Percy Jackson & the Olympians is a pentalogy of adventure and fiction books written by Rick Riordan. The Lightning Thief is about a twelve-year-old dyslexic boy, Percy Jackson. Once when after returning home from his boarding school, Percy and his mother Sally Jackson, decide to go to the beach in Montauk. After a series of tragedies at Montauk beach, including loss of his mother, Percy finds out that he is a demigod, and son of Posiedon, the God of Sea. He also discovers that he is accused of stealing the weapon of God Zeus, the lightning bolt. Now, to clear his name off this thievery, and to save the world of World-War-III, he must find the real thief and return the lightning bolt to Zeus. Thus Percy Jackson, along with two companions, Grover Underwood, a satyr and Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, start on a journey to the Underworld and the God of death, Hades.
More than 20 million copies of the books have been sold in more than 35 countries.[1]
As of October 28, 2011, the series has been on the New York Times best seller list for children's book series for 223 weeks.[2] The first book was adapted into a film titled Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief in 2010, which was commercially successful, but received mixed reviews. An adaptation of The Sea of Monsters, titled Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, is due to be released in
Synopsis
The Lightning Thief is the first book in the series. It was released on June 28, 2005.
A 12 year old demigod named Percy Jackson lives in New York with his mother, Sally Jackson. During a field trip to a museum, Percy is attacked by a "Fury" disguised as his Pre-Algebra teacher, Mrs. Dodds, and he vaporises her with a sword given to him by Mr. Brunner, his Latin teacher. After Mrs. Dodds is killed, no one in his school remembers knowing her. The rest of the school year passes with strange weather. When Percy gets frustrated from studying for his Latin exam (Percy, as a demigod, has both ADHD and dyslexia), he goes to Mr. Brunner for help, and overhears a conversation between Mr. Brunner and his best friend, Grover. The two are discussing Percy's safety at the school, and when Percy accidentally drops his book and retreats into an empty classroom, he notices that the shadow of the creature searching for him is much larger than either his teacher or his friend. At the end of the school year, Percy attempts to leave for his home when Grover insists on seeing him to his destination. During the bus ride, the bus breaks down, and as the passengers get off the bus while the driver attempts to fix it, Percy notices three old ladies across the highway that cut a strand of electric blue yarn. The duo board the bus once more, and after Grover starts acting weird from witnessing the cutting of the string, Percy ditches him at the bus station and takes a taxi up to his mother's apartment. His mother, Sally, reveals that the two of them are going to spend time at a cabin in Montauk. The two leave for the cabin, and that night Percy has a strange dream of a horse and an eagle attempting to kill each other while a dark voice from underneath him urges them on. Percy is awoken by the arrival of Grover, who reveals himself to be a satyr (half goat, half man), and a hurricane. Percy tells Grover and his mother about Mrs. Dodds while his mom races them to Camp Half-Blood, a safe haven for demigods like Percy. While heading to the camp, the storm continues to rampage, and they are attacked by the Minotaur, also known as "Pasiphae's son." While the Minotaur is, at first, unable to catch up to the trio, a blast of lightning knocks the car they are travelling off the road, knocking out Grover in the process. Percy's mother and Percy make it out of the car and start carrying Grover to the boarder of Camp Half-Blood as the Minotaur destroys the car. Eventually they reach the boarder, but Sally is unable to cross and is taken by the Minotaur. She turns into a shimmer of gold and is believed to be dead. Fueled by his anger, Percy manages to break one of the Minotaur's horns off and kill the beast with it just before passing out from exhaustion. When he wakes, he finds himself at Camp Half-Blood. He sees his former Latin teacher, Mr. Brunner, who turns out to be Chiron (a centaur), along with Annabeth Chase (Daughter of Athena). Percy is soon claimed by his Olympian parent, Poseidon (God of the Sea). Later on, he is accused of stealing Zeus' master lighting bolt. Although Percy insists that he didn't do it, Zeus (King Of The Gods and Lord of the Sky) doesn't believe him. If Percy doesn't prove Zeus wrong, there will be a massive war between the gods. Percy, Annabeth, and Grover are given a quest to retrieve Zeus' stolen lightning bolt as Zeus believes Percy stole it. After they get the quest, the trio initially believes Hades (God Of The Underworld) to be the thief, and they travel across the United States to Los Angeles, the entrance to the Underworld, while facing numerous mythological monsters, including Medusa, Echidna, and the Furies. The trio come face to face with Hades, who accidentally reveals that his Helm of Darkness has also been stolen. The three then escape the Underworld, and Percy fights Ares (God Of War) and retrieves the stolen items. In the end, they learn the real thief was Luke Castellan (Son of Hermes), a camper who'd befriended Percy when he first arrived at Camp Half-Blood. Luke stole the bolt to allow Kronos (the king of the Titans, the Titan Lord, or the Lord of Time) the chance to rise again.
The book was adapted into a film by Chris Columbus and 20th Century Fox, under the title Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief on February 12, 2010.
source: Wikipedia
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