Live The World You Dream: [NOVEL REVIEW] Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

"Go on with what your heart tells you, or you will lose all." - Percy Jackson

Besides watching movies and Korean dramas, reading has always been my hobby. I enjoy various kinds of novel, comic, short-story, and blog. Amongst them, science-fiction novels are my greatest pleasure when I have spare time. 

In this opportunity, I would like to review one of the best fiction writings for me. This is the masterpiece of Rick Riordan, an American author who has been writing for more than twenty years, titled Percy Jackson and The Olympians series. The very first book of this series is The Lightning Thief, a fantasy-adventure novel based on Greek mythology which was published in 2005. 

In this opening novel, we are introduced with the main character of the series, Percy Jackson. The story charts the adventures of modern-day twelve year-old Percy as he discovers he is a demigod (half-mortal half-god) due to an attack at school visit to museum. It founds out that Percy is the son of mortal woman and the Greek god, Poseidon (god of sea). 

He then was brought by his mom and his friend, Grover who is a satyr (half-mortal half-goat) to the Camp Half-blood. It is the place for demigods to train fighting monsters that are chasing after them. During their way, a Minotaur attacks them. Percy and Grover barely escape while unfortunately Percy’s mom, Sally is kidnapped. 

In the camp, Percy meets Annabeth Chase, a daughter of Athena (goddess of wisdom) who will be the female-lead for the entire series. The real conflict starts when it is known that Zeus’ master lightning bolt has recently been stolen. The case has bred much suspicion between the gods, and Percy is tasked with locating that bolt before an all-out war can break out. Percy chooses Annabeth and Grover to accompany him on a quest to the realm of Hades, the most likely culprit and to save his mother as well.

Like it is not enough, Percy is burdened by the prophecy given by the Oracle before Percy's quest:

You must go west, and face the god who his turned.

You shall find what was stolen, 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.

I as the reader am really entertained by tensed journey of Percy and his two friends. The writer has successfully made me immediately fall for the complex yet refreshing plot in this novel. The characters develop and start showing their unexpected sides and their true personality. Clues and history also revealed along the story in such a neat way. 

We are lead through the plot and got to think and guess about the meaning of each event occurs. The story describes much about friendship, loyalty, and sacrifice. Moreover, I am pretty amazed by how the novel narrates the epic fights of the characters in fine point. It got my eyes teary for some parts of this novel. Readers surely cannot stop guessing who the real villain is and we are fully surprised with the answer by the end of chapters. The story grips me and keeps me turning the pages.
I personally like the part when we are introduced to the Camp Half-Blood the most. It is really amusing to know several facts about Greek mythology. Part of me felt it could have been dug deeper. In the following novel, I guess?

As soon as I finished the first book, I instantly look for the following one. Not long after it was published, The Lightning Thief eventually appeared on The New York Times children's Best Seller and being listed as one of the Young Adult Library Services Association's Best Books for Young Adults, among other awards. 

This novel was adapted into a film named Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief released in the United States on February 12, 2010. You can watch through Youtube by clicking here. The sequel to this novel is The Sea of Monsters.

In short, for those of you who enjoy and strongly interested in either fiction or mythology world, this novel is definitely a must!
Get yourself the soft-copy of this novel at here :)
Click here for the next book's review!