Rick Riordan

“Fairness doesn’t mean people getting the same. Fairness mean people getting what they need.”

The Ultimate Guide

LOL! Can't help myself :) I just had to buy this book! Thank you Kinokuniya!

Percy Jackson, A Good Addiction

My Precious Percy Jackson Series Book Collection :)

I loved The Lightning Thief, and was looking forward to moving on with the series. I didn’t expect to get into two, and three, and even the fourth volume so quickly and so completely. I haven’t gone through books in a series this fast since I discovered The Twilight Saga. Percy has claimed my devotion totally.

In book two, The Sea of Monsters, what’s interesting here is how certain rivalries play out. A character’s parentage doesn’t automatically label them on one side or another. Riordan’s characterizations of several of the gods makes for an entertaining read too. This was an exciting, worthy sequel to the first book.

In book three, The Titan’s Curse,  oh Gawd, my effort buying this book was simply grande ;) went to a lot of bookstores yet they were all out of stock. Thank goodness I got in 2 days after finished reading book two. The new characters in this volume work well to progress the story and raise new questions. After finish reading this book, I rushed back to the bookstore looking for book 4. I am completely addicted to this series.

In book four, The Battle of the Labyrinth, More questions, more new characters abound in this book. Perhaps more interestingly, Riordan packs this book with even more heroes, monsters, and incidents from Greek myth than any of the previous volumes. Someone versed in Greek mythology will have a lot of fun reading these books, trying to figure out which card the writer will play next and how, ultimately, it will all fit together.

For the fifth book and final book in the series, The Last Olympian. I had to booked it first at the bookstore. They ran out of stock, I guess everybody is reading Percy Jackson series now huh? I got the book last tuesday night finished it the next morning (this morning to be exact, February 17th 2010). And it's the most expensive one! It's 215,000 Indonesian Rupiah, the previous books were 99,000 each. They don't have the paperback version just yet, only the hardcover one. I had no choice. I was so blinded to even care about the book's price. It’s been a long time since I read any novel that fast, a long time since I was up until the small hours because I couldn’t put the book down… a long time since any book deserved that kind of devotion from me. But this book, and this series, deserved every minute I devoted to it and more.

It’s hard to explain just why I love these books so much. The story is formulaic, and Percy himself falls squarely into the “chosen one” cliche. But sometimes, the execution of a story can be so good that you forget about the cliches and the tropes and just enjoy it for what it is. I think that’s the case here. Riordan tells his story masterfully, with characters and events that grabbed me right away and made me want to read more. Harry Potter series has nothing compared with Percy Jackson series. This series has high adventure, real magic, rich characters, and a love story that doesn’t feel cliched and tacked-on.

I’m kinda glad I didn’t start reading this books until the last volume was already released. I got through the whole series in less than a month and had a wonderfully satisfying reading experience without the frustration of waiting a year in-between installments. But if Riordan gives us more, I’ll be in on the ground floor for the next series.

Why I Love The Percy Jackson Series

I read The Lightning Thief, Book One of Percy Jackson & The Olympians by Rick Riordan earlier this month. Yes, I am a newbie :) where was I all these years? I was probably the last one to know that about this book. This young adult book is normally not the type of book that I would pick up on my own, but I found it to be fun and engaging.

From the publisher:

"Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can’t seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. And lately, being away at boarding school is only getting worse — Percy could have sworn his pre-algebra teacher turned into a monster and tried to kill him. When Percy’s mom finds out, she knows it’s time that he knew the truth about where he came from, and that he go to the one place he’ll be safe. She sends Percy to Camp Half-Blood, a summer camp for demigods (on Long Island), where he learns that the father he never knew is Poseidon, God of the Sea. Soon, a mystery unfolds and together with his friends — one a satyr and the other the demigod daughter of Athena — Percy sets out on a quest across the United States to reach the gates of the Underworld (located in a recording studio in Hollywood) and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods."

Fun book.  And a very creative way to teach Greek mythology.  If I had tried to learn how all the gods were related to each other by reading this book, rather than reading the formal book I probably would have had a lot more interest in the Greek mythology.  The story was very fast moving.  There was never a lack of adventure, nor humor. A great series for all ages.  I just finished reading the second book last night, I must get my hands on the next one by tomorrow :D

And today, I went to the cinema watching the Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief movie. I must say, my opinion is exactly the same as Rick Riordan's, the author. He wrote this on his blog last year when the movie was still in the making:

"Will the movie be exactly like the book? Well to start with, I have never seen a movie that was exactly like the book it came from, so I think it's safe to say no. Movies are a totally different medium. What you'll be seeing is not The Lightning Thief book copied page for page onto the screen. What you'll be seeing is Chris Columbus' interpretation of The Lightning Thief story. . . Let the movie be the movie, and the books be the books, and try to enjoy the story without getting too worked up about any differences."

And these few things that did bug me when watching the movie: Annabeth's not a brunnete, she's a blonde and they are supposed to be twelve not twenty something. Nevertheless it was a good movie, my husband loved it too.

Percy Jackson & The Olympians : The Lightning Thief

 

I have to finish reading this book before the movie released! I hope it's gonna be a lot better than Harry Potter series, since I don't really fancy magic and stuff... but Greek myths, I loooove :D