So, anyone else here read "Percy Jackson"?

[Oly J]

Hi everyone, so I occasionally notice the odd thread about a given book series now and then on these forums, normally Ice & Fire or LOTR or occasionally Harry Potter, or Eragon (though not recently) and they're normally books I've read (haven't actually read LOTR yet, am currently reading).

Now I could go on for hours about how "actually not that well written" Harry Potter was or how I'd describe Eragon as "brilliantly bad" (in a fun kind of way if that wasn't clear) but there's one book series I enjoy more than any of the above (except maybe Ice & Fire but they're completely different animals so it wouldn't be fair to compare them) and that's Percy Jackson, and I seldom ever see that mentioned here.

now as a british guy born in 1991, Harry Potter was the first Novel I intently read to the end without being forced to (as was the case with many kids my age I expect) though I started with "Chamber of Secrets" as my teacher at the time read "Philosopher's Stone to the class chapter by chapter as a reward for good behavior, but even though I read all 7 intently, after I finished I never felt compelled to pick it up again

"Percy Jackson and the Lightning Theif" was the first book I wanted to read again after having finished it, I only compare it to Harry Potter, because I might as well, because everyone else I've spoken to about it has, even though I think that comparison becomes less and less apt with each release though if I had to compare it I'd say "if Harry Potter was actually fun and had more likeable characters" (I'm sorry if you disagree but that's my opinion)

now I didn't get into the series until pretty late, I didn't even know about it until the "Lightning Thief" movie came out (it was AWFUL!) but at the time I saw the trailer, then saw the book in a local Waterstones and thought "why not?" I always liked Greek mythology, and figured I'd read the book to decide if the movie was worth seeing, I enjoyed it very much, (so imagine my disappointment when I saw the movie.)


fast foreward a few years and the 10th and apparently final book in the (main) series (or rather the 5th book of the sequel series "Heroes of Olympus") is set to be released in a few months, and I'm planning to re-read the entire series from scratch in that time in preparation (most of the books are pretty short) so I figured I'd see if anyone else here also enjoyed these books, and doubtless find a few people who don't but that's part of the fun too.

I think what I like most about the series as a whole is that it doesn't take itself too seriously, and it's quite tongue-in-cheek (if that's the right expression) obviously being aimed at younger readers it does PG-up the mythos a bit (for example Medusa "used to date" Poseidon) and I liked the use of history in saying certain famous people were demigods, and I llove the characters, I find them to be quite well developed (at least as far as tween fiction goes) which basically means the characters go beyond being "the smart one" "the tomboy" and "the goofy one" I'm sure you get it. I'm trying desperately not to include spoilers here as I don't really know how to use spoiler tags, but that thing with Nico in the last book did take me by surprise, I honestly didn't think it would go there.


anyway I've rambled on for quite long enough (I have a bad habit of that) so who else here reads or has read these? what are your opinions? any standout moments for you? favorite characters? maybe some things you particularly don't like?

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

I read a lot of his Olympians books when they were coming out. I wasn't actively following him, other people would lend me the books and I'd read them because I moderately enjoyed it.

I really am split on how I feel about Riordan's books.

On one hand, the mythology he creates his stories around is great. Not only does he tell old mythological stories, but he makes it tie into the plot so it isn't forced and somewhat relevant. And I like the modern reimagining of the old gods and mythological stories. And the adventures are pretty fulfilling, each book takes place in a wide variety of both real and mythological locations.

On the other hand, I feel like I'm reading the same story each time, but the names are different or the story has a different title. Moderately heroic kids gets some power of the old gods, they're inadvertently pulled into the story because the mythological creatures push them out of their comfort zone (attacking the parents, usually), they find out there's some quarrel with the old gods that's usually centered around them when the kids had nothing to do with it, they are taken by a group of good figures to start to hone their powers, they face the world before they're ready, they move across the world and usually mess up some person who is benefiting off the gods, they usually befriend some mythological creature along the way (like Tyson in the Olympians or Bast in the Egyptians), there's some clutch old god powers used at the end, and there's always a twist toward the end that makes you rethink the entire progression of the books.

It's not specifically a bad thing. That last point, that huge twist that Riordan throws in the end of the books, convinces me that Riordan is actually a pretty good writer. The twists are so subtle but prevelant through the entire books that, shoot, I can't think of any writer who has done it as well and consistently as Riordan other than J.K. Rowling.

I think that the books are stuck in a juvenile power-dream. Harry Potter was a general progression into darker themes and the growth of Harry and the rest of the cast. Riordan's books usually feel like nothing was permanently accomplished, because there's still another evil god to use in the next book and the characters never dramatically change.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. The books are charming and entertaining, I've read the Olympians and the Kane Chronicles (Egyptian mythology). Problem is, I guess, that I've never had an urge to keep reading Riordan's books, and when I've read roughly ten of his books... I start thinking maybe he isn't that good and I'm looking at this with nostalgia goggles.

--

Anyway. I'm really glad that Riordan wrote the Kane Chronicles, because I love old Egyptian mythology much more than the Greek mythology.

 

[NegaWiki]

I've read the first series, loved it, but once I heard the sequel was about Roman kids I stopped keeping up. The first book had a protagonist learning the extent of his powers and then the first sequel book has a kid who has amnesia but is already trained. I don't like protagonists that have no real conflict. Maybe I'll pick the series up once it's finally finished.

Another problem I had with the series in general was how no one ever called out their divine parent for giving their mortal parent a child and basically abandoning them until they're useful, at least none of the good guys did. Percy almost called them out on this in the end but the best the gods could do was say they would try to be better about it. What the hell kind of resolution is that?

Then again this is a children's series so I should be content with what they did address, but it still leaves me wanting.

 

[TheIceQueen]

I've read the first series, loved it, but once I heard the sequel was about Roman kids I stopped keeping up. The first book had a protagonist learning the extent of his powers and then the first sequel book has a kid who has amnesia but is already trained. I don't like protagonists that have no real conflict. Maybe I'll pick the series up once it's finally finished.

Another problem I had with the series in general was how no one ever called out their divine parent for giving their mortal parent a child and basically abandoning them until they're useful, at least none of the good guys did. Percy almost called them out on this in the end but the best the gods could do was say they would try to be better about it. What the hell kind of resolution is that?

Then again this is a children's series so I should be content with what they did address, but it still leaves me wanting.

Actually, Percy did call them out on this, just not in a way that would have seen him blasted to smithereens by a God who hates his existence. He didn't come right out and give them shit for what happened, but here was a mortal standing before a group of Gods telling them that they had to be better. Remember that Zeus is a prideful being. Pretty much the most prideful being there is. He's the Big Kahoona and not only was his gift of immortality rejected, but he got told that he and the other Olympians pretty much caused the second Titanomachy because of all the bitter demi-god children:

"Kronos couldn't have risen if it hadn't been for a lot of demigods who felt abandoned by their parents. They felt angry, resentful, and unloved, and they had a good reason."

Zeus's royal nostrils flared. "You dare accus-"

So yeah, he did get told, but if he'd been even more up-front about it than he already was, Zeus would have blasted him to pieces.

This, and the realization of how much the Olympians had needed the demi-gods, hurt Zeus' pride badly and is one of the main catalysts for The Lost Hero and the rest of the Heroes of Olympus series.

OT: If you can't tell, I have indeed read Percy Jackson and it's my favorite book series. Greek Mythology is my absolute favorite and Riordan knows how to play with it quite well.

 

[Little Woodsman]

I read up through The Last Olympian based mostly on a combination of "Hey I had pretty much that exact fantasy when I was a kid" and having a friend who had read them and wanted to discuss them.

They were reasonably entertaining, had some really fun moments and brought up some good points but they were a bit too juvenile for me.

Oh, and you do spoiler tags like this:

{spoiler=Spoilers for Titanic}

The ship sinks at the end!

{/spoiler}

but if you replace the "{" with "[" and the "}" with "]" it comes out

Spoiler: Spoilers for Titanic

The ship sinks at the end!

 

[Souplex]

Never read them, but Greek mythology and Demi-gods seems like a good enough setting for not-Harry Potter.
What I do wonder is how they would inevitably handle any romance since all the major characters are demi-gods and all Greek gods are related.

 

[Oly J]

Never read them, but Greek mythology and Demi-gods seems like a good enough setting for not-Harry Potter.
What I do wonder is how they would inevitably handle any romance since all the major characters are demi-gods and all Greek gods are related.

that is brought up and explained albeit very briefly

Spoiler: let's see if I can get this right

basically godly relations don't reeeeally count as gods don't strictly speaking have DNA, so two demigods sired by the same god would be weird, but from different gods biologically speaking they're not related at all so it's fine,

 

[Retsam19]

I'm a pretty big fan of the series myself. (Coincidentally, I'm just about the same age as OP) Harry Potter is a pretty apt comparison; though the Percy Jackson books are much more action-y (it's like the last couple chapters of every HP book for basically the entire book). I particularly enjoy how they use prophesy throughout the series, but then, prophesy has always been one of my favorite elements of fiction.

I'm slightly disappointed by the direction the Heroes of Olympus series has gone. Sure, it's nice having longer books, and more characters than the original series, and I've enjoyed every book, but the overall plot just doesn't seem as interesting, and the most interesting part of the plot has been relegated to a background event since the second book. (More specific comments below, for those who have read them or don't care about spoilers)

Spoiler: Heroes of Olympus spoilers

So Gaea and the Giants, while theoretically more threatening than Kronos and the Titans, in practice have been less interesting. See, in the original series, the more interesting antagonist isn't Kronos, but it's Luke who really drives the plot. Sure, fighting against powerful deities is good for action, but it was really the human element that gave the original series most of its drama.

That human element has mostly been missing from the sequel series. Ostensibly, that role is filled by the Greek/Roman conflict, (what I'm referring to as the "most interesting part of the plot" above) and it was interesting for the first two books, but starting in Book 3, it's basically just been a background event.

Particularly Book 4; while I enjoyed it (particularly, I think Riordan figured out how to handle 7 protagonists better than he did in book 3), really failed to build the tension for the final book. The book begins in a pretty dark place, but by the end of the book they've resolved one major aspect of Gaea's plot (closed the doors of death), set in motion the resolution of another (sending the statue back to resolve the Greek/Roman conflict), got Anabeth and Percy out of Hades, and didn't introduce any new elements to Gaea's plot to compensate.

Side note, never saw the Lightning Thief movie, sine I heard it was terrible, but the second movie, Sea of Monsters, actually was pretty decent. (Last 15-20 minutes are a bit disappointing, but oh well) Surprisingly so, given that I don't think there are two consecutive plot points that match the books plot; it's like they took the general plot, cut it into tiny pieces, rearranged them, replaced a few, then glued them back together; but yet the result is still decent. It's worth seeing for no other reason than the 5 minutes or so of Nathan Fillion as Hermes. (Complete with Firefly reference)

 

[Sordin]

I've read all of them and they are good books but my main problem with them is that the villains are far more sympathetic than the heroes.

I know this has been pointed out before but the gods are elitist assholes who ignore their children (something that sparks off the entire conflict within the books) leave them virtually unprotected and get those same children to save them. And any attempt to point this out results in a thunderbolt to the face, not to mentioned they are prejudiced:they locked up one of the titans children, who was by the way a lovely person, simply because they were a bit worried that she might get justifiably annoyed with them.

Not only that but the only reason the Gods could provide for not letting Cronos win was "Civilization will end" It's massively unspecific and besides which we have only the Gods word for it that this will happen. Sure Cronos was extreme in his methods but look at who he was dealing with, they clearly were not going to listen to reason. I don't want to go into a full blown rant but these are just a few reasons why I spent every single book rooting for the bad guys.

 

[Valkrex]

I really enjoyed them, and I am eagerly awaiting the next installment of the Heroes series.

A lot of what I was going to say has already been said. The books are good fun, and do a nice job drawing one in while presenting old stories in an interesting way.

While Riordan isn't the perfect author, I do think he absolutely NAILS the "OH SHIT" moments.

Spoiler: Battle of the Labyrinth moment

When Kronos is awakened and possesses Luke's body. That part gave me CHILLS. Percy even tries to STAB him, but has his sword bounce off his body with no effect and is then knocked back across the room with what is essentially a poke from the Titan of time. Then Percy is trying to run away but Kronos essentially forces him into slow motion and leisurely walks up to Percy ready to slice him to pieces with his Scythe, and he only escapes through sheer dumb luck.

That's just one incident that I always remember when thinking about this series, and its far from the only one. The villains in this series actually feel POWERFUL, like they actually are the ancient forces of the world given form and like any force of nature they genuinely feel unstoppable and have power beyond our comprehension.

 

[Something Amyss]

I've read the first two and enjoyed them. I will read more eventually, but I've been caught up with other books.

The ship sinks at the end!

OMG. Spoilers?

 

[hermes]

Read the first book. I found the setting to be pretty interesting, and I am a mythology buff so the idea of Greek gods and creatures leaving among us was pretty enticing... but the main character was basically a Mary Sue, far too competent and skilled for a 12 years old guy that can take on Ares himself. Wasn't a fan of the small world complex, with the heroes bumping with all the main mythological creatures by mere narrative causality.

 

[Oly J]

I'm a pretty big fan of the series myself. (Coincidentally, I'm just about the same age as OP) Harry Potter is a pretty apt comparison; though the Percy Jackson books are much more action-y (it's like the last couple chapters of every HP book for basically the entire book). I particularly enjoy how they use prophesy throughout the series, but then, prophesy has always been one of my favorite elements of fiction.

I'm slightly disappointed by the direction the Heroes of Olympus series has gone. Sure, it's nice having longer books, and more characters than the original series, and I've enjoyed every book, but the overall plot just doesn't seem as interesting, and the most interesting part of the plot has been relegated to a background event since the second book. (More specific comments below, for those who have read them or don't care about spoilers)

Spoiler: Heroes of Olympus spoilers

So Gaea and the Giants, while theoretically more threatening than Kronos and the Titans, in practice have been less interesting. See, in the original series, the more interesting antagonist isn't Kronos, but it's Luke who really drives the plot. Sure, fighting against powerful deities is good for action, but it was really the human element that gave the original series most of its drama.

That human element has mostly been missing from the sequel series. Ostensibly, that role is filled by the Greek/Roman conflict, (what I'm referring to as the "most interesting part of the plot" above) and it was interesting for the first two books, but starting in Book 3, it's basically just been a background event.

Particularly Book 4; while I enjoyed it (particularly, I think Riordan figured out how to handle 7 protagonists better than he did in book 3), really failed to build the tension for the final book. The book begins in a pretty dark place, but by the end of the book they've resolved one major aspect of Gaea's plot (closed the doors of death), set in motion the resolution of another (sending the statue back to resolve the Greek/Roman conflict), got Anabeth and Percy out of Hades, and didn't introduce any new elements to Gaea's plot to compensate.

Side note, never saw the Lightning Thief movie, sine I heard it was terrible, but the second movie, Sea of Monsters, actually was pretty decent. (Last 15-20 minutes are a bit disappointing, but oh well) Surprisingly so, given that I don't think there are two consecutive plot points that match the books plot; it's like they took the general plot, cut it into tiny pieces, rearranged them, replaced a few, then glued them back together; but yet the result is still decent. It's worth seeing for no other reason than the 5 minutes or so of Nathan Fillion as Hermes. (Complete with Firefly reference)

yeah the second movie was quite a bit better, but it could've been better still if it didn't have to clear up so much of the mess from the first one, for instance,

Spoiler: rant on lightning theif movie

Dionysus and Thalia's tree are not even mentioned in the first movie, Clarisse wasn't introduced either, (Percy instead fights Annabeth in capture the flag) the focus of the entire film was finding the three pearls they use to get back from the underworld (you know, the ones that, in the book he's just given at one point by a water spirit, there's way too much product placement, (Percy can see Medusa in the reflection on the back of his iPod and Luke tells them where to go while playing COD on his Xbox), also pop music, and the casting is horrible, Peirce Brosnan as Chiron, Uma Thurman as Medusa, Steve Coogan as Hades (I like these actors but they are WRONG for these parts)

no I don't particularly mind that Annabeth wasn't blonde, or that grover was black, Grover being a TOKEN black character and a stereotype to boot however is NOT ok

also Ares wasn't in it, he's apparently in the deleted scenes being played by RAY FUCKING WINSTONE, possibly the best casting of the whole movie and they cut him out

that said Jake Abel as Luke was great I thought, but other than that, well you get the idea

 

[COMaestro]

I've read the first book and found it entertaining enough and intend to check out the remaining books from the library at some point. I will admit, though, having read all of the Harry Potter series beforehand, the Lightning Thief felt a lot like HP-lite. The initial setup of a boy suddenly learning that he is more than he believed and goes off to a new place surrounded by people like him, befriending a boy and a girl in which the boy is mostly used as comic relief and seems to have an obsession with food and the girl being rather book smart, and the hijinks that ensue, it all feels like a rehashed version of HP.

Still, it's rehashed the same way the Sword of Shannara is a rehashed LOTR, and I found it to be enjoyable with enough original ideas to stand on its own. I will admit, the ease with which the characters ran into gods and monsters throughout the story seemed a bit contrived though, as was their repeated stupidity which seemed forced in order to allow them to encounter said monsters and move the plot along.

I'm figuring the sequels will be better and look forward to reading them.

 

[Souplex]

Never read them, but Greek mythology and Demi-gods seems like a good enough setting for not-Harry Potter.
What I do wonder is how they would inevitably handle any romance since all the major characters are demi-gods and all Greek gods are related.

that is brought up and explained albeit very briefly

Spoiler: let's see if I can get this right

basically godly relations don't reeeeally count as gods don't strictly speaking have DNA, so two demigods sired by the same god would be weird, but from different gods biologically speaking they're not related at all so it's fine,

But...
Biology...
If gods don't really have DNA then every demi-god is going around with 23 unpaired chromosomes.
Even one unpaired chromosome causes severe issues.
If Percy's dad is Poseidon, he wouldn't be able to inherit a Y chromosome because gods don't have DNA in this universe, so Percy can't be a dude.
So much biology wrong!

 

[Oly J]

Never read them, but Greek mythology and Demi-gods seems like a good enough setting for not-Harry Potter.
What I do wonder is how they would inevitably handle any romance since all the major characters are demi-gods and all Greek gods are related.

that is brought up and explained albeit very briefly

Spoiler: let's see if I can get this right

basically godly relations don't reeeeally count as gods don't strictly speaking have DNA, so two demigods sired by the same god would be weird, but from different gods biologically speaking they're not related at all so it's fine,

But...
Biology...
If gods don't really have DNA then every demi-god is going around with 23 unpaired chromosomes.
Even one unpaired chromosome causes severe issues.
If Percy's dad is Poseidon, he wouldn't be able to inherit a Y chromosome because gods don't have DNA in this universe, so Percy can't be a dude.
So much biology wrong!

I think the gods have something else but it's pretty vague, they don't really focus on it

 

[Gizmo1990]

Snip

I read them to my younger sisters but found that I liked them myself. I don't care that if as a 23 (24 in 7 days) I am not the target audencie and am not ment to like them. I liked the first series and I have been keeping up with Heroes of Olympus but I have not enjoyed it as much as the first series. I simply don't like any of the new characters as much as the old. To me they range from boring (Jason, Piper) to indifferent (Frank, Hazel, every other Roman character) to just plain annoying (Leo).

That being said I have enjoyed what has happened with Percy and Annabeth, especialy in the last book, plus despite the various powers the new guys have you always get the sense that, if it came down to it, they could both kick the crap out of the others if they needed to.

And I kind of agree that Eragon was brilliantly bad, until the last book which was just plain bad. I am sorry but that Murtagh guy should have died for the crime of being a colossal douche bag.

 

[Raggedstar]

Can't comment much about them (it's been ages since I read those books) but I remember loving them when I was younger. I read the entire first series, but beyond that I started to lack room and funds for more books and was just starting to get academically bogged down. But aye, I liked the fantasy the books had and the new interpretations of classic mythology. Greek mythology has always been my favourite (though I'm also Greek, so I may be biased). Also liked the humor, fight scenes, and the general pacing of the books. It was fast, but I never got lost and had a lot of punch.

 

[Retsam19]

Never read them, but Greek mythology and Demi-gods seems like a good enough setting for not-Harry Potter.
What I do wonder is how they would inevitably handle any romance since all the major characters are demi-gods and all Greek gods are related.

that is brought up and explained albeit very briefly

Spoiler: let's see if I can get this right

basically godly relations don't reeeeally count as gods don't strictly speaking have DNA, so two demigods sired by the same god would be weird, but from different gods biologically speaking they're not related at all so it's fine,

But...
Biology...
If gods don't really have DNA then every demi-god is going around with 23 unpaired chromosomes.
Even one unpaired chromosome causes severe issues.
If Percy's dad is Poseidon, he wouldn't be able to inherit a Y chromosome because gods don't have DNA in this universe, so Percy can't be a dude.
So much biology wrong!

Can we talk about how it's a universe with literal gods and prophesies and magical abilities and invisible mountain floating above the Empire States building... and you're hung up on how the biology wouldn't work quite right?