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General Reading: The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series

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    I love these books! They're aimed towards preteens, mostly, but I love the playful way they twist old myths to make a fun, modern story.

    Has anyone else read them?
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    Yep. I've only read the first two, though, ages ago, and I can't remember what happens in them. How many books are there now?
    • CommentAuthorAri
    • CommentTimeMay 29th 2009
     
    Um, five, I think. I love these books. They're a good, easy read, but with a funny narrator and some good characters.
  4.  
    i'll have to look back into them then.
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      CommentAuthorswenson
    • CommentTimeMay 29th 2009
     

    I haven’t read the new one yet… sadly. When I went to the bookstore they were sold out. I’ll have to get it sometime, though.

    • CommentAuthorWiseWillow
    • CommentTimeMay 29th 2009
     
    I love those books! They reference some obscure Greek myths I'd never even heard of before... it was awesome! I need to read the new one...
  7.  
    Hmm... Never read them,. but I loved the Hunger Games.
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    That's by a different author, RVL, but I heard that it's good.

    Yeah, there are five books- I got the Last Olympian off Amazon. @ Steph: the first two are a bit light, but the last three are definitely a lot darker. Still a lot of humor and mythology, so I was happy. :D
  9.  

    dark as in…?

  10.  
    OH! Oops... *blushes*
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    Um, as in more danger, higher stakes, etc. Harry Potter, I guess, would be a good example.
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    I actually dislike Lightning Thief to an extent. I think that Riordan writes the role of an ADHD-afflicted child particularly well, and when I read the beginning of the Lightning Thief, I was hooked. But then he started trying to randomly pop Greek myths into the place, coupled with some rather sloppily done action scenes, it really turned down the book's appeal. Percy is also one of the most blatant Sues I've ever read of.

    I find that a similiar series that is better done is the Sisters Grimm. The characters are more memorable and less shallow. Unlike Lightning Thief, in which villains are essentially killed off as soon as they appear, and the book is themed around Good vs. Evil, the Sisters Grimm have characters in the fuzzy zone between good and evil, and most characters stay in the story. Riordan also tries to make his characters so modern it hurts. He tries too hard, and overshoots. And it is tiring.
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    I actually liked the 'random popping of Greek myths'. Since I recognized a majority of them, it was like a fun ride for me. I don't know anything about action scenes, honestly, so those didn't bother me much.

    I'm not so sure that Percy is a Sue, though. He doesn't always do what's good for him (making an enemy out of Ares, for instance) and he often has to rely on others (Annabeth, Grover, his father) to help him. He is a good swordsman and a good fighter, but if he wasn't, he'd be dead, wouldn't he? He is also not especially dashing or handsome, and in their verbal sparring, Annabeth and Thalia often get the better of him. He's also oblivious when it comes to girls. (He can't comprehend for the life of him why Annabeth acts so pissy whenever Rachel Elizabeth Dare is around)

    He did become 'invincible' in the Last Olympian- I'm not sure that I liked that part, especially since it didn't seem to have enough of a consequence for Percy. But for the most part, I liked Percy's character.
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      CommentAuthorRand
    • CommentTimeMay 31st 2009
     
    I've read each except for the newest one (You know that already, SWQ, of course, of course) but I've also forgotten everything that happens... something about some dude Atlas?!

    Anyway, I'll re-read the series, then approach the last book.
  15.  
    (Oh, and to add to my above post- Percy is almost always tricked and manipulated by Kronos and the Gods. Most of the time, he has no idea what's going on. In the second book, for a while he is ashamed of having Tyson as a half-brother because all the other campers make fun of him. He eventually gets over this, especially after Tyson saves his life multiple times)
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      CommentAuthorRand
    • CommentTimeMay 31st 2009
     
    Isn't the series a little like HP though? I'll think up more points later but how about the trio, Girl, Guy, Guy, friendship thing they've got going? Or the hidden-identity-discovering? Or Camp Half-Blood v Hogwarts? Or even the simple name 'Half-Blood' for that case?
  17.  
    Yeah, there are similarities. Except the plot of PJ didn't get so convoluted as HP. And (SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER DON"T SCROLL DOWN IF YOU HAVEN"T READ THE LAST BOOK)



    (Percy isn't the actual hero in the end)
  18.  
    I just sorta thought Riordan was trying to show off his massive number of Google searches by popping in Greek myths, and since he didn't know what to do with him once he was finished, had his marvelous hero kill them off.
  19.  
    Continueing my previous comment- Percy and Harry actually have rather similar characteristics, as do Annabeth and Hermione, Grover and Ron (to some extent).

    However, Percy seems to have more of a sense of humor than Harry, especially judging from his narration, and is definitely not as emotionally scarred. Also, he seems a lot more easygoing than Harry (this goes along with the whole emotionally scarred thing, perhaps).

    @Nitro: Traditionally, in Greek myths, monsters are just there to oppose the hero, aren't they? You kill them and go on with your life. I always thought that's what Riordan was going for, whether you like it or not. Some people think it's pointless, but it's actually how the myths worked.
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    Traditional writing was definitely at the same standards as today's writing.
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    You mean it definitely was NOT at the same standards of today's writing? Then I'd agree.

    But especially in the later books, most of the enemies Percy encounters are from Kronos, the main baddie.
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    I was definitely not being sarcastic.

    But how Kronos fights his little proxy war bugs me; it is a little too similiar to how Galby fights, which is basically send his little minions to make obstacles for the hero to prove his valor.
  23.  

    I love PJO. My brother and I have read all of them, discuss the merits of Percabeth, plot various gruesome deaths for Rachel Elizabeth Dare… Having new, modern twists to old myths were great, especially since they were told in a very funny way.

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      CommentAuthorSpanman
    • CommentTimeJun 20th 2009
     

    I’m reading The Lightning Thief right now, and so far, so good. True that the main character is completely a Stu, but I’m still enjoying it ._.

  25.  

    Well, he’s a Stu I actually like, unlike Eragon. Mostly because of his hilarious and self-deprecating narrative, which characters like Bella completely lack.

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      CommentAuthorswenson
    • CommentTimeJun 21st 2009 edited
     

    Percy is kind of a Stu, isn’t he? But he’s a lovable Stu, because he still acts like a normal teenager. Just a normal teenager who finds out all this weird (and reasonably awesome) stuff that he can do.

    • CommentAuthorWiseWillow
    • CommentTimeJun 22nd 2009
     
    And his inner commentary is great.

    "In a way, it's nice to know that there are Greek gods out there, because you have somebody to blame when things go wrong. For instance, when you're walking away from a bus that's just been attacked by monster hags and blown up by lightning, and it's raining on top of everything else, most people might think that's just really bad luck; when you're a half-blood, you understand that some divine force is really trying to mess up your day."

    "The cafe windows wrapped all the way around the observation floor, which gave us a beautiful panoramic view of the skeleton army that had come to kill us."

    "New lesson, class. Most monsters will vaporize when sliced with a celestial bronze sword. This change is perfectly normal, and will happen to you right now if you don't BACK OFF!" - Percy"

    "I nodded, looking at Rachel with respect. "You hit the Lord of the Titans in the eye with a blue plastic hairbrush." "
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      CommentAuthorswenson
    • CommentTimeJun 22nd 2009
     

    “I nodded, looking at Rachel with respect. “You hit the Lord of the Titans in the eye with a blue plastic hairbrush.” “

    I loved that part so much! It’s like, the Lord of the Titans, defeated by a hairbrush!

  29.  

    A blue PLASTIC hairbrush!

    • CommentAuthorWiseWillow
    • CommentTimeJun 22nd 2009
     
    Buahaha! That part was amazing. It made me especially happy because I own a blue plastic hairbrush. That would be a great movie scene too.
  31.  

    Mine is pink.

    I’m excited for the movie. Percy Jackson is one of those series that would adapt pretty easily into a film, unlike, say Harry Potter. The books aren’t that long.

  32.  

    I’m excited for the movie. Percy Jackson is one of those series that would adapt pretty easily into a film, unlike, say Harry Potter. The books aren’t that long.

    Knowing Hollywood, they would cut out Grover entirely and replace Annabeth with a 20 year old model. Although, the first description of her says she’s essentially a surfer girl with grey eyes, but I like to imagine her a little more bookwormy than that. You know, projection and all.

  33.  

    Well, if Percy’s twelve, having Annabeth as a twenty year old model would be a bit weird.

    But Grover is there- he’s already cast, I think. Never fear!

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      CommentAuthorSMARTALIENQT
    • CommentTimeJun 23rd 2009 edited
     

    After seeing what they did to Harry Potter, Eragon, and other literary favorites (back when Eragon was a literary favorite), I am keeping my standards and expectations low.

    • CommentAuthorDeborah
    • CommentTimeOct 26th 2010
     
    Guess what....it was a movie--and it was crap. As bad an adaptation as Eragon. Everyone was made older, and the actress playing Annabeth was twenty-three! And Grover was a black gangsta' kid.
    I love this series.
    And I wouldn't call Percy a Stu. Because he does make mistakes, turn out to be wrong about people (especially Luke), and is not The Infallible Person of Perfection that Eragon is often portrayed as. He's also not the resident Mr. Handsome like Eragon, and is completely blind about girls. And I love his narration.

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