I can honestly say I don't remember the last time the protagonist in the story was my favourite character. I guess we can go with Harry but I was eight, by the time Prisoner of Azkaban was released- it was Severus Snape or it was nothing.
It's probably just because they just weren't Percy Jackson. At the age of twelve our ADHD New Yorker learns that he is the son of a Greek God (later finding out his father is Poseidon), his best friend is a goat and mythological monsters are trying to kill him. He takes refuge in the safe haven Camp Half-Blood where he trains to become an awesome monster-slaying demigod.
Percy also finds out that he's part of an ancient prophecy; a child of the Big Three (Zeus, Posiedon and hot-as-hell-Hades) will aid in the saving or destruction of Olympus upon their sixteenth birthday.
Percy also finds out that he's part of an ancient prophecy; a child of the Big Three (Zeus, Posiedon and hot-as-hell-Hades) will aid in the saving or destruction of Olympus upon their sixteenth birthday.
Occasionally during his time at Camp Half-Blood, Percy and his friends are sent out on potentially life ending quests (complete with a prophecy from a mummified Oracle). These quests involve a lot of monsters, pet hellhounds, trips to Hades, a giant underground labyrinth and Zeus' master bolt. Each book deals with new monsters and problems orchestrated by the same evil, I love the way it ties the plot together in the end- everything is arranged beautifully.
I heard many whisperings and murmurings about how much this series is like Harry Potter, I won’t lie about it there are loads of similarities in characters as well as circumstance. My sister and I played a ‘Which Harry Potter character is this?’ game during our reading of the series, it was a lot easier for me as I was juggling both at once.
Personally, I don’t think it there was enough of a similarity between them for it to be a major problem. Rick Riordan made a world in his own right, much in the same fashion that Rowling did. He deserves every praise in the world for his series.
And what a fantastic series it was.
It was fantastically written, and at times absolutely hilarious (whether it was intentional or not I don't know). More often than not I found myself laughing out loud at what I was reading, wherever I was. They were fairly easy to read too, each book only took a few days to read. I got a bit of stick from a book seller about wanting to read it, according to her it wasn't very challenging. Hey, we don't discriminate on this blog, I read whatever I feel like. What can I say? Riordan makes Greek mythology fun and really knows how to bring together the historical and the contemporary. Sometimes the language made my face cringe a little, but I was used to it by the end of the second book- I inwardly grimaced far less after that. Anyway, thinking about it really- the language of today’s youth is similar, so two thumbs up in that respect.
I've already mentioned how much I loved Percy, I'm not sure why out of all the protagonists I've been introduced to in literature HE is one of my favourites. I guess I find his naivety charming, or maybe the fact that outside of Camp Half-Blood he's completely unpopular. Maybe because some of the other characters didn’t have enough exposure for me to fall in love with them too. *coughHADEScough* I don't know, but I warmed to him quickly. The same goes for Percy's half-brother Tyson, his innocence was beautiful, I loved him from his introduction.
In the same respect I also found myself with an almost impossible to shake dislike for Annabeth. (I know I must be in a thimble sized pool here.) It wasn't anything she'd done or not done I just didn't quite grow to like her the way I did with Grover. Personally, if we're going for female favourites, I much preferred Clarisse. That girl had a lot of zeal, I found it hard not to like her; I loved the way she had an unreasonable and insistent dislike for Percy, even when she liked him, she hated him.
(The most Snape-like Character Award goes to Hades, I wish there was MORE of him.)
I heard many whisperings and murmurings about how much this series is like Harry Potter, I won’t lie about it there are loads of similarities in characters as well as circumstance. My sister and I played a ‘Which Harry Potter character is this?’ game during our reading of the series, it was a lot easier for me as I was juggling both at once.
Personally, I don’t think it there was enough of a similarity between them for it to be a major problem. Rick Riordan made a world in his own right, much in the same fashion that Rowling did. He deserves every praise in the world for his series.
And what a fantastic series it was.
It was fantastically written, and at times absolutely hilarious (whether it was intentional or not I don't know). More often than not I found myself laughing out loud at what I was reading, wherever I was. They were fairly easy to read too, each book only took a few days to read. I got a bit of stick from a book seller about wanting to read it, according to her it wasn't very challenging. Hey, we don't discriminate on this blog, I read whatever I feel like. What can I say? Riordan makes Greek mythology fun and really knows how to bring together the historical and the contemporary. Sometimes the language made my face cringe a little, but I was used to it by the end of the second book- I inwardly grimaced far less after that. Anyway, thinking about it really- the language of today’s youth is similar, so two thumbs up in that respect.
I've already mentioned how much I loved Percy, I'm not sure why out of all the protagonists I've been introduced to in literature HE is one of my favourites. I guess I find his naivety charming, or maybe the fact that outside of Camp Half-Blood he's completely unpopular. Maybe because some of the other characters didn’t have enough exposure for me to fall in love with them too. *coughHADEScough* I don't know, but I warmed to him quickly. The same goes for Percy's half-brother Tyson, his innocence was beautiful, I loved him from his introduction.
In the same respect I also found myself with an almost impossible to shake dislike for Annabeth. (I know I must be in a thimble sized pool here.) It wasn't anything she'd done or not done I just didn't quite grow to like her the way I did with Grover. Personally, if we're going for female favourites, I much preferred Clarisse. That girl had a lot of zeal, I found it hard not to like her; I loved the way she had an unreasonable and insistent dislike for Percy, even when she liked him, she hated him.
(The most Snape-like Character Award goes to Hades, I wish there was MORE of him.)
I could literally go on forever, this needs to be given a chance, away from it’s similarities to other novels and series. Almost definitely away from it’s Hollywood counterpart but I won’t even go into that right now. Seriously, pick up these books I’m fairly certain you won’t regret it.
Rating: ★★★★★
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