Hiya, everyone! Noreen here with a book review on “The Lightning Thief “ by Rick Riordan.
!WARNING! Spoilers Ahead!
Demigods are the children of a human parent and a God or Goddess. They have skills that their parents are well known for. A child of Hephaestus would be very good with weapon making and smithing. A child of Ares would be very strong and good at fighting. A child of Athena would be extremely smart and logical. Eight of the twelve major Gods and Goddesses can have demigod children. Those Gods and Goddesses being:
- Demeter: Goddess of fertility, agriculture, nature, and the seasons
- Athena: Goddess of wisdom, handicrafts, defense, and strategic warfare
- Apollo: God of light, knowledge, healing, plague and darkness, the arts, music, poetry, prophecy, archery, the sun, manly youth, and beauty
- Artemis: Goddess of the hunt, virginity, childbirth, archery, the moon, and all animals
- Ares: God of war, violence, and bloodshed
- Aphrodite: Goddess of love, beauty, and desire
- Hephaestus: God of fire and the forge
- Hermes: God of commerce, thieves, and games
- Dionysus: God of wine, celebrations, and ecstasy
The four others that were excluded are Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, and Hera. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, better known as The Big Three, can’t have children because they made a pact, knowing that if they had children, one would decide the fate of Olympus on their sixteenth birthday. Now, of course, none of them stayed true to the pact, but we’ll get to that soon enough. Hera can’t have children because she’s the Goddess of marriage, so it would be deemed wrong.
And then we have the main man himself, Percy Jackson. Son of Poseidon. Now, I know that you’re confused because I just mentioned it was illegal. You’re right, it is. But of course that doesn’t stop Poseidon. He has Percy anyways. Percy doesn’t know that Poseidon is his dad. All he knows is that he left him and his mother alone with Gabe, Percy’s step-father, and he hates him for it. Percy grows up as a trouble child, getting moved from school to school, all because something bad always seemed to happen. Eventually, he stays in a school long enough to meet his Protector, Grover. Percy doesn’t know that yet, but he will. Percy feels calm and at ease when he’s in water. He can also hold his breathe for an extremely long time. He’s your average hero. He has what I call, chronic hero disorder. But unlike many books, Percy works with the world around him.
And then there’s Annabeth Chase. Daughter of Athena. At the beginning, Annabeth believes that Percy is the one who will take her on this amazing quest. Still, Annabeth is a bit of a jerk to Percy, but I believe that more just because of her personality. Annabeth came to Camp-Half Blood at a very young age, along with Thalia Grace, who we will discuss another time, and Luke Castellan, son of Hermes. Grover took them to Camp-Half Blood, loosing Thalia in the process. Annabeth of course felt bad but not as much as Grover. Annabeth is a character I really like. She actually has faults and she isn’t all about beauty, she’s about brains. She’s a good love interest and female protagonist.
Grover Underwood is a Satyr and in the beginning, not a very good one. Grover is thought to just be a kid Percy’s friends with and who has been held back quite a bit. Grover cares a lot about Percy and Annabeth as it was and still is his job to protect them. Grover will do anything to help Percy. Grover was there to help Annabeth get to Camp-Half Blood when she was seven. That was his first failure at being a Protector, but, of course, with Percy, he got him there safe and sound.
Zeus’ Lightning Bolt was stolen and as the Prophecy dictates, Percy must go and find it. But first, he has to get to Camp-Half Blood. At Percy’s school, Yancy Academy, Percy is attacked by a Fury disguised as his math teacher, Mrs. Dodds. Percy gets a pen from Mr. Brunner, but it’s not only a pen, but a sword called Riptide. After the fight and Percy gets rid of the Fury, no one can remember Mrs. Dodds. As Grover and Percy’s mother are trying to get him to Camp-Half Blood, they get attacked by the Minotaur. Percy’s mother is ‘killed’ but Percy can get her back if he goes to the Underworld, according to Hades. Also, he finds out that he needs to get back Zeus’s Lightning Bolt, which may be in the Underworld. He goes, taking Grover and Annabeth with him after a lot of convincing. As the group crosses the country to get to the Underworld, many things happen. They almost get turned into stone by Medusa, Percy almost dies going up Echidna and the Chimera, they get caught in a trap made by Hephaestus to catch his wife, Aphrodite, and Ares. Ares surprisingly enough help them out, giving Percy a backpack of goodies and a ride to Las Vegas. They almost get stuck in the Lotus Casino, almost killed by Procrustes, and then, finally reach the Underworld to find out that he had the Lightning Bolt the whole time. The backpack that Ares gave him had the Lightning Bolt in it the entire time. Eventually, Percy gets his mother back. Since they only have three of Poseidon’s pearls, one of them has to stay. Grover stays and lets Percy, Annabeth, and Percy’s mother get out. Percy rushes of to get Zeus’s Lightning Bolt to him in time. And it turns out that Luke is a bad guy! Luke trys to get the Lightning Bolt from Percy and make him fail his quest. Luckily, Percy gets rid of Luke and gets to Olympus in time.
Overall, “The Lightning Thief” is a very well done book, and a great beginning to a even greater book series. I suggest this book and the entire series to almost everyone I meet. If you want a book that gives a fresh take on mythology, then this is totally it.
I hope you enjoyed this week’s book review. If you’ve read the book or you just have something to say, comment it down below (just be sure to mark your spoilers). Thanks for reading!
You can get “The Lightning Thief” here.