Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (Penguin Books) PB RRP $19.99 ISBN 9780241672037

Reviewed by Nikki M Heath

What can you expect when you belatedly discover that your mysterious absentee father is less dropkick and more Greek god? Adventure, danger, and chaos, if Percy Jackson is any indication.

The Lightning Thief is where the Percy Jackson universe started, the first in the five-book Olympians series featuring 12-year-old Percy. After Percy discovers that his father is Poseidon and survives being chased by a couple of monsters, he enters ‘Camp Half-blood’, a summer camp for children of the Olympians. Upon receiving an ominous-sounding prophecy, Percy and his new friends set off on a quest armed with little more than audacity, friendship, sarcasm, and some borrowed magic.

This mid-naughties book is now a classic, recently re-released as a companion to the television adaptation (although the series is an improvement on the earlier movie adaptations, the book, of course, is better). A fantasy set against the background of a familiar modern world, featuring a boy as the central character with a girl and a boy as sidekicks, the framework is familiar. But The Lightning Thief has complexity, richness, and depth of character of its own.

Rick Riordan has a talent for speaking to his audience in a pitch-perfect tone, with an irresistible balance of the life-threatening and the silly. Riordan is a master of opening lines, and chapter titles include ‘I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-algebra Teacher’ and ‘We Get Advice from a Poodle’. Percy is imperfect and awkward and eminently relatable, while also being able to pull off impressive stunts.

While Percy and his friends age as the series progresses, the reading level and appropriate audience age remain relatively stable, meaning it is suitable for binge-reading by even relatively young readers. Many fans of the Percy Jackson universe become experts on Greek mythology, as they seek out the full stories behind the myths and characters mentioned in the books.

Percy Jackson is a rip-roaring read for middle primary to adult and has the added advantages of being a multiple-series gateway and a classics primer. It is an essential in the middle-grade fantasy genre, alongside a certain bespectacled orphan wizard. If you haven’t read it, do yourself a favour - and read the books before you watch the show.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Chalice of the Gods (Book 6)

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Chalice of the Gods (Book 6) by Rick Riordan (Penguin Random House) PB RRP $24.99 ISBN 9780241647561

Reviewed by Kylie Buckley

Percy Jackson is half boy, half god, and a son of Poseidon. He has been battling gods and monsters since he was twelve (Book 1). Percy is now seventeen and in his final year of high school another adventure looms.

Percy plans to complete high school and then move to California to attend New Rome University with his girlfriend Annabeth. However, as Percy was not supposed to be born, he is technically ineligible for the university. To ‘work off his debt for existing’ he must obtain three college recommendation letters from three Gods, by completing three new separate quests.

His first quest comes from Ganymede, beloved cupbearer to Zeus. The chalice of the gods has been stolen and Ganymede needs it back before word gets out that it has gone missing, and he is humiliated. Not only that but if the chalice gets into the hands of a mortal, then one sip would grant them immortality. Percy, Annabeth, and best friend Grover set out to retrieve the missing chalice however they soon encounter many obstacles.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians (Book 6): The Chalice of the Gods has been added to the series, 14 years after the release of Book 5. This series is suitable for middle-grade readers and recommended for those who enjoy adventure stories, humour, and Greek mythology. 

Daughter of the Deep

Daughter of the Deep by Rick Riordan (Puffin, Penguin Random House) PB RRP $22.99 ISBN: 9780241538180

Reviewed by Kellie Nissen

The impossible is merely the possible for which we don’t know the science …

Ana Dakkar and older brother, Dev, are students at Harding-Pencroft Academy, an elite high school, known for producing the world’s best marine scientists, naval warriors, navigators, and underwater explorers.

The story starts innocently enough, with Ana and Dev meeting for an early morning dive with Socrates, their favourite dolphin. However, readers soon realise there is more than meets the eye at this boarding school – including a host of well-kept secrets and the mysterious death of Ana and Dev’s parents, two years previously.

Heading off on a weekend trial at sea, Ana’s class of twenty first-year students, their teacher and their driver watch in horror as the sea ripples, the ground shakes and their school crumbles into the ocean – taking with it all of Harding-Pencroft’s remaining students and staff.

Devastated and in shock, the students turn to teacher, Dr Hewett who is, himself, terrified. What they thought was a freak earthquake is actually more sinister – an attack from the Land Institute. The schools have been ‘at war’ for the past 150 years and now, it’s come to a head.

Secrets from the past start unfolding and, owing to her family history, Ana finds herself nervously in charge. Can a thirteen-year-old successfully lead her peers in battle? How can a group of inexperienced first-year students navigate the depths of the ocean, cajole a disgruntled nineteenth-century submarine with a mind of its own, and outwit a group of older students and adults bent on destroying them?

In Daughter of the Deep, Rick Riordan gives a sizable nod to French novelist, Jules Verne, with his modern take on Verne’s classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

Known for his various book series, including Percy Jackson and The Kane Chronicles, Riordan has long been asked to write a story with a strong female protagonist – and this gripping tale, full of clever teens, mind-blowing technology and a hidden island and underwater base is it.

The story will appeal to mid-grade readers, aged nine and above, who love fantasy, sci-fi and adventure all rolled into one.