The Empire State Building=Mount Olympus?

Should I start this blog post with a question? Or should I just say good morning again? I love stuff like that. You kill two birds with one stone, make the beginning of the blog post a little bit more interesting, and still get to say good morning.

Anyways, I read a book this week that probably all of you have heard about, The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. Obviously, this is the first book in the series, Percy Jackson & The Olympians, and I had a really good time with it. I enjoy a good fantasy novel, the book is hugely popular among our patrons so it can’t hurt to read it, and Greek gods have always interested me. It’s fascinating to look at what other cultures believed about the metaphysical and why we are all here.

Go back to your high school classes and remember all of the Greek gods, heroes, and monsters you know of. Remember all of the ones that died, all of the ones that couldn’t resist that simple beauty, and all of the ones that tried to cause havoc for their sibling or close relative. Now imagine that all of these gods and monsters still exist in our world today, and Mount Olympus is actually on the 600th floor of the Empire State Building!

Welcome to the world of Percy Jackson, a half-blood son of one of the gods (I’d tell you which one, but he is actually “undetermined” for a portion of the book, and I wouldn’t want to give it away). Percy always had a problem with ADHD and dyslexia, and one day during a field trip (after one of his teachers turns out to be a monster sent from Hades) his best friend (who is actually a satyr) drops the news on him; you’re a demi-god and the gods are trying to kill you.

So begins the quest of Percy Jackson; accused of stealing Zeus’ master bolt and given only 10 days to return it until the big three (Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades) start an all out war among the gods! The book starts with an attack by a Fury, and Percy runs into many other mythical monsters, gods and heroes such as Ares, Medusa, Dionysus, Hades, Chiron (trainer of heroes), the Fates, the Furies, and countless other mythology references. The characters of the gods are similar to their forms in Greek mythology, and the modern setting makes it so interesting (what happens when a monster attacks with modern mortals watching?) Finally, a key question throughout the book is whether or not Percy has a choice in his destiny: is he just a god’s mistake, a pawn in their schemes, or is he his own person? The question is posed in this book, and I’m sure it will come into play again in the later books of this series…