theirs, stole it and is trying to start a war between the brothers. Percy trying to get the bolt from the underworld and trying to get back to Olympus before the summer solstice makes up the rest of the plot.



CHARACTERIZATION:
The story revolves around Percy Jackson and his friends, Annabeth and Grover. Percy is the son of the sea god, Poseidon and his mother is an ordinary women. Annabeth is the daughter of Athena, the goddess of wisdom and her father is an ordinary man. Grover is a satyr whose duty is to protect Percy. Zeus' master bolt was stolen and Zeus thinks it Poseidon, his brother. But Percy believes it is Hades who took the bolt to start a war between the gods. Percy is deterred from his quest by a chimera, a monster who looks like a dog, Medusa, an ugly monster who can turn anyone or anything into a statue, a minotaur, a bull man, Ares, the god of war and many more. Percy is my favourite character as he is brave and very impertinent. He shows his bravery by attempting to go into the underworld which is a very frightening place. He is very impertinent because he dared to send Medusa's ugly head as an offering to the gods. Another character I like is Annabeth because she is also another brave character. She is really brave she helped Percy throughout his quest. Grover is a satyr who has to complete a quest to get his searcher's license and he befriends Percy. All the three work together and help each other when they need to.



MY OPINION:
The story was really interesting and the book was really good. I could not put the book down once I started reading it. This was first book in the Percy Jackson series and I cannot wait to get the next book in the series. My favourite part of the book was when Percy was in Olympus and met his father and gave the bolt back to his uncle. My least favourite part of the book is when they are talking to Hades in the underworld. I would like to change the fact that Cerberus has no one to play with, in the Underworld. He is always lonely and at work always. Teens who are brave and who like to learn about ancient Greek mythology would love this book.

Pramiti on 27 May 2017