Percy Jackson and the Olympians (Books 1-3)

I picked this set up mainly because it was a great deal for the first three books in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. I figured it would be an economic way to check out a series that's gotten a lot of popularity.

This set is, simply, an amazing buy, and can't be beat at $11. The books in the set are:

-Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1: The Lightning Thief
-Percy Jackson and the Olympians #2: The Sea of Monsters
-Percy Jackson and the Olympians #3: The Titan's Curse

Each book in the series is a contained adventure, but also part of a larger plot line that continues through the five books. I've reviewed each book separately; the reviews can be found on my profile/website if you're curious.

The basic idea is that Percy Jackson is a show more young demigod, half human and half Greek god. He is the son of Poseidon, the god of the sea. He grows up over the course of the books, starting at age 12 and finishing at 16. Percy's life is full of adventures and dangers, as he often heads off on quests to save his friends or Camp Half-Blood, sanctuary of the demigods. In "The Lightning Thief," Percy and his friends must find Zeus's stolen lightning bolt. In "The Sea of Monsters," they hunt for the Golden Fleece. And in "The Titan's Curse," the young demigods search for a missing friend as well as the Greek god Artemis.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians is an outstanding series, one that I will be rereading often. Riordan's writing is witty, humorous, educational, fun, etc.; these are great books for kids and parents to read together.

5/5. show less

Book one of Percy Jackson and The Olympians opens the door to a fantastical world full of mythical monsters and greek gods. For any lover of mythology, these books are a must have as author Rick Riordan has done a masterful job of incorporating each of the Gods and Goddesses attributes into the complicated setting of the modern-day world, while maintaining the magic.

Percy Jackson is your typical twelve-year-old boy--a problem child with dyslexia and ADHD who's been kicked out of boarding schools along the Eastern seaboard for a variety of behavior problems. But it's not Percy's fault (no, really) and you find out pretty soon why. It's kind of hard to pay attention to something as mundane as algebra with your dad is Poseidon, god of the show more seas.

This revelation pitches Percy head first into a world of half-bloods, minotaurs and mystery, forcing him to accept his fate or perish at the hands of monsters (and maybe the occasional enemy of his father) who want to kill him. Percy doesn't have time to question it, he just has to accept it or risk losing his life. Percy embraces his destiny and pretty quickly, he's on a quest, fighting for his life and realizing he's got the strangest--and maybe, the best--friends.

Comparisons to "Harry Potter" abound and yes, there are similarities. However, using Greek mythology as the source material for these stories provides Riordan with an equally rich, and different, world to set Percy's adventures in. Also, these books are skewed to a younger audience (I would say 9-12) and while there are scary moments, the books are written in Percy's point of view, giving the reader a direct look into every situation--and someone to identify with when things get dicey.

I highly recommend these books for young readers, especially boys. Percy is a great protagonist: he's at times snarky, funny, endearing and sweet. He loves his mother and his friends and takes loyalty very seriously. He's a great role model and hopefully one that will keep children reading. show less

This book was a great book for tweens and teens. The main character Percy, is a great role model for any kid that felt like a trouble maker in school, but who wanted to change their persona. The characters are smart, the story itself is a little simple, but it makes for a quick read. Also, the information about Greek Mythology is fun and interesting.

This set of books has gotten many of my high school "non-readers" to read and enjoy. Fast-paced and Greek mythology based, it is an exceptional YAL set of books.

The Lightning Thief

Summary

This book is about a twelve year old named Percy Jackson. Percy is a half-blood. A half-blood is a child with a human parent and a parent who is a god or goddess. He doesn’t know he is a half-blood until the last day of school when things start to get weird. His math teacher, Mrs. Dodds tried to kill him. He didn’t know if this was for real or if he was imaging this.

When Percy came home he and his mom went on vacation with Percy’s friend Grover. When they were in the car, Percy noticed that Grover had legs as a goat and he had small horns. Then all of the sudden the car was flipped by a monster who took his mom. His mom disappeared right in front of them. He and Grover ran for Camp Half-blood, which show more Percy had never heard before. Camp Half-blood protects all half-bloods from monsters and gods that want to harm them.

While Percy is at camp he learns more about himself. He finds out that his dad is Poseidon, god of the sea. Poseidon is brothers with Hades and Zeus. He also meets lots of Half-bloods and makes a friend. He is friends with Annabeth. Her mother is Athena, god of wisdom. While Percy is there he trains by fighting with other half-bloods.

Then Zeus’s master bolt is stolen and Poseidon is blamed for the theft. Zeus wants the bolt back by the end of summer solstice or else he will declare a war between the gods. To help his father, Percy goes on a quest to return the bolt to Mt. Olympus. The quests are your only chance to leave the camp because the outside world has no protection.

Thankfully Percy isn’t alone, he is with Annabeth and Grover. He gets flying shoes from Luke, who is also half-blood. Percy found out that he was being watched over by Grover, who is a satyr. They start the quest in New York, where the camp is located and travel around the US returning what is stolen. They battle Medusa, get tricked by Ares, lose track of time where people lose their mind and almost get stretched to death. But after many battles they reach Underworld. They think that Hades might have the bolt and they want to rescue Percy’s mother who is trapped. They find out he doesn’t have the bolt and that he is missing the helm of darkness. When they get out of the Underworld they need to find both the helm of darkness and the bolt. They run into Ares and find out he has the helm of darkness and that Ares hid the bolt with Percy. They battle Ares, get the helm of darkness, return the bolt and rescue his mother.

After the quest is over and they please the gods, Percy goes back to camp and he decided that he will spend the school year with his mother. He will return at camp next summer. When Percy packs up and leaves for the year he is almost killed by a half-blood that helped him from the beginning. He escapes just in time to survive.

My Opinion
I thought this book was well written and it grabbed your attention from chapter one. When I first started reading this book I was interested in what would happen next. All the characters were explained well. It felt as if I personally knew the character. I could also relate to what the character was thinking and how they felt as the story went on. The setting was very descriptive and it felt as though I were there watching the whole plot unravel. The only thing I wish the author had written better was the part where they get they battle Ares and get the helm of darkness. This was a little confusing to me at some parts. Other than that this book was very descriptive, well written and it grabbed my attention. show less

A very interesting beginning! I love Percy's voice and humor coming through in this book. Reminds me of my own writing.

Awesome concept of merging Greek mythology with modern times. The gods never went away, only the belief in them, and now they still have great influence over modern times.