The Lightning Thief

For the upcoming film based on the novel, see Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.

The Lightning Thief

File:Lightning thief.jpg
Author	Rick Riordan
Illustrator	John Rocco
Language	English
Series	Percy Jackson & the Olympians (Book 1)
Genre	Fantasy novel
Publisher	Hyperion Books
Publication date	July 1, 2005 (hardcover) April 1, 2006 (paperback)
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (hardback, paperback), audiobook CD
Pages	384 (hardcover) 400 (paperback)
ISBN	[[Special:BookSources/0786856297%7F%27%22%60UNIQ--ref-00000007-QINU%60%22%27%7F |0786856297]]
OCLC	60786141
Followed by	The Sea of Monsters

External Links

[1] pen island visit pen island its really nice this time of year. The Lightning Thief is a 2005 fantasy/adventure novel based on Greek mythology, the first young adult novel written by author Rick Riordan. It is the first book in the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series, which charts the adventures of modern twelve-year-old Percy Jackson as he discovers he is a demigod, the son of a mortal woman and the Greek god Poseidon. Percy and his friends go on a quest to prevent an apocalyptic war between the Greek gods Zeus, Poseidon and Hades.

Riordan finished writing his manuscript in 1994. The Lightning Thief was initially accepted by Bantam Books in 1997 and later sold in an auction to Miramax Books before being released on July 28, 2005. The book has sold over 1.2 million copies in the subsequent four years, appearing on the New York Times children's Best Seller list and being listed as one of the Young Adult Library Services Association's Best Books for Young Adults, among other awards. It will be adapted to a film named Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief which is scheduled for release in the United States on February 12, 2010. The sequel to this book is The Sea of Monsters.

Synopsis

The Lightning Thief uses concepts of ancient Greek mythology in a modern setting. It is written in a fast-paced humorous style.

Plot

Percy Jackson is a twelve year old boy diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia, who has been expelled from several schools. On a trip with his mother, his friend Grover, revealed to be a satyr, urgently tells Percy's mother that Percy must go to a certain camp. As they drive towards camp, they are attacked by a Minotaur which grabs Percy's mother. She dissolves into a golden shower of light, while Grover and Percy narrowly escape.

Percy wakes up and discovers that he has arrived in Camp Half-Blood, a secretive training ground for demigods. Thereafter, Percy is moved into the Hermes cabin under the care of Luke, the Cabin counselor. During a Capture the Flag game, Percy is attacked by the children of Ares. He heals when he steps into the adjoining river and is revealed as the son of Poseidon when Poseidon's trident appears above his head. Poseidon had broken an oath taken with Hades and Zeus after World War II of not having any more children since they were too powerful. Percy is then granted a quest to find Zeus's master bolt which Chiron believes Hades has stolen. However, Zeus, who discovered Poseidon had broken his oath, believes Poseidon had Percy steal the bolt. Percy, who has ten days before summer solstice to find the bolt, is given magic shoes by Luke before leaving. Percy, accompanied by Annabeth and Grover, decide to travel west to reach the entrance to the Underworld in Los Angeles. They encounter several Greek monsters, and also the war god, Ares, who tells Percy that his mother is alive. As they approach the pit of Tartarus, Luke’s shoes try to pull Grover into it, but he manages to slip free his hooves. Percy confronts Hades who also believes Percy stole the Master Bolt as well as his Helm of Darkness. Percy realizes that Ares has tricked him when he discovers the bolt in his backpack. He flees from the Underworld, forced to leave his mother. Percy then fights and defeats Ares by hurting the god's heel. Ares gives Percy the Helm of Darkness which Percy returns to Hades. Percy reaches New York City to give the master bolt to Zeus at the top of Empire State Building where Olympus is now located. Zeus accepts the master bolt and thereafter Percy returns to camp, after learning that his mother is alive. He meets Luke, who reveals that he stole the bolt for Kronos. He calls out a poisonous scorpion which stings and nearly kills Percy. Chiron cures him and Percy leaves to attend another school found by his mother.

Major characters

Main article: List of Percy Jackson and the Olympians characters

• Percy Jackson: The protagonist; a twelve year old boy who has been diagnosed with ADHD as well as dyslexia. Percy discovers that he is the son of Greek god Poseidon and that his disabilities are natural for demigods, also known as half-bloods. He embarks on an adventure to find Zeus's master lightning bolt to prevent a disastrous war among the gods.
• Annabeth Chase: A twelve year old daughter of the goddess Athena. Annabeth was brought to Camp Half-Blood by Luke Castellan and Thalia Grace. She helps nurse Percy after he is attacked by the Minotaur. She also accompanies Percy on his quest to find Zeus's master bolt. Annabeth has been going to Camp Half-Blood since she was seven and possesses a necklace that has beads from every year she survives at Camp Half-Blood.
• Grover Underwood: Grover is a satyr and Percy's best friend. Initially, he was undercover as a boy in search of potential demigods. He leads Percy to the Camp after his mother is taken and accompanies him on his journey to find Zeus's master bolt. His lifelong dream is to find the god of wild places, Pan.
• Luke Castellan: The main antagonist and a son of Hermes; he is the counsellor of the Hermes cabin and helps train Percy in the art of battle. Later, he betrays Percy and leaves him for dead, revealing that he works for the Titan Kronos.
• Chiron: He is, at first, Percy's Latin teacher, Mr. Brunner. Later, Percy discovers he is a Centaur, half-horse and half-man. He is Camp Half-Blood's Activity Director.

Development and publication

Rick Riordan, the author, at the release of The Battle of the Labyrinth

Development for both The Lightning Thief and the Percy Jackson series as a whole commenced when Riordan first began making stories for his son Haley who had just recently been diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia. His son had been studying Greek mythology in second grade and requested that his father come up with bedtime stories based on Greek myths. Riordan had been a Greek mythology teacher in middle school for many years and was able to remember enough stories to please his son. Soon Riordan ran out of myths and his son then requested that he make new ones using the same characters from Greek myths and add new ones. Thus, Riordan created the fictional character Percy Jackson and made the story of how he would travel across The United States to recover Zeus's lightning bolt. After he finished telling the story to his son, he then requested that his dad write a book based on Percy's adventures.

In June 1994, Riordan had completed his manuscript and began looking for agents. During that time, he visited multiple local colleges looking for good editors until he eventually found an agent. While he left his manuscript to his agent and editor to review, Riordan took his book to a selected group of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders to read and critique. With their help the book was named, as well as the way Percy's sword worked. In June 1997, Riordan signed with Bantam Books to prepare the book for publishing. In 2004, the book was sold to Miramax Books for enough money for Riordan to quit his job to focus on writing. After it was released on July 28, 2005 it sold over 1.2 million copies. The book was released in multiple versions including hardcover, paperback and audio editions. It has been translated into multiple languages and published all over the world.

Grover unexpectently loses his pants because he is a rapist

The Lightning Thief received mostly positive reviews. Common Sense Media said "there are two levels of fun in The Lightning Thief. One is the fast-paced quest of a young hero and his friends to save the world" and added "another level of fun here – laughing at the wicked ways the author has updated the gods and monsters for the 21st century". However, it did criticize some aspects of the book describing the prose as "choppy and attitude-filled" and complaining that "[t]he characters aren't emotionally involving". Its overall rating was 4 stars out of 5. The New York Times praised The Lightning Thief as "perfectly paced, with electrifying moments chasing each other like heartbeats". School Library Journal said in its starred review that the book was "An adventure-quest with a hip edge." and that "Readers will be eager to follow the young protagonist's next move". Kirkus praised the book and said, "Packed with humorous allusions to Greek mythology and clever updates of the old stories, along with rip-snorting action sequences, the book really shines in the depiction of Percy – wry, impatient, academically hopeless, with a cut-to-the-chase bluntness one would wish for in a hero of old." Eoin Colfer, author of Artemis Fowl called it "A fantastic blend of myth and modern". Publishers Weekly also praised the book, regarding it as "swift and humorous" and added that the book would "leave many readers eager for the next installment." On April 8, 2007, The Lightning Thief was ranked 9th on the New York Times Best Seller list for children's books.

"The ultimate compliment for a children's writer is when the kids like it" – Rick Riordan

The Lightning Thief was the winner of the School Library Journal Best Book of 2005 as well one of the books in Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books List, 2005. It was also in the VOYA Top Shelf Fiction List, and was the winner of Red House Children's Book Award Winner (UK), 2006, Askews Torchlight Award (UK), 2006, and the Mark Twain Award (Missouri Association of School Librarians), 2008. It was an ALA Notable Book, 2006 and a New York Times Notable Book (2005). It received the Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award in 2009.

Adaptations

Film adaptation

Main article: Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

Teaser poster for the film

In June 2004, 20th Century Fox acquired feature film rights to the book. In April 2007, director Chris Columbus was hired to helm the project. Logan Lerman is Percy Jackson and Brandon T. Jackson is Grover Underwood, the satyr. Alexandra Daddario will be playing Annabeth while Jake Abel has been cast as Luke Castellan. Pierce Brosnan will be playing Chiron. The film is titled Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief and is scheduled for release in the United States on February 12, 2010.

File:The Lightning Thief audiobook.jpg

The cover for the audio book version of The Lightning Thief.

Audiobook

On June 28, 2005, a 10 hour 25 minute audio book version of The Lightning Thief, read by actor Jesse Bernstein, was published worldwide by Listening Library.

Kirkus in a starred review said, "the narrator’s voice lends a refreshing air of realism to this riotously paced quest tale of heroism that questions the realities of our world, family, friendship and loyalty". AudioFile Magazine praised the audiobook, raving, "adults and children alike will be spellbound as they listen to this deeply imaginative tale unfold." School Library Journal both praised and criticized the audio book saying "Although some of Jesse Bernstein's accents fail (the monster from Georgia, for instance, has no Southern trace in her voice), he does a fine job of keeping the main character's tones and accents distinguishable".

Sequel

Main article: The Sea of Monsters

The Lightning Thief is followed by The Sea of Monsters. There, Percy and Annabeth rescue Grover who has been imprisoned by Polyphemus, the Cyclops and recover the Golden Fleece to save the camp. They are accompanied by Percy's half brother, Tyson and Clarisse in this mission.

Like The Lightning Thief, it won several prizes and received generally positive reviews as well. It sold over 100,000 copies in paperback.

Foreign language editions

The Lightning Thief was published in French, German, Spanish, Finnish, Hebrew and Brazilian Portuguese and recently has been published in Portugal. In 2008. was published in Serbian. The French edition was known as Le voleur de foudre (OCLC 319924908). The German name of the book was Diebe im Olymp (OCLC 254901802). These two, along with the Spanish version El ladrón del rayo (OCLC 74884882), were published in 2006. The three other translations of the book, Salamavaras (OCLC 231203516), in Finnish, O ladrão de raios, in Brasilian Portuguese, while in Portugal it is called "Os Ladrões do Olimpo" (The thiefs of olympus), and פרסי ג׳קסון וגנב הברק. or Persi G'eḳson ṿe-ganav ha-baraḳ (OCLC 243824272) in Hebrew were published in 2008. In Serbia it is called "Kradljivac munje".