Weil ich immer noch nicht mit diesem Vlog fertig bin ( liegt vielleicht auch zum Teil an meiner nicht vorhandenen technischen Begabung) habe ich mich erst mal für einen schriftlichen Review entschieden.
Hope you'll enjoy it! ;)
From bedtime story to bestseller...
Generally Information
Percy Jackson - and the Lightning Thief- was published 2006 in Germany and is a Fantasy novel by Rick Riordan. It is the first of five novels from the Percy Jackson series. That series is followed by the Heroes of Olympus series.
About the author
Rick Riordan was born on the 5 June 1964 in San Antonio, Texas. Even as a kid he was very interested in mythology, especially Greek and Norse.
He was a Middle School teacher for 15 years, before he started writing. Nowadays he has a wife and two sons, Haley and Patrick. The most important factor in creating Percy Jackson was probably his son Haley. He is dyslexic and that is often a problem for him. That is why Rick made Percy dyslexic and ADHD. Just for Haley, because at the beginning Percy was only a bedtime story to encourage his son not to give up.
Riordan worked as a camp director as well and that is where the idea to Camp-Half-Blood came from.
Main Characters
Percy Jackson is our Protagonist, Hero and Narrator. He is 12 years old, has dark hair and green eyes. Before he discovers that he is the son of Poseidon he lives on the Upper East Side in Manhatten with his mother and Stepdad. He is dyslexic and has ADHD that is what makes him kind of a troublemaker and so far he has been kicked out of six schools.
He is always ironic and a little clumsy, but he is kind too. His main characteristic might be his loyality to everybody he cares about or what he believes in.
Annabeth Chase is a daughter of Athena and has got blond hair and storm grey eyes. She is dyslexic and has ADHD like Percy (and nearly every other halfblood). She had a tough life, because she ran away from home when she was seven, then hung around with Thalia and Luke and finally arrived at the camp.
Annabeth is interested in architecture and battle tactics. She is very clever and smart as well as she is skilled in combat and fighting generally.
Grover Underwood is a satyr, half human, half goat. He lives in Camp Half Blood and works as a Protector for demigods in the mortal world. He is a very friendly person...uuhhmm goat but sometimes he is a real coward and a clumsy fellow. Anyway you can rely on him if it is necessary because he is loyal to his friends.
Oh and he is a huge fan of food, preferable Enchiladas.
Chiron is a centaur (half human, half horse). He is the camptrainer and teacher of the Heroes at Camp Half Blood since...well, let's just say it is a long Job because he has done it for over 3000 years by now. He is also very wise (go figure) and a great archer.
Luke Castellan is the son of Hermes and a Tutor at the Camp. He is a very skilled swordsman and 17 years old.Luke is very athletic and ran away from home when he was 12 and traveled with Thalia, the daughter of Zeus for a while until they met Annabeth and (later) Grover who took them to the Camp.
Sally Jackson is Percy's mom and a very kind person. She is always nice, even to Gabe Ugliano, her more than awful husband. She can see trough the mist (read on if you want to find out what it is, please) and has brown hair and lovely brown eyes.
The Gods
Zeus - God of the Sky, Leader of the Olymp, Weapon: Master Lightning Bolt
Poseidon - God of the Seas, Weapon: Trident
Hades - God of the Underworld, Weapon: Helmet of Darkness
Athena - Goddess of Wisdom and battle tactics
Hera - Goddess of Marriage
Demeter - Goddess of plants and fruits
Hephaistos - God of Forge and Fire
Ares - God of war
Apollo - God of Music, Poetry, Art and Healing
Artemis - Goddess of Hunt
Hermes - Messenger of the Gods
Dionysus - God of Wine
Persephone - Goddess of copiousness
Plot
Perseus, aka Percy, Jackson is a average 12 year old teenage boy who has only little problems with staying at schools. Over the last years he has been kicked out of six schools so far and, according to Percy, Yancy Academy will be no exception. At least he has got his best friend Grover and his favorite Latin Teacher Mr. Brunner (who sits in the wheelchair by the way). His mom lives in New York, Manhatten, with his stupid and stinking stepdad, Gabe Ugliano. Percy hates his stepdad almost as much as Nancy Bobofit, a bully with red hair. She is at the Yancy Academy as well and loves to tease Grover, which gets Percy angry to no limit, cause he is very loyal and protective over the ones he cares about. So most times Percy gets in trouble by defending Grover and fighting Nancy.
The trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art is a total disaster with Percy pulverizing his Maths teacher and that is only the beginning.
After he is send home to his mom, Sally Jackson, (of course with a declaration that he is not welcomed at the Yancy Academy the next year) they both travel to Montauk near the coast. It is Percy favorite vacation and he really appreciates it, because they have not much money and their will be a whole weekend without Gabe, the stinker! It could be perfect... would there not be his best friend showing up in the middle of the night, babbling something about a danger nearby and goat legs instead of humans. While Percy is freaking out a little about everything his mother seems to know exactly what to do and insist to leave as fast as possible to a summer camp which his father (who is at the sea) recommended.
On their way to the camp they are attacked by the son of Minos, the minotaur and Sally gets killed. Percy who is really angry and sad about the death of his mother jumps into action and discovers his fighting skills by killing the minotaur.
After a couple of days Percy wakes up (he was unconscious because of his injuries) at Camp Half Blood and finds out about a whole new world of Greek mythology, Demigods, Satyr, the 12 Olympians and the training camp which is lead by the centaur Chiron, aka Mr. Brunner.
Percy becomes friends with Luke, son of Hermes, and Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, trains to survive and tries to figure out who his Dad could be.
He gets the answer after the game capture the flag when he is hurt by a hell hound and heals when he comes in touch with water.
Now that Poseidon has claimed him he is determined to save his mother from the Underworld, but he has another Problem. Zeus lightning bolt was stolen and Percy is accused to be the thief.
He goes to the oracle to get a prophecy for the journey:
You shall go west and face the God who has turned
You shall find what was stole and see it safely returned
You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend
And you shall fail to save what matters most in the end
The first Quest of Percy, Annabeth and Grover begins...
Like
I really like the writing style of Rick Riordan. It is not only in the first person but has also many character descriptions, so you, as a reader, can identify with Percy very well. He is pretty ironic and sometimes clumsy, so lovely and you take him directly in your heart.
Although the book is a lot about Greek mythology, it has in no case a communality with a history book. So if you are not really a geek about Greek mythology (as I am), you will enjoy it anyway, because it is one of the best fantasy novels in the world.
Dislike
There is really nothing to dislike about the plot, the characters or the story.
Only one hint to our german followers: If you have the chance to read the book in English, please do it. Otherwise you will be disappointed about the German translation...yeah it is really that bad!
Do not be afraid when that will be you first english novel. It is a really good start for beginners (in english reading) because the language and choice of word is easy to understand and trust me, after a while you may will enjoy reading english books even better than germans.
Result
If you want to know whether Percy is able to save his mother, to proof that he is not the lightning thief and who is the friend that will betray him...then do some sports by rushing to the next bookstore and spriting back home to start the book as fast as possible (after you paid, of course)!
PS: the price for the book in english is 5,50€ and in german 8,99€ (another advantage of english books!)
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