Percy Jackson & The Olympians

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Title Percy Jackson & The Olympians
Author Rick Riordan
Country United States
Language English
Genre(s) Fantasy
Publisher Miramax Books
Released 2005-2007
Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback)

Percy Jackson & The Olympians is a series of mythology books written by Rick Riordan.

The series started with a troubled young boy named Percy Jackson finding out that he is the son of the Sea God, Poseidon. He discovers a secret world where the Twelve Olympians still exists and had adapted to the modern lifestyles.

Two books have been publish in the series. The Lightning Thief, published in 2005, & The Sea of Monsters, which was published in 2006. The third book in the series, due out in 2007, is titled The Titan's Curse.

While using much of the actual Greek Mythology as a basis for the book, some creative license was taken by Riordan. For instance, Athena was a virgin making Annabeth's existence inconsistent with the mythology. Also, Chiron was the last Centaur and therefore should not have had relatives.

Contents

[edit] The Lightning Thief

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The Lighting Thief is the first book. Percy Jackson is a dyslexic 12-year old boy who has ADHD. He has been to six boarding schools in six years. His most recent school was Yancy Academy in upstate New York where he begins to realize he is different from the other kids. His Latin teacher, Mr. Brunner, is talking about his safety behind his back and he has a battle with an evil math teacher, Mrs.Dodds, who others forget ever existed. After returning from Yancy to his mother's house, Percy and his mother are attacked by a Minotaur on the way to Camp Half-Blood.

At Camp Half-Blood Percy begins to learn his true identity as a demi-god and meets his friends Annabeth, daughter of Athena, and Grover, who had been at Yancy in order to protect Percy. While unclaimed by any god at first, Percy is eventually claimed by Poseidon. This leads Percy to being sent on a quest by Mr. D, the manager of the camp. Percy's quest is to find Zeus's missing Master Bolt,that creates other Lightning Bolts, in order to prevent war between Zeus and Poseidon. Percy is joined on his quest by Annabeth and Grover.

After tracing Zeus's missing thunderbolt to Hades, Percy, Grover and Annabeth make an epic trip to LA to visit Hades. Along the way, they are sidetracked many times and after getting into the Underworld, find Hades's crown is missing too. Hades blames Poseidon or Zeus. At the end of the novel, Ares, led by Kronos is found to be the thief. Percy is betrayed and almost killed by one of his friends from camp, Hermes's son, Luke, who was the real thief of Zeus's lightning bolt during the winter solistice, and was found to also be working for Kronos. Zeus, however, does not believe that Kronos, his father and a Titan who had been banished for eternity to Tartarus, is regaining strength.

[edit] The Sea of Monsters

Thalia's Tree, located at Camp Half-Blood and formed to prevent a daughter of Zeus from dying, has been poisoned mysteriously by unknown forces. Clarisse, the daughter of Ares, is given the quest to go into The Sea of Monsters to find the Golden Fleece, which has healing powers for plants, animals, and humans. Percy and Annabeth decide to go also, not just for the Golden Fleece, but for Grover who is trapped in a Cycolp's cave somewhere in the Sea of Monsters. Along with Tyson, a young Cyclops (Poseidon's son, thus Percy's half-brother), they and Clarisse manage to retrieve the Fleece and rescue Grover. When they get back to Camp Half-Blood, the fleece not only revives Thalia's Tree, but Thalia herself. Except it's Thalia who appears as she looked like in Percy's dreams. He remembers the dream and finally realizes it is her.

[edit] The Titan's Curse

When Percy Jackson gets an urgent distress call from his friend Grover, he immediately prepares for battle. He knows he will need his powerful demigod allies, Annabeth and Thalia, at his side, his trusty celestial bronze sword Riptide, and a ride from his mom.

The demigods rush to the rescue to find that Grover has made an important discovery: two powerful half-bloods whose parentage is unknown. But that's not all that awaits them. The titan lord Kronos has devised his most treacherous plot yet, and the young heroes have just fallen prey.

They're not the only ones in danger. An ancient monster has arisen -- one rumored to be so powerful it could destroy Olympus -- and Artemis, the only goddess who might know how to track it, is missing. Now Percy and his friends, along with the Hunters of Artemis, have only a week to find the kidnapped goddess and solve the mystery of the monster she was hunting. [1]

Along the way, they must face their most dangerous challenge yet: the chilling prophecy of the Titan's curse.

This book is scheduled to hit stores in the USA on May 1st, 2007.

According to Amazon, it is availiable in the UK on April 5th, 2007.

[edit] Camp Half-Blood

Camp Half Blood is where the demigods train to become adept at defending themselves from monsters. The camp is organized by Dionysus and Chiron. The camp is organized by twelve houses, one for each major god, though until Percy, and later Tyson, the houses of Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon had been empty. The house of Artemis is,of course, empty, bieng as she pleged a vow of virgintiy, thus having a child would break that vow. There are also various other places such as the Big House, the armory, the stables, the forest, the strawberry fields and a mess hall. There is also an arena for various purposes, including chariot racing. It is impossible for mortals and monsters to enter Camp Half-Blood. There is also a blessing from Zeus that does not allow it to rain on the grounds. The camp is a day camp for demi-gods. Check out the link for Camp Half Blood here.

[edit] Movie

There has been talk of a new movie of The Lightning Thief. At IMDB a release date of 2008 has been posted. This has been confirmed by official sources. Rick Riordan has confirmed that the first draft of the script has been written, but a second draft is being written and may possibly replace the first one. He confirmed it will be a few years before The Lightning Thief movie is released.


[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.rickriordan.com/children.htm