Percy Jackson and The Philosopher’s Stone. Oops, I mean the Lightning Thief.
Sure sure sure. I read this book just because it appears naggingly in various book lists in List Challenges. My assumptions about this book were mostly correct: it is written in that cheesy language prevalent in young adult books, it’s action is plentiful and descriptive, and that it would’ve been a quick read. I breezed through this book in a hurricane of reading where I finished four books in a week.
But it was better than I thought. My colleagues, admitted nerds like myself, were surprised when I picked up Percy Jackson. They were no strangers to Percy themselves and I dare say some of them had finished the book in their adult years. I’d give it credit because it is a fun book to read. Its language is easy, straightforward and as far as I know, it follows Greek mythology without butchering it.
Percy Jackson fights off monsters. That’s the story really.
Percy Jackson, right off the bat, is someone who doesn’t take too well with authority. He’d get into fights where he’d come out victorious but expelled after these victories. During a school trip in his new school, after causing a ruckus and revealing himself to be more than a mere boy, his algebra teacher turned into a Fury (a vulture with the head of a woman) to kill him. His English teacher lent him a pen which turns into a bronze sword so that he was able to defeat the Fury.
Coming back home wasn’t great either. Percy’s mother, a practical angel with an abusive husband that reeks to the low heavens, planned to take Percy on a holiday to Long Island with her husband’s Camaro. This plan was quickly derailed when they needed to go on a sudden escape so that Percy can take refuge in Camp Half Blood. But before they reached, Percy’s mother was taken by the Minotaur. Percy narrowly beat the monster and earned an instant reputation in the camp.
The camp were for bastard children of the Greek gods. Some of the children were there for years on end. It was too dangerous for them outside as they are under the constant threat of monsters. But the camp wasn’t safe for Percy either, and after being revealed that he was the descendant of Poseidon, he was impelled to take on a quest to retrieve Zeus’s lightning bolt which was mysteriously stolen and from which he was the main suspect.
Together with his new sassy friend Annabeth (much like Hermione), and his clumsy but endearing satyr friend Grover (much like Ron), they had to go cross country to go to Hades and find the bolt. Trouble is, they can’t fly because Zeus is going to strike them and they only had a couple of weeks to retrieve it. Along the way, it’s more than likely that they’ll run into monsters that would add their heads to their collections, not to mention the authorities that has been looking for Percy given that he’s now also earned the missing child status.
A barely noticeable jolt instead of being thunderstruck
Admittedly, as much as I read too much, I actually don’t know who the fuck is who in Greek mythology. Much of the knowledge I accumulated about these deities were from year nine social sciences back in high school. But I couldn’t think of another piece of fiction that I’ve read that had these Greek elements and put them together. Sure, some of it doesn’t really follow the original myth — Percy, or Perseus, is supposed to be the son of Zeus.
But it goes to show how the Greek culture still influences our storytelling. That in some ways, these deities can adapt to the modern storytelling and to a level, still make a compelling read. In some ways, it reminds me a little of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods who use the elements of the old world adapting into the new America. The Greeks gods are also present in our culture through our comic books. Remember when Superman had to take on the whole of Olympus?
In any case, the novel was more enjoyable than I thought. It won’t win Riordan any Noble Prizes for Literature, but it would satisfy his target audience, of which I don’t think I’m one. To compare it with another popular young adult series in a fantasy world where three friends go on constant quests may be doing it a little disservice. It stands alright on its own. The fact that I’m contemplating to finish the series is a not a bad thing at all. I would read it between heavy reads as a padding I suppose.
