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"The ultimate compliment for a children's writer is when the kids like it"<ref name="USA Interview">{{cite news |url= http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2006-01-18-bchat-riordan_x.htm |title='Lightning' strikes with young readers |last=Minzesheimer|first=Bob |date=January 18, 2006 |work=[[USA Today]] |accessdate=2009-05-26}}</ref>
"The ultimate compliment for a children's writer is when the kids like it."<ref name="USA Interview">{{cite news |url= http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2006-01-18-bchat-riordan_x.htm |title='Lightning' strikes with young readers |last=Minzesheimer|first=Bob |date=January 18, 2006 |work=[[USA Today]] |accessdate=2009-05-26}}</ref>
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Revision as of 18:50, 20 May 2010

For the film based on this novel, see Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.
The Lightning Thief
File:Lightning thief.jpg
AuthorRick Riordan
IllustratorJohn Rocco
LanguageEnglish
SeriesPercy Jackson & the Olympians (Book 1)
GenreFantasy novel[1]
PublisherHyperion Books[2]
Publication date
July 1, 2005 (hardcover)
April 1, 2006 (paperback)[3]
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (hardback, paperback), audiobook CD
Pages384 (hardcover)[2]
400 (paperback)[3]
ISBN[[Special:BookSources/0786856297%7F%27%22%60UNIQ--ref-00000007-QINU%60%22%27%7F |0786856297[2]]] Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character
OCLC60786141
Followed byThe Sea of Monsters[4] 

The Lightning Thief is a 2005 fantasy/adventure novel based on Greek mythology, the first young adult novel written by author Rick Riordan. It is the first book in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, which charts the adventures of modern day twelve-year-old Percy Jackson as he discovers he is a demigod, the son of a mortal woman and the Greek god Poseidon. Percy and his friends go on a quest to prevent an apocalyptic war between the Greek gods Zeus, Poseidon and Hades.

Riordan finished writing his manuscript in 1994. The Lightning Thief was initially accepted by Bantam Books in 1997 and later sold in an auction to Miramax Books before being released on July 28, 2005. The book has sold over 1.2 million copies in the subsequent four years, appearing on The New York Times children's Best Seller list and being listed as one of the Young Adult Library Services Association's Best Books for Young Adults, among other awards. It was adapted into a film named Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, which was released in the United States on February 12, 2010. The sequel to this book is The Sea of Monsters.

Synopsis

The Lightning Thief uses concepts from ancient Greek mythology[5] in a modern setting.[1] It is written in a fast-paced[2][5] humorous style.[1]

Plot

Percy Jackson is a twelve year old boy diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia, who has been expelled from several schools. Percy goes on a trip with his mother Sally, and his friend Grover, who is revealed to be a satyr. En route, Grover urges Sally to take Percy to a certain camp for protection. As they drive towards camp, they are attacked by a Minotaur which grabs Percy's mother by her throat. She dissolves into a golden shower of light, while Grover and Percy narrowly escape.

Percy wakes up and discovers that he has arrived in Camp Half-Blood, a secretive training ground for demigods. Thereafter, Percy is moved into the Hermes cabin under the care of Luke, the Cabin counselor. During a Capture the Flag game, Percy is attacked by the children of Ares. He heals when he steps into the adjoining river and is revealed as the son of Poseidon when Poseidon's trident appears above his head. Poseidon had broken an oath taken with Hades and Zeus after World War II of not having any more children since the children were too powerful. Percy is then granted a quest to find Zeus's master bolt which Chiron believes Hades has stolen. However, Zeus, who discovered Poseidon had broken his oath, believes Poseidon had Percy steal the bolt. Percy, who has ten days before summer solstice to find the bolt, is given magic shoes by Luke before leaving. Percy, accompanied by Annabeth and Grover, decide to travel west to reach the entrance to the Underworld in Los Angeles. They encounter several Greek monsters, and also the war god, Ares, who tells Percy that his mother is alive. As they approach the pit of Tartarus, Luke’s shoes try to pull Grover into it, but he manages to slip free his hooves. Percy confronts Hades who also believes Percy stole the Master Bolt as well as his Helm of Darkness, which is an object that allows him to become a shadow. This lets him sneak up on his opponents. Percy realizes that Ares has tricked him when he discovers the bolt in his backpack. He flees from the Underworld, forced to leave his mother. Percy then fights and defeats Ares by hurting the god's heel. Ares gives Percy the Helm of Darkness which Percy returns to Hades. Percy reaches New York City to give the master bolt to Zeus at the top of the Empire State Building where Olympus is now located. Zeus accepts the master bolt and thereafter Percy returns to camp, after learning that his mother is alive. He meets Luke, who reveals that he stole the bolt for Kronos. He calls out a poisonous scorpion which stings and nearly kills Percy. Chiron cures him and Percy leaves to attend another school found by his mother.

Major characters

Main article: List of Percy Jackson and the Olympians characters
  • Percy Jackson: The protagonist; a twelve year old boy who has been diagnosed with ADHD as well as dyslexia. Percy discovers that he is the son of Greek god Poseidon and that his disabilities are natural for demigods, also known as half-bloods. He embarks on an adventure to find Zeus's master lightning bolt to prevent a disastrous war among the gods.
  • Annabeth Chase: A twelve year old daughter of the goddess Athena. Annabeth was brought to Camp Half-Blood by Luke Castellan and Thalia Grace. She helps nurse Percy after he is attacked by the Minotaur. She also accompanies Percy on his quest to find Zeus's master bolt. Annabeth has been going to Camp Half-Blood since she was seven and possesses a necklace that has beads from every year she survives at Camp Half-Blood.
  • Grover Underwood: Grover is a satyr and Percy's best friend. Initially, he was undercover as a boy in search of potential demigods. He leads Percy to the Camp after his mother is taken and accompanies him on his journey to find Zeus's master bolt. His lifelong dream is to be a searcher so he can find the god of the wild, Pan.
  • Luke Castellan: The main antagonist and a son of Hermes; he is the counselor of the Hermes cabin and helps train Percy in the art of battle. Later, he betrays Percy and leaves him for dead, revealing that he works for the Titan Kronos.
  • Chiron: He is, at first, Percy's Latin teacher, Mr. Brunner. Later, Percy discovers he is a Centaur, half-horse and half-man. He is Camp Half-Blood's Activity Director.

Development and publication

Rick Riordan, the author, at the release of The Battle of the Labyrinth

Development for both The Lightning Thief and the Percy Jackson series as a whole commenced when Riordan first began making stories for his son Haley who had just recently been diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia. His son had been studying Greek mythology in second grade and requested that his father come up with bedtime stories based on Greek myths. Riordan had been a Greek mythology teacher in middle school for many years and was able to remember enough stories to please his son. Soon Riordan ran out of myths and his son then requested that he make new ones using the same characters from Greek myths and add new ones. Thus, Riordan created the fictional character Percy Jackson and made the story of how he would travel across The United States to recover Zeus's lightning bolt. After he finished telling the story to his son, he then requested that his dad write a book based on Percy's adventures.[6]

While he left his manuscript to his agent and editor to review, Riordan took his book to a group of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders to read and give their critique. Ultimately he gained their approval, and with their help came up with the name of the book and created the way Percy's sword worked.[7] In 2004, the book was sold to Miramax Books for enough money for Riordan to quit his job to focus on writing.[8] After it was released on July 28, 2005 it sold over 1.2 million copies. The book was released in multiple versions including hardcover, paperback and audio editions.[9][10] It has been translated into multiple languages and published all over the world.[11]

Reception

The Lightning Thief received mostly positive reviews. Common Sense Media said "there are two levels of fun in The Lightning Thief. One is the fast-paced quest of a young hero and his friends to save the world" and added "another level of fun here – laughing at the wicked ways the author has updated the gods and monsters for the 21st century".[12] However, it did criticize some aspects of the book describing the prose as "choppy and attitude-filled" and complaining that "[t]he characters aren't emotionally involving". Its overall rating was 4 stars out of 5.[12] Movie and book reviewer Robert Steven Mack commented on the book's similarities with Harry Potter.[13]The New York Times praised The Lightning Thief as "perfectly paced, with electrifying moments chasing each other like heartbeats".[14] School Library Journal said in its starred review that the book was "An adventure-quest with a hip edge." and that "Readers will be eager to follow the young protagonist's next move".[1] Kirkus praised the book and said, "Packed with humorous allusions to Greek mythology and clever updates of the old stories, along with rip-snorting action sequences, the book really shines in the depiction of Percy – wry, impatient, academically hopeless, with a cut-to-the-chase bluntness one would wish for in a hero of old."[1] Eoin Colfer, author of Artemis Fowl called it "A fantastic blend of myth and modern".[1] Publishers Weekly also praised the book, regarding it as "swift and humorous"[1] and added that the book would "leave many readers eager for the next installment."[1] On April 8, 2007, The Lightning Thief was ranked ninth on The New York Times Best Seller list for children's books.[15] When speaking about the various awards, Rick Riordan said:

"The ultimate compliment for a children's writer is when the kids like it."[16]

The Lightning Thief was the winner of the School Library Journal Best Book of 2005[17] as well one of the books in Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books List, 2005.[4] It was also in the VOYA Top Shelf Fiction List,[4] and was the winner of Red House Children's Book Award Winner (UK), 2006,[4] Askews Torchlight Award (UK), 2006,[4] and the Mark Twain Award (Missouri Association of School Librarians), 2008.[4][18] It was an ALA Notable Book, 2006[19] and a New York Times Notable Book (2005).[20] It received the Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award in 2009.[21]

Adaptations

Film adaptation

Main article: Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

In June 2007, 20th Century Fox acquired feature film rights to the book.[22] In April 2007, director Chris Columbus was hired to helm the project. Logan Lerman is Percy Jackson and Brandon T. Jackson is Grover Underwood, the satyr. Alexandra Daddario plays Annabeth while Jake Abel was cast as Luke Castellan. Pierce Brosnan plays Chiron.[23] The film is titled Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief[23] and was released in the United States on February 12, 2010.[24]

File:The Lightning Thief audiobook.jpg
The cover for the audio book version of The Lightning Thief.

Audiobook

On June 28, 2005, a 10 hour 25 minute audio book version of The Lightning Thief, read by actor Jesse Bernstein, was published worldwide by Listening Library.[10][25]

Kirkus in a starred review said, "the narrator’s voice lends a refreshing air of realism to this riotously paced quest tale of heroism that questions the realities of our world, family, friendship and loyalty".[1] AudioFile Magazine praised the audiobook, raving, "adults and children alike will be spellbound as they listen to this deeply imaginative tale unfold."[25] School Library Journal both praised and criticized the audio book saying "Although some of Jesse Bernstein's accents fail (the monster from Georgia, for instance, has no Southern trace in her voice), he does a fine job of keeping the main character's tones and accents distinguishable".[26]

Sequel

Main article: The Sea of Monsters

The Lightning Thief is followed by The Sea of Monsters. There, Percy and Annabeth rescue Grover who has been imprisoned by Polyphemus, the Cyclops and recover the Golden Fleece to save the camp. They are accompanied by Percy's half brother, Tyson and Clarisse in this mission.

Like The Lightning Thief, it won several prizes and received generally positive reviews as well.[4][27][28] It sold over 100,000 copies in paperback.[29]

Foreign language editions

The Lightning Thief was published in French, German, Spanish, Finnish, Swedish, Hebrew and Brazilian Portuguese and recently has been published in Portugal. In 2008, it was published in Serbian. The French edition was known as Le voleur de foudre (OCLC 319924908). The German name of the book was Diebe im Olymp (OCLC 254901802). These two, along with the Spanish version El ladrón del rayo (OCLC 74884882), were published in 2006. The three other translations of the book, Salamavaras (OCLC 231203516), in Finnish, O ladrão de raios, in Brazilian Portuguese, while in Portugal it is called "Os Ladrões do Olimpo" (The thieves of Olympus), and פרסי ג׳קסון וגנב הברק. or Persi G'eḳson ṿe-ganav ha-baraḳ (OCLC 243824272) in Hebrew were published in 2008. In Serbia it is called Kradljivac munje.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Reviews for The Lightning Thief". Rick Riordan. p. 1. Retrieved 2009-05-21.
  2. ^ a b c d Oksner, Robert. "The Lightning Thief". Kidsreads. Retrieved 2009-09-01.
  3. ^ a b Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book One: The Lightning Thief Hyperion Books. Paperback. ISBN 0786838655. Retrieved 2010-02-15.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Riordan, Rick. "Percy Jackson and the Olympians". Rick Riordan. p. 1. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  5. ^ a b Thompson, Kathy. "The Lightning Thief". The Thunder Child. Retrieved 2009-09-01.
  6. ^ Riordan, Rick. "Where did you get the idea for Percy Jackson?". p. 1. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
  7. ^ Riordan, Rick. "Did you share the Percy Jackson novel with any of your students before it was published?". p. 1. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
  8. ^ Rich, Motoko (September 1, 2008). "Author of Book Series Sends Kids on a Web Treasure Hunt". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
  9. ^ "Hyperion: Percy Jackson". Hyperion Books. Retrieved 2009-08-06.
  10. ^ a b Jesse Bernstein at IMDb
  11. ^ Mabe, Chauncey (May 14, 2009). "Rick Riordan: Percy Jackson vs. Harry Potter". Sun Sentinel. p. 1. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
  12. ^ a b "The Lightning Thief – Book Review". Matt Berman. Common Sense Media. p. 1. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  13. ^ http://rsgmweekly.blogspot.com/
  14. ^ Shulman, Polly (November 13, 2005). "Harry Who?". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-05-04.
  15. ^ "Children's Books". The New York Times. April 8, 2007. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
  16. ^ Minzesheimer, Bob (January 18, 2006). "'Lightning' strikes with young readers". USA Today. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
  17. ^ "Best Books 2005". School Library Journal. 12/1/2005. p. 1. Retrieved 2009-05-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ "Mark Twain Award 2007–08 Winners". Missouri Association of School Librarians. Retrieved 2009-05-27.
  19. ^ "2006 Best Books for Young Adults with annotations". Young Adult Library Services Association. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
  20. ^ "Notable Books of 2005". The New York Times. December 4, 2005. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
  21. ^ Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award winners Retrieved 2010-02-15.
  22. ^ Claude Brodesser (2004-06-23). "'Lightning Thief' strikes Maverick". Variety. Retrieved 2007-04-18.
  23. ^ a b The Lightning Thief at IMDb
  24. ^ Rick Riordan. "Contact Information". Retrieved 2009-02-06.
  25. ^ a b Bernstien, Jesse (2005). "The Lightning Thief". AudioFile. p. 1. Retrieved 2009-05-04.
  26. ^ "Audio Reviews: October, 2005". School Library Journal. October 1, 2005. p. 1. Retrieved 2009-05-25.
  27. ^ "Mark Twain Award Previous Winners". Missouri Association of School Librarians. Retrieved 2009-05-27.
  28. ^ Ruth, Sheila. "The Sea of Monsters". Wands and Worlds. Retrieved 2009-09-01.
  29. ^ Nawotka, Edward (April 23, 2007). "Son of Poseidon Gaining Strength". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2009-09-01.
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