
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
I had been hearing good things about Rick Riordan's young adult fantasy series, but it wasn't until a half-price sale at the bookstore and the release of the movie (which I still haven't seen) that I finally decided to catch up with the bandwagon. I knew that it followed the basic premise of the typical coming-of-age drama in a fantasy setting, in which a troubled youngster discovers that he has innate power and a lot of trouble to go with it. To harness his power, achieve his goals, and discover his place in his newly discovered world is Percy Jackson's ongoing character arc. Though it is clearly inspired by the success of Harry Potter (right down to the format of the titles: variations of "Hero's Name and the Intriguing Noun"), it's never openly derivative.
Percy Jackson is a twelve-year-old boy who finds it difficult to stay out of trouble. Constantly expelled from school for... Read More