Have you ever found out that one of your favorite book series is getting a film adaptation, but when it came out you ended up being extremely disappointed with the finished product? This sadly happened to my sister when it came to the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan. The series was and still is a favorite of her’s and truth be told it is also one of mine as well. I first read the series back in middle school and I remember loving it. Riordan still remains one of my favorite children’s authors.This is a large part why I passed it on to my sister after my brother had passed it on to me. The series follows Percy Jackson a sixth grader with ADHD and dyslexia who through rather random circumstances finds out that he is the child of the Greek god Poseidon. As a result, he is sent to live at Camp-Halfblood where he and his friends learn all there is to know about their godly parents and are sent on various quest to fight monsters from Greek mythology. The series was in my opinion well researched as far a the geek mythology element goes which is important because the series is based heavily on and around it.The story is extremely well written as well, which is a testament to the longevity to the series considering that it follows Percy until he is roughly seventeen years old.
The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series is split into five books all of which are entertaining reads and are well-respected in the world of children’s literature.
The Lightning Thief
The Sea of Monsters
The Titian’s Curse
The Battle of the Labyrinth
The Last Olympian
However, the story is also continued in the Heroes of Olympus series as well and it consists of another five books with equally enjoyable plot lines and new characters.
The Lost Hero
The Son of Neptune
The Mark of Athena
The House of Hades
The Blood of Olympus
Both series serve as a companion to one another and I will tell you that I was to some degree surprised how well the two series were able to tie together as one. Although, I suppose they could be read separately even though I think they are meant to be read together. So, I suggest starting with the Lightning Thief and moving on from there. Neither of these series are ones to be read out-of-order because each book builds on the previous one. Overall both works are highly recommended by me personally but the films are a different story.
There were only two films produced for the Percy Jackson series.The Lighting Thief and the Sea of Monsters which when looked at by themselves without taking into consideration the accuracy of both films to the books are decent. However, when taking the actual books into account the movies are pretty unfaithful. While I believe the essence of the story was captured in many ways the film completely missed the mark.This is rather sad because the series had such great potential for being on the big screen and it failed to deliver, which was a big reason that there were only two films made. The one thing they managed to do right in theses films was the casting. Now, I understand people’s arguments about if they would have cast younger actors like in Harry Potter things may have turned out a little better for the films, however, I don’t care. I thought the cast was great when I saw the movies and my sister didn’t have an issue with it either. In the end, the films are not the best book to movie adaptations I have ever seen.
In The words of my younger sister, Percy Jackson is a wonderfully entertaining read and worth the time of any reader. The movies are nothing compared to the book even though when taken alone can be enjoyable.