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Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

Percy Jackson, Book 1

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Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

By: Rick Riordan
Narrated by: Jesse Bernstein
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The first audiobook in the bestselling Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. Discover the story behind the Disney+ series.

HALF BOY - HALF GOD - ALL HERO.

Look, I never asked to be the son of a Greek god. I was just a normal kid. . . until I accidentally vaporized my maths teacher.

Percy Jackson is having a bad week. His life has gone from totally normal to monsters-from-Greek-mythology-randomly-appearing kind of strange. Worse still, the king of the gods thinks Percy has stolen his all-powerful lightning bolt - and it seems making Zeus angry is a very bad idea.

Now Percy and his friends have just ten days to catch the true lightning thief and stop all-out war from erupting on Mount Olympus. . .

What could possibly go wrong?

'This is the stuff of legends' - The Guardian

©2006 Rick Riordan (P)2010 Penguin Audio

Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths Fantasy Fiction Greek & Roman Literature & Fiction Monsters Scary Stories Science Fiction & Fantasy Scary Funny Feel-Good Greek Mythology Ancient Greece Mythology
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Critic reviews

It's Buffy meets Artemis Fowl. Thumbs up
All stars
Most relevant
This is the first book in the Percy Jackson series. I loved it!

Percy Jackson is a fantastic character. He is a normal young boy with a learning disability. Or is he? He finds out that he is really a demi-god and the son of Poseidon, but his life is about to get even more complicated when he is accused of stealing Zeus's lightning bolt. I really liked this young man. He is not necessarily the strongest person, but when faced with a God's wrath, he certainly is the bravest!

I have watched the movie, but had not read the book, so I decided to get a copy to read. I downloaded a copy in audio format so that I could listen to it whilst doing chores.

I started listening to it and was quickly pulled into the story. I began to really enjoy the tale, but it was a little strange to note all the differences between the movie and the actual book. I understand that making a movie out of a book is not necessarily the easiest thing to do - logistics and time etc., but there were whole scenes that were chopped out in the movie, and others written in that were not in the book. The narrator of the story, Jesse Bernstein, did a wonderful job reading the story and bringing the characters to life. I couldn't help but envision the characters as portrayed by the actors in the movie; it made it easier to imagine.
However, I may be the only one to say this, but I think I preferred the movie to the book. This is not my usual finding after watching a movie, and then reading the book the movie is based on. The book is a lot darker than the movie, and I liked the feeling the movie had. Nevertheless, the story was really engaging and I found myself listening intently. I am looking forward to continuing the series.

Rick Riordan has written a wonderful and exciting novel (and series) for children that brings the old Gods to life. The mythology has been well researched and presented in such a way as to be educational, but have a modern take that will appeal to today's young readers. His writing style is fast paced, but not rushed, and is easy for young readers to follow.

I highly recommend this book to young readers aged 12 to 16 and to adults who love reading Young Adult novels. - Lynn Worton

A Fantastic YA Series!

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I really enjoyed this title, much better than the film. The voice acting was fantastic bring the characters to life.

Really enjoyable

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It's a great book I love it so much and I hope you like it to

Among the best I have listed to!

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You can really get lost in a new world here and it is also educational and teaches you about Greek myths and legends and ancient culture as well as a hint of sci-fi

Lovin' This

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Excellent story and suitable for all ages. does an excellent harp back to the old Greek myths while holding the jovial times of Harry potter. the reader is generally good but missed some of the urgency of the more exciting parts which was a bit of a buzzkill but as a book content and understanding of the old god's makes for a great listen. done it in 2 days!

brilliant cross of Harry potter and Greek myth.

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