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The Lightning Thief
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June: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (POSSIBLE SPOILERS)
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Teresa
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rated it 3 stars
Jun 01, 2009 04:11AM
I just read the first 60 pages of this book, it reminds me in a way of Harry Potter.
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Teresa wrote: "I just read the first 60 pages of this book, it reminds me in a way of Harry Potter. "Harry Potter is what led me on to the Percy Jackson books .. they are alike in many ways, I agree, but also have differances. I've just started the final book in the series.
humm...I put it on hold at the library, there are two people in front of me.
Maybe you'll get it before the end of the month Allison :)
Great reading : ) I am flying through this book, I love the humor especially all the water from the toilets. The catpture the flag was a good battle.
Teresa wrote: "I just read the first 60 pages of this book, it reminds me in a way of Harry Potter. "Yes, Teresa, I had that thought, too. What a great series to recommend to kids after reading the Harry Potter books. I'm enjoying humor, too. I haven't gotten to the capture the flag yet, but I loved the water from the toilets getting the bully.
Kathy wrote: "Teresa wrote: "I just read the first 60 pages of this book, it reminds me in a way of Harry Potter. "Yes, Teresa, I had that thought, too. What a great series to recommend to kids after reading..."
Let me know what your opinion is of the capture the flag,
this is a fast read : ) another game tonight to watch and probably another 50-75 pages read
Teresa I felt the exact same way! I love it so far though!
******************SPOILERS, CHAPTER 8***************Teresa, I have read the capture the flag part, and I thought that when Percy was placed by the creek that it was going to play a big part in his abilities, the water and all. After he was revived by the water and did the impressive swordplay earlier in the chapter, I kept saying, "Okay, we know who his dad is now, don't we?" I'm starting chapter 12 now.
I absolutely loved this book! I definitely agree that it is a fast and easy read. I can see similarities to Harry Potter but can also see differences between the two.My favorite part is how mythology is tied into the story. As someone who has always been intrigued by mythology, but never really been "schooled" in it, I love how the author explains each god/goddess so that I'm actually learning at the same time.
I will definitely be continuing with this series and would highly recommend it!
=)
I love this series! What fun! And it brought back my love of greek mysths as a kid. It's fun, if you know the myths, to catch them and see how they relate to the story. A lot of fun! :)
I loved this book and I love how my suspicions about a certain character were confirmed at the end. I can't wait to buy the second and continue the series.Who was everyone's favorite character?
I really liked Percy's mother. Also Ares was pretty badass, ha ha.
Ares was cast perfectly in the twenty-first century. I really like Annabeth.I thought this book was just fantastic. It really was a lot of fun to see how the ancient myths translated into modern times. I thought the author did a great job bringing everything up-to-date.
Kathy wrote: "******************SPOILERS, CHAPTER 8***************Teresa, I have read the capture the flag part, and I thought that when Percy was placed by the creek that it was going to play a big part in h..."
I didn't pay a lot of attention to greek myths in school, it is a good thing the author informs us who is who when he introduces them.
Teresa wrote: "Kathy wrote: "******************SPOILERS, CHAPTER 8***************Teresa, I have read the capture the flag part, and I thought that when Percy was placed by the creek that it was going to pla..."
Neither did I. Our History teacher made the Greek myth part of our History course extremely boring. Unlike the books :)
I only read the first one the series but I really enjoyed it. I thought it was so creative in how the myths and gods/goddesses were interwoven in the story. I agree you if you're not familiar with Greek mythology you do learn a great deal of it by just reading the books. I don't remember character names that well, but my favorite character was Percy's friend...the satyr.
I am about 3/4 done and can't help but compare it to Harry Potter. 1) You have 3 friends, Percy ( harry) who must go on a quest agianst evil, and has names you shouldnt speak
Then there is annabeth who is a brainic( per the book) who could be Heromine (sp) twin
and the Satyr is a mirror image of Ron from HP
There is a 3 headed creature
1/2 bloods are in both books, one has a school for them, the other has a camp
anyone else seeing similiarities? What about differences
Yes, Teresa, I see many similarities between this series and Harry Potter, too. In addition to what you've listed, there is the portal, the 600th floor of the Empire State Building that doesn't exist for mere mortals compared to the train platform in Harry Potter that doesn't exist for mere mortals either. I guess Ares is Percy's Snape. In spite of all of the similarities I found, I am enjoying The Lightning Thief (almost finished) and plan on reading the rest of the series. I actually think that the similarities will appeal to young adults, giving them a comfort zone, rather like several mystery writers I like.
I finished it yesterday and gave it a five-star rating. I then, of course, had to go buy the 2nd in the seriess, The Sea of Monsters, although I have a few books I'm going to read before going back to Percy.
I bought it yesterday...I also have 3 and 4 in the series, Borders, B&N and Target were ALL out of #2...isn't that ridiculous??!?!
Allison wrote: "I bought it yesterday...I also have 3 and 4 in the series, Borders, B&N and Target were ALL out of #2...isn't that ridiculous??!?!"Allison, I was lucky to find #2 at Books-A-Million. I had already bought #3 and #4 at Kroger's, of all places, but Kroger's didn't have #2. Wonder what's up with the lack of #2.
haha Kathy...I got 3 and 4 at my Kroger store, Dillons :)
Allison wrote: "haha Kathy...I got 3 and 4 at my Kroger store, Dillons :)"too funny!!! It just goes to show you that we book lovers will buy books wherever we go.
Now that we are finished let's chat? How did you feel when Hades returned his mother to normal form?
What did you think of the decision Percy made to save his friends and leave his mother?
What about Luke's betrayal?
When did you figure out Ares was the bad god?
What was the favorite part of the book for you?
what part made you go huh?
what part made you laugh?
what part made you sad?
What about the greek myths and god, good idea? bad idea?
Okay did I go overboard with my questions? Am I the only one finished, I thought a few people alreayd read this book? I want to chat about it.
Teresa wrote: "Okay did I go overboard with my questions? Am I the only one finished, I thought a few people alreayd read this book? I want to chat about it. "No, Teresa, you didn't go overboard. I like the questions. I have finished and will answer some of the questions when I get back on the computer in the morning.
OK, I've read 9 chapters. What am I missing that I'm just not enjoying this book very much? I know my daughter will love it, but me? Hmmm....I like the concept but I think I'd rather be reading the actual myths. Maybe it is too much like a HP ripoff. I want to like it and will continue reading but for me, it's just not happening. {sigh}
Sorry Teresa that I haven't gotten back to your questions yet. I saw today where Stephenie Meyers was reading this series and highly recommended it. Her son just finished the last one out. OK, I will answer two questions now. I think Percy did the right thing when he saved his friends and left his mother. I think he knew that there was still a chance for her, but there was no chance for either of his friends if he didn't choose them. I wasn't completely surprised by Luke's betrayal, but I was very disappointed, a lot of wasted potential for good.
Susan wrote: "OK, I've read 9 chapters. What am I missing that I'm just not enjoying this book very much? I know my daughter will love it, but me? Hmmm....I like the concept but I think I'd rather be reading t..."
I enjoyed the story, but couldn't help comparing it to HP> My 10 yr old is enjoying it as an introduction to Greek Gods.
Kathy wrote: "Sorry Teresa that I haven't gotten back to your questions yet. I saw today where Stephenie Meyers was reading this series and highly recommended it. Her son just finished the last one out. OK,..."
I was suprised it was Luke. I was thinking it might be one of the mean girl's so their father would claim them.
Yeah, it would have been a lot easier to take it it had been one of the mean girls who was the rotten one. Of course, it wouldn't have been the huge betrayal of which the oracle spoke. I guess call me twisted, but one of the parts that made me laugh was Percy's mother using Medua's head to turn her mean husband into the statue.
I actually like that part about Percy's mother using Medusa's head. lol. I thought it was a very good use for the head.
Teresa wrote: "Kathy wrote: "Sorry Teresa that I haven't gotten back to your questions yet. I saw today where Stephenie Meyers was reading this series and highly recommended it. Her son just finished the last o..."I actually thought it would be Luke, from when he decided to give Percy the flying shoes.
I had my suspicions about Luke all along as well. I thought he had played a pretty big part, and there was the section where he was depressed about his father so I figured he's got to be the one to do something wrong, since there has to be a reason as to why he's such a big supporting character, he might as well be the betrayer.
Jackie wrote: "I actually like that part about Percy's mother using Medusa's head. lol. I thought it was a very good use for the head. "I am glad she didn't stay gone, and using the head to rid herself of the bad husband, was quite orginial. It makes sense for it to be Luke for the Oracle to come true with his warning, but it was painful for percy.
I feel like I'm not sure I think Ares was a "bad god." I mean, he's the god of war, so I feel like it's in his nature to be quite bad ass. Also, I feel like the real bad guy was Kronos. Ares basically enjoys a good conflict I think, but I doubt he'd want Kronos released.
On the sad question, I thought it was sad that Zeus' daughter got turned into the pine tree and didn't make it to the camp.
I'm curious if anyone has disliked the book thus far. I just finished the second book and really can't get into the series. Everything just feels so poorly executed and a missed opportunity. I hate being the mr. negative, but the positive response for the book has surprised me thus far. Always interesting to see how opinions can differ.
April wrote: "I feel like I'm not sure I think Ares was a "bad god." I mean, he's the god of war, so I feel like it's in his nature to be quite bad ass. Also, I feel like the real bad guy was Kronos. Ares basica..."Everyone has choices : ) and I think Ares made some bad ones. Being a God of War he should not of being so easy swayed into doing the things he did. There are more books so maybe he can redeem himself?
Kathy wrote: "On the sad question, I thought it was sad that Zeus' daughter got turned into the pine tree and didn't make it to the camp."I think this might come into play in another book? Maybe she doesn't have to stay a pine tree?
Adam wrote: "I'm curious if anyone has disliked the book thus far. I just finished the second book and really can't get into the series. Everything just feels so poorly executed and a missed opportunity. I hate..."My problem with this book, is I think it is a copycat of Harry Potter. I think the publishers thought this would be the next big thing and it has a good following just not the best books. KWIM
there are tons and tons of things that throw back to Harry Potter for me, but the overall concept of the story is so original I don't care. I loved this, I am reading the rest of the series obsessively now.
Allison wrote: "there are tons and tons of things that throw back to Harry Potter for me, but the overall concept of the story is so original I don't care. I loved this, I am reading the rest of the series obsessi..."I agree.
I thought this series was really great. What a fun take on mythology!
I love this whole series. The last book just came out last month and I read it in a day or two. It's a big hit with the kids at the school I work and even won our state's award this year - Rebecca Caudill - which is voted for in Illinois by the kids. :)
After starting the 2nd book I realized something. These books will be a big hit with pre teen and teens. It probably wont be as big of a hit with Adults since it is not of the caliber of HP. Now that I figured that out, I am enjoying them more.
Adam wrote: "I'm curious if anyone has disliked the book thus far. I just finished the second book and really can't get into the series. Everything just feels so poorly executed and a missed opportunity. I hate..."I've read the first two so far, and I liked them. But not enough to put the series on my "must read right now!" list. There are other series I'm reading that are higher in priority for me. Many of the students in my library (4th, 5th & 6th grade) love the series, though, and have read them all.
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I got the Harry Potter wannabe feeling from the first book too, but not from any books after that. I feel like the other books stand out on their own. I think the writing, because of the narration, was definitely aimed at a younger crowd.What I like most about this whole series is that Percy is a likeable character. He's my favorite character. I like how close Riordan stuck to the mythology, while still being able to put his own modern spin on it. And I like how there was a nice balance between action time and down time, so I never really felt like Percy and his friends were being overwhelmed.
Jennifer W wrote: "I enjoyed it. I, too, felt it was a little too much like Harry Potter (would it kill an author to have a book like this starring a girl??). I loved how I got to learn about the myths throughout the..."It would be interesting to see a girl in a starring role. I can't think of any real strong female characters that get adventures like this. I decided these books are for the younger age group and now that I got that in my head really enjoying the second book. THis would be a great read aloud for a family to just read or use it with greek myths.
Teresa wrote: "It would be interesting to see a girl in a starring role. I can't think of any real strong female characters that get adventures like this."Hm, seems like I've read a lot of books lately with young, strong female main characters: Graceling, Eon: Dragoneye Reborn, Jackaroo, the Gemma Doyle trilogy, Girl in a Cage, Chains, Sabriel, and even Rapunzel's Revenge. :)
Wild Things: YA Grown-Up
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