Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

Greek legends re-told are very popular at the moment, as of course are stories of unhappy children finding solace and excitement in the world of magic and myth. This book puts a new, fast paced spin on ancient mythology by casting 12-year-old Percy Jackson as an American schoolboy with severe dyslexia and ADHD who has been kicked out of every school in town. When he vaporises his unpleasant maths teacher and learns that his best friend Grover is a satyr, he escapes to Camp Half-Blood, a training ground for those who are only half mortal. It is here that he discovers that his absent father is Poseidon, brother of Zeus and Hades.

As a half-blood he learns that his dyslexia is only because his brain is ‘hard wired for Ancient Greek’ and the reason his Latin teacher used a wheelchair at the old school in New York was because in the world of the gods he is a four legged centaur. (Well, at least this is a new angle on the miraculous ‘rising from your wheelchair to walk again’ story.) Along with his new half-blood friends, Percy’s quest is now to find the entrance to the Underworld and return the stolen thunderbolt to Zeus. If not, the hostilities will encompass the whole world. Along the way, they face a host of enemies determined to stop them including the leather clad war-god Ares, who looks like a member of the Hell’s Angels, and the terrifying gorgon Medusa with her hair of snakes.

There’s the feeling that we might be jumping on a bit of a bandwagon here (troubled boy in fantasy world, possibly a book written to be turned into a film) but this is not to say that it won’t be loved by readers longing for action and adventure. Learning about ancient mythology and spotting the characters is a lot of fun. And for those who want to hear more about Percy’s adventures, the sequel is already on its way. LK