Title: Percy
Jackson and the Lightning Thief
Author: Rick
Riordan
Publisher: Puffin
Publish
date: 2013
ISBN: 9780141346809
This is a good fun book, and I look forward
to reading more in the series. Kids’ modern-day Greek hero stories, with the
main protagonists being demi-god Halfling issues of the endlessly lustful
pantheon of Greek gods – all masquerading as human teenagers, of course.
Quite unnecessary to give a synopsis. It’s
one adventure-and-getting-out-of-impossible-scrapes after another. Don’t get me
wrong, they all hold together nicely, and every 20 paces you see a nice firm
link to a future idea dropped along the way. (Hence the interest in reading
more. Well, that and the pretty decent writing.) The only peeve I can think of
is that it’s heavy-handed with the pointing-out of links and references, but
hey, one can well see why that would have arisen, with the current level of
understanding of Greek mythology. It’s still fun and nod-wink for those who
know, and seems to be a successful come-on and entertainment for those who don’t.
Lovely fun characterisation, nice focus and no redundant back-story,
elaboration or side-tracks… apart from for pure amusement. Each character has
its own comfortable amount of attention. Plus (and here’s a rare thing these
days) they’re LIKEABLE. Even the villains are fun. The author’s tongue is never
out of their cheek.
I’m sitting here wondering why I wouldn’t
give this a five out of five. Because it’s not Kafka or Milton? That’s not what
it’s aiming for. It’s a bona-fide YA romp with good rewards and a desire to
inspire more education, it’s not condescending, and attains all its goals with
flying colours. Love it. Five moose-hoofs up out of five.
