Moving like lightning

I found this week's book painfully easy to read, which is funny as I'd been shown it over a year ago I could barely make it past the first 50 pages: the plot seemed that generic. Boy not doing well in school suddenly finds out that his teacher is a monster, only to lose his mother on the run from other such monsters, then to wind up in a school which looks after special children just like him. My 'sounds like Potter' alarm bells were ringing so loud the first time I read it that I couldn't stomach any more.

Maybe I wasn't giving it a proper chance.

I picked it up again last week simply because the copy I'd had, I'd borrowed from someone else. A year or so later I figured it was high time I got around to reading it and handing it back.
Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to see how quickly I could get into it, I was flying through the pages before too long.

Percy finds out that the reason he has struggled so much in life isn't because of his absent father, or his horrible stepfather: it's because he is half God, the son of Poseidon, one of the 'big three' Greek Gods. He winds up in a camp for 'half bloods', those who are half human half God where he finally settles into his own identity. On the downside his mother dies in a battle to get him to the camp where she knows he'll be safe. So for all intents and purposes he is an orphan, with daddy not really wanting much to do with him and mum sitting dead in the underworld ruled by Hades.

Whilst at camp he learns that the world of the Gods is descending into chaos, after a special treasure belonging to Zeus (his fabled lightning bolt) has been stolen, allegedly by Poseidon.
Percy must retrieve it and return it to Zeus by the deadline of the summer solstice. Joined on his quest by friends Annabeth and Grover he then journeys on a roller coaster ride that takes him as far as the underworld and the throne of Hades himself.

The writing is really easy to read, there are no difficult or challenging words that stand out. The plot, once past the initial arrival at camp, moves at breakneck speed. The characters are well developed but not too heavy or dull and the story is full of twists and turns that keep the reader hooked. Set mostly in modern day America, the language helps reflect the casual, friendly US charm and also contributes to the fast pace of the book.

It doesn't work out the same way as the first books in preceding book series (namely one about a certain wizard boy). The problem I have is this, you wouldn't know that unless you gave the book enough of a chance. Things for Percy end very differently than for other notable characters such as Harry Potter. For that alone it is worth persevering and making sure you read past the first hundred pages.

This is book 10 of 52 and my book that is part of a series.

Book Title: Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief 

Author: Rick Riordan 

First Published: 2005

Suitable for: children aged 9 and upwards

Interesting words: vaporize, sarcastic, scowled, pinochle.