Percy Jackson and the Olympians The Lightening Thief

AUTHOR - Rick Riordan

PUBLISHER- Scholastic

PLACE AND YEAR OF PUBLICATION- New York , NY 2006

NUMBER OF PAGES- 375

WHERE I FOUND THE BOOK- Christian Heritage School Library

The title of the book is important because it highlights one of the main labels that the main character Percy is seen as by the gods. It also highlights Percy's relation to the Olympians and their influence on the story.Perseus Jackson is a demigod , his mother is a mortal and his father is Poseidon the god of the sea. He lives in New York with his mother. He has a lot of academic and social problems.He doesn't know who his father is , until one summer when his mother had to take him to Camp Half-blood which is for demigods.There they are attacked and his mother is captured by Hades.There he meets Annabeth and Luke , learns sword fighting , and Poseidon declares him as his son.

At Camp Half-blood , Percy accepts a quest to find Zeus' stolen Lightening bolt, because Zeus is accusing Poseidon's son of stealing the bolt. But he didn't steal it and everyone assumes that Hades stole it for revenge. So Percy and his friends Annabeth and Grover journey to the Underworld, to return the master bolt to Olympus before the Summer Solstice or else a war between the gods would start. On their way , they are attacked by various monsters sent by various gods. When he reaches the Underworld and discovers that Hades didn't steal the Bolt. But the Helm of Darkness which belongs to Hades was stolen from him , but he kept it a secret. Hades accuses Percy of stealing both objects . Then Percy realizes he was tricked by the god Ares into carrying the Master Bolt to the Underworld. Percy makes a deal with Hades , that he would find the Helm of Darkness in exchange of keeping the Master Bolt.

Ares challenges Percy to a fight and Percy conquers and gets the Helm of Darkness back from him. Then he gives it back to Hades , and Hades returns Percy's mother. Next, Percy goes to Manhattan Empire State Building , where Mount Olympus is located on the highest floor invisible to all mortals. Over there Zeus receives his Lightening Bolt and Percy meets his father Poseidon for the first time.

Percy returns to spend the rest of the summer in Camp Half-blood, where he discovers who the true thief of the Master Bolt and the Helm of Darkness are. It is his friend who stole them on orders from Kronos , who is trying to regain his power. After he stole Ares caught him , and decided to frame Percy as thief instead. Then deceive Percy into carrying it to Tartarus where Kronos could destroy all the gods. He then attempts to kill Percy. But Percy survives. What he does after that to stop the true thief and the battle between gods and titans remains a mystery for you to discover.

CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE:

As a Christian , I would say that the book was not written in a Christian perspective. This is because the book is centred around Greek mythology , wars and battles. Perseus Jackson the main character , displays some Christ-like values by endangering his own life to protect his companions. As well as , bringing peace to the Olympians and stopping a war from destroying the world. In my opinion , a more Christian way to deal with Percy's step dad was to send him away , instead of turning him to stone.

MY THOUGHTS:

In my perspective , this book is great. It has a lot of action and a mythological theme , that make the book extremely exciting . It shows the power of friendship and the importance of family no matter who or what they are. I had so much fun reading the book. One of the things I enjoyed reading the most about is the connection the characters have to each other , to the theme of the book and the world around them. I would recommend this book to any reader who is interested in reading about Greek mythology , fiction or monsters.