The Lightning Thief

I have no clue how I've never read this before now--I even have a freebie Rick Riordan novel on my nook and I've never read anything by him until now.  I have to say I just loved it (I say that a lot, don't I?).  It's a really great twist on mythology, which was always one of my favorite things to cover in school.  Mythology and Greek literature were also some of the best courses I covered in college as well.  And as for Percy, I have to say he is one of my favorite characters.  He takes charge, he actually takes responsibility, and I guess I just love the fact that he comes from a "nothing" type background and rises based, not on who his father is, but by what he accomplishes, which is a great lesson for a YA novel.

Another aspect I loved was the description of the various gods.  It really gives a nice feel for what they represented in mythology.  Ares with his constant bad attitude "vibes" and Poseidon's description (moody fisherman to me) really gave a good feel for the differences between all the gods and gave them a bit of realism, for instance, Zeus's attitude and reaction to Percy.  If I was a teenager, I certainly would thing that perhaps a god should be above such petty nonsense.  But, since this is sort of an urban fantasy, I much prefer the realistic personality traits Riordan gave the gods I came across with Percy.  I really like that Percy has accomplished some of the same feats that his namesake Perseus did (defeating Medusa).  Percy's attitude towards this also serves as a great contrast for Luke's disdain of his quest, which was also something a previous hero had accomplished.  Again, a great example of how choices can determine who and what we become, and not just circumstances.

I ignored YA and children's books for so long that I forget how wonderful they are until I come across one that I end up getting totally engrossed in.  I'm looking forward to my next library haul (it'll likely be the rest of the Percy Jackson novels).

On to The Crystal Shard now!