Percy Jackson and The Olympians: Book 1 – The Lightning Thief
By Rick Riordan, 2005
A friend of mine explained, “it’s like ‘Harry Potter’ except with Greek Gods,” which turned out to be an apt description of “The Lightning Thief,” the first in a five book series by Rick Riordan. Perseus “Percy” Jackson is a “troubled” kid. He’s an aggressive, sarcastic, ADHD dyslexic with terrible grades, who gets into fights on a daily basis. Percy’s been to five boarding schools in six years and is about to get kicked out of his sixth. When his pre-algebra teacher morphs into a Fury, right out of Greek mythology, and tries to kill him, a chain of events is set in motion leading him to Camp Half-Blood, a safe haven for children of divine parentage. It turns out that Percy is the son of Poseidon, the Greek god of the seas and is suspected of a supernatural theft. Percy, his satyr friend Grover, and Annabeth – daughter of Athena and wholly unimpressed with Percy – are sent on a cross-country divine quest to the underworld to retrieve Zeus’ thunderbolt from the fiery depths of Hades and prevent Olympian war.
“The Lightning Thief” is the perfect inverse of “The Sorcerer’s Stone,” and its American sensibility permeates the story. Percy goes to a special summer camp instead of a boarding school where the children master Greek, Latin and basic combat instead of potions and spells. Olympus is situated several miles above the Empire State Building and the entrance to hell is in West Hollywood. The writing is snappy and simple, straightforward and appropriate for the elementary and junior high school kids at whom the book is aimed. All the chapters have appropriately snarky titles: “Three Old Ladies Knit the Socks of Death” and “I Ruin a Perfectly Good Bus” are good examples. Percy is an adorable narrator, painting himself as a hard-boiled New Yorker even though he’s only 12. The biggest difference between the two series is that while Harry Potter is a hero because he’s a paragon of goodness, Percy Jackson is built in more of the classical Greek mold. He has an edge and plenty of issues to go with it.
Percy’s Olympian father was naturally absent from his life and his mother intentionally married a painful stereotype of a fat, greasy Italian so disgusting that the monsters hunting Percy couldn’t stand to get close to him. Percy feels isolated, especially after his mother’s kidnapping by Hades. He’s immediately singled out at Camp Half-Blood, where demigod children spend their summers, because his very existence breaks a taboo, and in the human world he’s wanted for questioning about the disappearance of his mother.
The sense of abandonment and being lied to and used by parents is a central theme in “The Lightning Thief.” Kids at the camp have to be “claimed” by their parents and many of them never are. “The Gods are busy,” says Annabeth “They have a lot of kids and they don’t always.sometimes they don’t care about us, Percy. They ignore us.” Many of Percy’s actions, such as cutting off Medusa’s head and mailing it to Olympus, are driven by a need for acknowledgement from his father. Percy is used as a scapegoat and tool by his divine relations as they toy with each other and most of the plot is devoted to Percy’s escaping from under their manipulative yoke. He comes to terms with the fact that while his father isn’t around and Percy doesn’t know how Poseidon feels about him, he doesn’t need to let that uncertainty rule his life. Percy accepts his father’s ambiguous feelings and stops being bitter. Not all of the other campers come to accept their fate this way, but it’s a good lesson for kids who see themselves in Percy, have problems in school and don’t always feel that their parents love them enough.
“The Lightning Thief” is a great book. It’s a fast paced, funny, action-adventure tale that never ceases to be entertaining. As an adult reader, I wound up with a lot of questions that I probably wouldn’t have had if I were the target age, like “Are there any demigod children of, say, Chinese gods somewhere?” But because it’s basically a kids book, I let go of my questions and just enjoyed the ride.
Apparently, Hollywood executives have also noticed the similarities Percy’s quest bears to Harry’s and a big budget movie adaptation of “The Lightning Thief” is coming out Friday, directed by none other than former “Potter” director Chris Columbus. I’ve learned from my years as a Potterphile not to expect much besides Hollywood glitz from Columbus, but if you have kids, nieces or nephews, “The Lightning Thief” should be a perfectly good Saturday afternoon distraction. Just be sure to get them the book too.