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Title | The Lightning Thief
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Author | Rick Riordan
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Cover Art | John Rocco
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Publisher | Disney - Hyperion - 2006
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First Printing | 2005
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Title | The Sea of Monsters
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Author | Rick Riordan
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Cover Art | John Rocco
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Publisher | Disney - Hyperion - 2008
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First Printing | 2006
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Title | The Titan's Curse
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Author | Rick Riordan
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Cover Art | John Rocco
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Publisher | Disney - Hyperion - 2008
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First Printing | 2007
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Title | The Battle of the Labyrinth
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Author | Rick Riordan
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Cover Art | John Rocco
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Publisher | Disney - Hyperion - 2009
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First Printing | 2008
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Title | The Last Olympian
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Author | Rick Riordan
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Cover Art | John Rocco
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Publisher | Disney - Hyperion - 2011
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First Printing | 2009
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Title | The Demigod Files
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Author | Rick Riordan
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Cover Art | Steve James
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Publisher | Disney Hyperion - 2009
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First Printing | Disney Hyperion - 2009
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Category | Children/Young Adult
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Warnings | None
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Main Characters | Percy Jackson, Grover, Annabeth, Chiron, Thalia, Nico, Luke, and the Greek Gods & Monsters
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Main Elements | Gods, monsters
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Website | Rick Riordan Official Site
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 The Lightning Thief
Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school...again. And that's the least of his troubles. Lately mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy's Greek mythology textbook and into his life. And worse, he's angered a few of them. Zeus' master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect.
Now Percy and his friends have just ten days to find and return zeus' stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. But to succeed on his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the true thief: he must come to terms with the father who abandonned him; solve the riddle of the Oracle, which warns him of betrayal by a friend; and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves.
The Sea of Monsters
Percy Jackson's seventh-grade year has been surprisingly quiet. Not a single monster has set foot on his New York prep-school campus. But when an innocent game of dodgeball among Percy and his classmates turns into a death match against an ugly gang of cannibal giants, things get...well ugly. And the unexpected arrival of his friend Annabeth brings more bad news; the magical borders that protect Camp Half-Blood have been poisoned by a mysterious enemy, and unless a cure is found, the only safe haven for demigods will be destroyed.
In this fresh funny, and wildly popular follow-up to The Lightning Thief, Percy and his friends must journey into the Sea of Monsters to save their camp. But first, Percy will discover a stunning new secret about his family - one that makes him question whether being claimed as Poseidon's son is an honour or simply a cruel joke.
The Curse of the Titans
When Percy Jackson receives an urgent distress call from his friend Grover, he immediately prepares for battle. He knows he'll need his powerful demigod allies at his side, his trusty bronze sword Riptide, and...a ride from his mom.
The demigods races to the rescue to find that Grover has made an important discovery: two new powerful half-bloods, whose parentage is unknown. But that's not all that awaits them. The Titan lord Kronos, has set up a devious trap, and the young heroes have just fallen prey.
Hilarious and action-packed, this third adventure in the series finds Percy faced with his most dangerous challenge yet - the chilling prophecy of the Titan's curse.
The Battle of the Labyrinth
Percy Jackson isn't expecting freshman orientation to be any fun. But when a mysterious acquaintance appears on campus, followed by demon cheerleaders, things quickly move from bad to worse.
In this fourth installment of the blockbuster series, time is running out as war between the Olympians and the evil Titan lord Kronos draws near. Even the safe haven of Camp Half-Blood grows more vulnerable by the minute as Kronos' army perpares to invade its once impenetrable borders. To stop the invasion, Percy and his demigod friends must set out on a quest through the Labyrinth - a sprawling underground world with stunning surprises at every turn.
The Last Olympian
All year the half-bloods have been preparing for battle against the Titans, knowing the odds of victory are grim. Kronos' army is stronger than ever, and with every god and half-blood he recruits, the evil Titan's power only grows.
While the Olympians struggle to contain the rampaging monster Typhon, Kronos begins his advance on New York City, where Mount Olympus stands virtually unguarded. Now it's up to Percy Jackson and an army of young demigods to stop the Lord of Time.
In this momentous final book in the New York Times bestselling series, the long-awaited prophecy surrounding Percy's sixteenth birthday unfolds. And as the battle for Western civilization rages on the streets of Manhattan, Percy faces a terrifying suspicion that he may be fighting against his own fate.
The Demigod Files
Young demigods, brace yourselves for a peek inside the highly classified Demigod Files! Compiled by Camp Half-Blood's senior scribe, Rick Riordan, these top secret archives include three of Percy Jackson's most perilous adventures, behind-the-scenes interviews with your favorite characters, a map of Camp Half-Blood, and more. Become an authority on Percy's world with this must-have guide to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.
I saw the movie first. Normally I would read the books first, but I didn't own them at the time when the movie came out. I enjoyed the movie, so went and got the books. Now I knew that the movie may or may not be a faithful representation of The Lightning Thief so I wasn't sure what to expect from the book.
I love the book. Now I must admit I had certain pre-conceptions because of the movie, and there are very significant differences between the two (one being Hades as the bad guy, I felt sort of sorry for the guy, just because he ended up being the god of the Underworld it didn't mean he was actually evil) but the book took a different direction. So while I kept expecting one thing to happen, in truth I never really knew how the book was going to end. At times I would think to myself, "but that's not how it goes" the remember that the book came first.
Right after that I started Sea of Monsters. Now here I had no expectations as to where the storyline would go and I enjoyed it so much more. There were scenes where I was laughing out loud, and being Canadian I wasn't sure what to make of the following quote:
"Laistrygonians. The monsters in the gym. They're a race of giant cannibals who live in the far North. Odysseus ran into them once, but I've never seen them as far south as New York before."
"Laistry - I can't even say that. What would you call them in English?"
She thought about it for a moment. "Canadians," she decided. "Now come on, we have to get out of here."
Yep, always knew we were too polite, I bet you knew we must have been hiding some sort of big secret. Now you know, so I'll have to eat you...
But that's the kind of books these are. You get the see the various gods and monsters how they might choose to appear to us in the modern day. Ares as a leather-clad biker, Poseidon in shorts and sandals, Medusa opening a statue store, satyrs running around with fake shoe to hide their hooves, Hermes' caduceus with talking snakes George and Martha. Mind you it's silly. You're not meant to learn your Greek mythology facts here, it's just fun, so I won't comment one way or the other as to whether Riordan accurately followed the legends any more than if the movie followed the book. They are well written, fun, with complex storylines, 3-dimensional characters, lots of action, lots of laughs, and just a fun way to spend an evening.
And I will say this about the conclusion of this series. You know how some series build up to the battle against the big bad guy and then you're kind of let down as to how easy the "undefeatable" was, well, defeated? (*cough* Eragon *cough*) Well, The Last Olympian was pretty much entirely about dealing with Kronos, it didn't wrap up in a couple of paragraphs as if the author just wanted to get it over and done with already. But I won't be letting you know how the prophecy finally resolves itself, you'll have to read it yourself.
I'll be reading the other two series Riordan has out now, especially the Kane Chronicles based on the Egyptian gods. There are so many mythologies out there it will be some time before Riordan runs out of inspiration! I'd love to see an Aztec or Norse based series...
June 2015
The Demigod Files is an interesting collection of random stuff, from short stories to trivia to maps. The stories are:
- Percy Jackson and the Stolen Chariot
- Percy Jackson and the Bronze Dragon
- Percy Jackson and the Sword of Hades
Now it's been about three years since I read the original series, and the short stories take place before the last book, so I had to work a little place the characters in the timeline correctly. I really enjoyed the Sword of Hades, the other two were ok. The rest of the stuff in the book was kind of silly filler but would probably appeal to readers in the right age group who are super fans of the series. And the trivia and other games were pretty challenging, not just for the mythological questions (most of which I got) but for the questions that are specific to the series (many of which I could not remember, like the name of the manticore in the Titan's Curse!). Anyway, it was a fun return to the series while I wait for one of the other two that Riordan wrote to not only be finished, but to be available in paperback. Once I start reading, I don't want to have to stop and wait!
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