Percy Jackson and the Olympians

[GhostHawk]

Rick Riordan- Percy Jackson & the Olympians
This is a series of 5 books aimed for the younger readers.

My daughter happened to go to the movie, and was blown away.
So I went looking for the original books.
Just finished reading the first book "The Lighting Thief"

Very interesting basic premise (The "gods" of ancient Greece and Rome are still with us)
The Hero of the story is just that, a classic "Hero" of the old school, half mortal, half god. Ohh and he's like 12, and has more than his share of problems.

The good, story kept me very much engaged throughout, action never slowed down. Story line was pretty plausible all things considered.
No sex, not much in the way of bad language. Lots of twists and turns in the plot.

The bad, well if its there I haven't found it yet. Seriously

The Great, well this is a very easy way to get modern people interested in the old mythology.
This is going to grab kids by the ears and drag them off for an incredible adventure. Excellent choice for anyone with children who are trying to encourage them to read.

5 of 5 stars, 2 thumbs firmly up, this is an excellent straight up read for anyone who likes action adventure.
If you have any interest at all in kids, or the "old Gods" such as Zeus, Poseidon, or Greek Mythology you'll love it.

[=X=]

Thanks for the review I'm always looking for good books for my kids

Good short review. Get parental requests for books for their kids and I agree with your opinions.

Couple of other pluses:

All the books are out and at a good price. That makes them reasonable to get.

Another thing is they are NOT "Harry Potter" long. That means they're not nearly as intimidating to new readers or kids to busy to invest days in completing a single book.

[dreams]

My boss and her kids have them all and are on book 3. They love them and are trying to convince me to read them next.

[kainne]

I've read the first two & enjoyed them. Never even heard of them till I saw the movie trailer.

[guyanonymous]

A few of my students have told me about this series, though I've not read it yet. They definitely enjoy it! (they've been grade 3-5 students).

[sakura-panda]

My husband -- who does not normally read for fun -- has been collecting this series. It's the only time that I have ever seen him pick up a book on his own. I haven't read it myself; I'm thinking of watching the movie first. (He's already said he'd like to go see it.)

[BenG]

I know I'm not the target audience for this, but when I read the first book of the series all it did for me was make me appreciate how good a writer J.K. Rowling is.

[lovelyloey]

I recently finished the series too and I like it! I love the wry humour from some of the characters, the action and adventure, and the mythological characters.

[mmefford]

My son and I both read this series and liked it a lot. It's not Harry Potter, but what is? It's an enjoyable series, and what I've really liked about it is my son is now very interested in Greek and Nordic mythology. Riordan does a good job of staying fairly close to the actual myths, though he dresses them up in modern clothes. Definitely worth the money.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by stxopher

Another thing is they are NOT "Harry Potter" long. That means they're not nearly as intimidating to new readers or kids to busy to invest days in completing a single book.

BTW: The first Harry Potter book is not all that long... they get longer as you go through the series. But, by the time the reader gets to the third book they are hooked, and don't care how long they are any more... they might even think they end to quickly.

BOb

[lilac_jive]

I wanted to read this series, but it's not available on Sony. So I won't be reading it.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by lilac_jive

I wanted to read this series, but it's not available on Sony. So I won't be reading it.

If you don't mind stripping DRM from Mobipocket format and converting to ePub, you can get at least the first book from Cyberread. Cyberread is having a sale that ends today if you hurry.

Due to the success of our new loyalty program we are rewarding you with a 2 day sale.

Feburary 27 and 28 we are offering 25% off every book in the store!!!

Enter the code LOYALTY in the coupon code to receive the discount.

For more information about the loyalty program click here

All purchases will go towards your next level of loyalty.

The first book is $7.99. For a discounted price of $5.99.

[AgentBEATS]

I have already finished the series and throughly enjoyed all of them. I must say though that the movie was really disappointing, nevertheless I can do nothing but recommend the series. Even if it is supposedly a children's book series, I see no reason why people of any age group won't enjoy it.

Originally Posted by pilotbob

BTW: The first Harry Potter book is not all that long... they get longer as you go through the series. But, by the time the reader gets to the third book they are hooked, and don't care how long they are any more... they might even think they end to quickly.

True. But the hard part for many kids in the targeted bracket is getting them to read the first one at all. Seeing a shelf of Potter and a much smaller shelf of Percy, some of the more "resistant" test subjects might be willing to force themselves through the Percy pile. (Another point for ebooks: they never know how big a book is before they start.)

Though a nice trick to get them to read is to publicly share in-jokes with the ones that have read them. (Settle down! You're not in the Ares cabin you know!) Never underestimate the power of a youngster feeling left out.