The Lightning Thief

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The Lightning Thief
The Lightning Thief cover.jpg
First edition cover
Author Rick Riordan
Cover artistPeter Bollinger
John Rocco (later edition matching the sequels)
Series Percy Jackson & the Olympians (book 1)
Genre Fantasy, Young adult, Greek mythology adventure
Publisher Miramax Books [1]
Puffin Books, Disney-Hyperion
Publication date
July 1, 2005 (hardcover)
April 1, 2006 (paperback) [2]
Publication place United States
Media typePrint (hardcover), audiobook CD
Pages377 [3]
ISBN 0-7868-5629-7
OCLC 60786141
LC Class PZ7.R4829 Li 2005 [3]
Followed by The Sea of Monsters [4]  

The Lightning Thief is a 2005 American fantasy-adventure novel based on Greek mythology, the first children's novel by Rick Riordan. The opening installment in the series Percy Jackson & the Olympians , the book was recognized among the year's best for children. Riordan followed the novel with various books and spin-off series, spawning the Camp Half-Blood Chronicles media franchise.

Contents

A film adaptation of the book was theatrically released in the United States on February 12, 2010. The Disney+ series Percy Jackson and the Olympians adapted The Lightning Thief in its first season, which ran from December 19, 2023 to January 30, 2024.

Plot

Percy Jackson is a twelve-year-old boy with dyslexia and ADHD living in New York City. While on a school trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, one of the chaperones, Mrs. Dodds, turns into a Fury and attacks him. Percy's favorite teacher, Mr. Brunner, later revealed as Chiron, lends Percy a magical sword-pen to defeat her. After the school year ends, Percy's mother, Sally, takes him to Long Island. Percy's friend from school, Grover, reveals himself as a satyr and warns of danger. At a summer camp, Sally is attacked by the Minotaur and disappears in a flash of light. Percy kills the beast with one of its own horns. He learns that the camp is called Camp Half-Blood and that he is a demigod: the son of a human and a Greek god. He settles into camp life and meets several other demigods, including Luke and Annabeth. After a hellhound attacks him during a game of Capture the Flag, he is saved by Chiron and then claimed by his father, the god Poseidon. Chiron explains to Percy how the three eldest male gods —Poseidon, Zeus, and Hades— swore an oath not to have children; Percy's birth was a violation of the oath. He is the second violation of the oath, as the first was Thalia Grace.

Percy is sent on a quest to locate Zeus's lightning bolt. Annabeth and Grover accompany him to the realm of Hades, who is believed to be the most likely culprit. Percy brings Chiron's magic sword, Anaklusmos, and Luke's flying sneakers. The trio travels to Los Angeles to visit Hades. Along the way, they are attacked by the Furies, Medusa, Echidna, and the Chimera. They perform a favor for the god Ares, who gives them a backpack full of supplies and safe transportation to Nevada, where they are stalled by the Lotus-eaters. Percy learns more about his companions, his powers, and the world of the Greek gods. In Hades's realm, Grover is nearly dragged into Tartarus by Luke's flying shoes. The battered group finally meets Hades, who reveals that his Helm of Darkness has also been mysteriously stolen and accuses Percy of stealing it. Hades threatens to kill his hostage, Sally, and unleash a zombie apocalypse unless his helm is returned. When Percy finds the missing master bolt inside Ares's backpack, the group realizes they've all been manipulated by Ares. After they narrowly escape the Underworld, Percy meets Ares again on the beach and challenges him to a duel. After a long and tough fight, Percy wins, and he gives the Helm of Darkness to the Furies. Hades realizes that Percy is not the thief of the helm nor the master bolt and returns Sally home.

Percy takes the master bolt back to Zeus on Mount Olympus and also meets his father, Poseidon, there. Percy returns to Camp Half-Blood as a hero and enjoys the rest of his summer. On the last day of camp, however, he goes into the woods with Luke, who reveals himself as the real thief of Hades's Helm and Zeus's bolt, following Kronos's orders. Kronos had manipulated the power-hungry Ares into taking part in the scheme. Luke explains his beliefs that the gods are too irresponsible and are poor leaders who need to be overthrown. He offers Percy the chance to join him, and when Percy refuses, Luke tries to kill him with a scorpion. Percy is stung and faints. When he wakes up, he is given the choice of staying in camp or going home for the school year. He decides to spend the school year with his mother. Grover and Annabeth also leave the camp. [1] [5] [6]

Development and publication

Development for The Lightning Thief began when author Rick Riordan made up stories for his son Haley, who had been diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia. His son had been studying Greek mythology in second grade and asked that his father come up with bedtime stories based on Greek myths. [7] 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 requested that Riordan make new ones using the characters from Greek myths with a new twist. Riordan created the fictional character Percy Jackson and his travels across the United States to recover Zeus' lightning bolt. In his new story, Riordan made ADHD and dyslexia part of a demigod's powers - respectively, heightened battle reflexes and a brain wired to read ancient Greek rather than English. After Riordan finished telling the story his son asked that his dad write a book based on Percy's adventures, and he did.

While he gave his manuscript to his agent and editor to review, Riordan took his book to a group of middle schoolers to critique. With their help, he came up with the name of the book and invented Percy's magic sword. [8] Riordan first sent out the manuscript for The Lightning Thief under a pseudonym, as he did not want to rely on anyone in the publishing industry, who would have known him through his previous work. [9] After many rejections, an agent picked up the manuscript as she liked its premise. In 2004 the book was sold to Miramax Books for enough money that Riordan could quit his job to focus on writing. [10] The book has since been released in multiple versions (including hardcover, paperback, and audio editions) [11] and has been translated and published all over the world. [12] A deluxe version with illustration was released on January 30, 2024. [13]

Critical reception

The Lightning Thief received mostly positive reviews. The book has a rating of 4.25 out of 5 on Goodreads with over 1,900,000 reviews. [14] 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". [15] 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. [15] Numerous other reviews were more positive. The New York Times praised The Lightning Thief as "perfectly paced, with electrifying moments chasing each other like heartbeats". [16] School Library Journal said in its starred review that the book was "[a]n adventure-quest with a hip edge" and that "[r]eaders will be eager to follow the young protagonist's next move". [5] Kirkus Reviews reviews said, "The sardonic tone of 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." [17] Eoin Colfer, author of Artemis Fowl called it "A fantastic blend of myth and modern". [18] Finally, 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." [19]

On April 8, 2007, The Lightning Thief was ranked ninth on The New York Times Best Seller list for children's books. [20] The Lightning Thief was the winner of the School Library Journal Best Book of 2005 [21] as well as one of the books in the Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books List, 2005. [4] It was also in the VOYA Top Shelf Fiction List [4] and was the winner of the Red House Children's Book Award Winner (UK), 2006; [4] Askews Torchlight Award (UK), 2006; [4] and the Mark Twain Award (Missouri Association of School Librarians), 2008. [4] [22] It was an American Library Association Notable Book, 2006 [23] and a New York Times Notable Book (2005). [24] It received the Young Reader's Choice Award in 2008 [25] and the Rebecca Caudill Young Reader's Book Award in 2009. [26] [27] Scholastic Parent & Child magazine also included the novel within its 100 "Greatest Books for Kids." [28] When asked about the various awards, Rick Riordan said: "The ultimate compliment for a children's writer is when the kids like it." [29]

Adaptations

Film adaptation

In June 2004, 20th Century Fox acquired the feature film rights to the book. [30] In April 2007, director Chris Columbus was hired to helm the project. The film, titled Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, was released in the United States on February 12, 2010, and stars Logan Lerman as Percy Jackson, Alexandra Daddario as Annabeth Chase, Brandon T. Jackson as Grover, and Pierce Brosnan as Chiron. The film received mixed reviews from critics upon release and grossed $226 million at the worldwide box office. [31] Riordan criticized the movie for significantly altering the book's story, attempting to appeal to an older audience at the expense of the book's younger target demographic, making changes that would create problems for possible sequel films, and generally being poorly written. [32] A sequel, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters , was released in 2013.

Audiobook

On June 28, 2005, a 10-hour and 25 minute audio book version, read by actor Jesse Bernstein, was published worldwide by Listening Library. [11] [33]

Kirkus Reviews magazine 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". [5] AudioFile Magazine praised the audiobook, "adults and children alike will be spellbound as they listen to this deeply imaginative tale unfold." [33] 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". [34]

Graphic novel

The Lightning Thief was published as a graphic novel on October 12, 2010. [35] It consists of 128 pages with cover art by Attila Futaki and Jose Villarrubia.

Musical

A one-hour musical aimed at young audiences was planned to hit the road on a nationwide tour in September 2014 following a stint in New York City in 2014. [36] A two-hour version of the musical previewed Off-Broadway on March 23, 2017, at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. It officially opened on April 4, 2017, and ran until May 6 of the same year. [37] On June 20, a cast recording was released on the Broadway Records label. [38] In August 2017, it was announced that the two-hour long production would be going on a national tour beginning in the fall of 2018. [39] In 2019 it was announced that the production would make its Broadway debut at the Longacre Theatre, running from September 2019 until January 2020. [40]

Television adaptation

On May 14, 2020, Riordan announced that there would be a live-action Percy Jackson & the Olympians series made for Disney+. Unlike the earlier film adaptation, the series would follow the storyline of the books, and Riordan and his wife Becky would be involved in "every aspect of the show". The first season of the show would adapt the story of The Lightning Thief. [41] On July 13, 2021, Riordan announced Jon Steinberg and Dan Shotz as the show's showrunners, [42] and on January 25, 2022, the show was officially green-lit by Disney+. [43] On April 11, 2022, Walker Scobell was announced to be playing Percy Jackson. [44] In May 2022, Leah Sava Jeffries and Aryan Simhadri joined the cast, respectively playing Annabeth Chase and Grover Underwood. [45] Principal photography began on June 2, 2022, and concluded on February 2, 2023. [46] [47] Percy Jackson and the Olympians premiered on December 19, 2023, on Disney+, with the first season consisting of eight episodes. [48] [49] The series received positive reviews from critics, who largely praised its faithfulness to the source material. [50]

Sequels

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

Like The Lightning Thief, it won several prizes and received generally positive reviews as well. [4] [51] [52] It sold over 100,000 copies in paperback. [53] It was followed by The Titan's Curse, The Battle of the Labyrinth, The Last Olympian and The Chalice of the Gods as well as the series, The Kane Chronicles, The Heroes of Olympus , and later, The Trials of Apollo .

Related Research Articles

<i>The Titans Curse</i> 2007 book by Rick Riordan

The Titan's Curse is an American fantasy-adventure novel based on Greek mythology written by Rick Riordan. It was released on May 1, 2007, and is the third novel in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series and the sequel to The Sea of Monsters. It is about the adventures of the 14-year-old demigod Percy Jackson as he and his friends go on a dangerous quest to rescue his 14-year-old demigod friend Annabeth Chase and the Greek goddess Artemis, who have both been kidnapped by the Titan Atlas.

<i>The Sea of Monsters</i> 2006 novel by Rick Riordan

The Sea of Monsters is an American fantasy-adventure novel based on Greek mythology written by Rick Riordan and published in 2006. It is the second novel in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series and the sequel to The Lightning Thief. This book chronicles the adventures of thirteen-year-old demigod Percy Jackson as he and his friends rescue his satyr friend Grover from the Cyclops Polyphemus and save Camp Half-Blood from a Titan's attack by bringing the Golden Fleece to cure Thalia's poisoned pine tree.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rick Riordan</span> American author (born 1964)

Richard Russell Riordan Jr. is an American author, best known for writing the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. Riordan's books have been translated into forty-two languages and sold more than thirty million copies in the United States. 20th Century Fox adapted the first two books of his Percy Jackson series as part of a series of films in which Riordan was not involved. Riordan currently serves as a co-creator and executive producer on the television series adaption of the book series that was released on Disney+ in 2023. Riordan's books have also spawned other related media, such as graphic novels and short story collections.

Camp Half-Blood Chronicles is a media franchise created by author Rick Riordan, encompassing three five-part novel series, two short-story collections, two myth anthology books, a stand-alone short story, three crossover short stories, an essay collection, multiple guides, seven graphic novels, two films, a video game, a musical, and other media. Set in the modern world, it focuses on groups of demigod teenagers, and features many characters from Greek and Roman mythology. The first series, Percy Jackson & the Olympians, follows the adventures of a boy named Percy Jackson at a summer camp for Greek demigods. The second series, The Heroes of Olympus, introduces several more lead characters and a second camp for Roman demigods named Camp Jupiter. The third series, The Trials of Apollo, follows the now-mortal god Apollo, with appearances by many characters from the first and second series.

<i>The Battle of the Labyrinth</i> 2008 novel by Rick Riordan

The Battle of the Labyrinth is an American fantasy-adventure novel based on Greek mythology written by Rick Riordan. It is the fourth novel in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. The novel was first published in the United States on 6 May 2008 by Hyperion Books for Children, an imprint of Disney Publishing Worldwide. It has been published in hardcover, audiobook, ebook, and large-print editions. The Battle of the Labyrinth has been translated into 29 languages from its original English.

<i>The Last Olympian</i> 2009 fantasy novel by Rick Riordan

The Last Olympian is a fantasy-adventure novel based on Greek mythology by Rick Riordan, published on May 5, 2009. It is the fifth novel of the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series and is the direct sequel to The Battle of the Labyrinth. The Last Olympian revolves around the demigod Percy Jackson as he leads his friends in a last stand to protect Mount Olympus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Percy Jackson</span> Fictional character in books by Rick Riordan

Perseus "Percy" Jackson is a fictional character, the title character and narrator of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. He is also one of seven main protagonists of the sequel series The Heroes of Olympus, appearing in every book except The Lost Hero, and appears in the Trials of Apollo series, making him one of the few characters to appear in all three series of the Camp Half-Blood chronicles. He has also been a narrator and protagonist in Riordan's Greco-Roman/Egyptian crossover stories, part of the Demigods and Magicians collection. The character serves as the narrator in Percy Jackson's Greek Gods and Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes, also by Rick Riordan.

<i>The Demigod Files</i> 2009 story collection by Rick Riordan

The Demigod Files is a collection of short stories by Rick Riordan published on February 10, 2009. It is a supplementary book to series Percy Jackson & the Olympians. It mainly contains three short stories, titled "Percy Jackson and the Stolen Chariot", "Percy Jackson and the Bronze Dragon", and "Percy Jackson and the Sword of Hades". It is set between the fourth and fifth novels, The Battle of the Labyrinth and The Last Olympian.

<i>Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief</i> 2010 film by Chris Columbus

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief is a 2010 fantasy film directed by Chris Columbus and written by Craig Titley, based on the 2005 novel The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. The film is the first installment in the Percy Jackson film series. It stars Logan Lerman as Percy Jackson alongside an ensemble cast that includes Brandon T. Jackson, Alexandra Daddario, Sean Bean, Pierce Brosnan, Steve Coogan, Rosario Dawson, Catherine Keener, Kevin McKidd, Joe Pantoliano, and Uma Thurman.

<i>The Heroes of Olympus</i> Fantasy adventure series by Riordan about the Percy Jackson universe

The Heroes of Olympus is a pentalogy of fantasy-adventure novels written by American author Rick Riordan. The novels detail a conflict between Greek demigods, Roman demigods, and Gaea. In the fourth book of the series, there is also a fight against Tartarus, which, in Greek mythology, was the darkest and deepest point of the Underworld.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Rocco</span> American illustrator of book covers and childrens books

Christopher John Rocco, simply known as John Rocco is an American illustrator of book covers and children's books. He is best known for illustrating the covers of books in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. He is the sole creator of some children's picture books.

<i>The Mark of Athena</i> 2012 novel by Rick Riordan

The Mark of Athena is an American fantasy-adventure novel written by Rick Riordan, based on Greek and Roman mythology. It was published on October 2, 2012, and is the third book in The Heroes of Olympus series, a sequel to the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. It is preceded by The Son of Neptune and followed by The House of Hades. The novel is narrated in the third-person.

<i>Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters</i> 2013 film by Thor Freudenthal

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters is a 2013 fantasy adventure film directed by Thor Freudenthal from a screenplay by Marc Guggenheim, based on the 2006 novel The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan. The sequel to Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010), it is the second and final installment in the Percy Jackson film series.

<i>The House of Hades</i> 2013 book by Rick Riordan

The House of Hades is a fantasy-adventure novel written by American author Rick Riordan, based on Greek and Roman mythology. It was published on October 8, 2013, and is the fourth book in The Heroes of Olympus series, preceded by The Mark of Athena and followed by The Blood of Olympus.

Percy Jackson & the Olympians is a two-film series based on the novel series of the same name by the author Rick Riordan. The series was distributed by 20th Century Fox, produced by 1492 Pictures and consists of two installments. The first film, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010), was directed by Chris Columbus and was released on February 12, 2010. The second installment, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, was originally intended to be released in March 2013 but was instead pushed back to August 7, 2013, and was directed by Thor Freudenthal. While the film series was intended to match the five novel book series, and the second film laid the foundation for a third film, further films were never produced. The shortened series in total grossed nearly $430 million at the worldwide box office. A reboot television series premiered on Disney+ in December 2023.

<i>Percy Jacksons Greek Gods</i> Collection of short stories by Rick Riordan

Percy Jackson's Greek Gods is a collection of short stories about Greek mythology as narrated by Percy Jackson. It was written by Rick Riordan and was released on August 19, 2014. It features Percy Jackson giving his own take on the Greek myths in a humorous way.

<i>The Crown of Ptolemy</i>

The Crown of Ptolemy is the third and last book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Kane Chronicles crossover series. It was released in the back of the paperback version of The House of Hades on March 31, 2015, and later as an ebook and audiobook. The ebook edition was released May 12, 2015.

<i>The Lightning Thief</i> (musical) 2014 musical

The Lightning Thief is a musical with music and lyrics by Rob Rokicki and a book by Joe Tracz, based on the 2005 novel of the same name by Rick Riordan. The musical follows Percy Jackson, a 12-year-old boy who newly discovers that he is a demigod and goes on a quest to find Zeus' missing lightning bolt and prevent a war between the Greek gods.

<i>Percy Jackson and the Olympians</i> (TV series) 2023 American television series

Percy Jackson and the Olympians is an American fantasy television series created by Rick Riordan and Jonathan E. Steinberg for Disney+, based on the book series of the same name by Riordan. Walker Scobell stars as Percy Jackson, alongside Leah Sava Jeffries as Annabeth Chase and Aryan Simhadri as Grover Underwood.

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