I have a confession to make (okay, it’s actually two confessions).  First, I loved the Harry Potter books.  I read every one of them and thought they were great.  Second, I have always been minorly obsessed with Greek and Roman mythology.  So when I saw the film trailer for Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Theif, I got excited.  And when I found out they were a book series, I got even more excited!  So I picked up the first book and it did not disappoint.

First, a disclaimer: the Percy Jackson series is exactly like Harry Potter.

Percy begins as a 12-year-old New York City boy with ADHD and dyslexia who hasn’t managed to stay in one school for more than two years.  At his current school, he’s befriended a kid named Grover, and on a field trip to the museum, they’re attacked by a monster who until that point had been one of Percy’s teachers (he’s fortunately able to kill the monster because a pen one of his other teachers gave him turned into a sword).  From there, Percy quickly learns that he’s a demigod – half-human, half Greek god, which explains the ADHD – he has naturally enhanced battle-reflexes – and the dyslexia – his brain is hardwired to read ancient Greek.  He’s whisked away to Camp Half-Blood, a magical camp that is home to all the demigods (turns out there’s a good number of them running around, like the Beatles and Alfred Hitchcock).  Percy learns that he’s Poseidon’s son, and that this is bad news because the Delphi Oracle (yup, that one) prophesied some years ago that one of the three chief gods – Zeus, Poseidon and Hades – would have a child who would, upon turning 16, make a choice that would either save or destroy the gods. Why is that such a bad thing you ask?

Turns out the gods are not Gods, but rather manifestations of Western culture and philosophy.

That’s why they’re in America now – they follow the center of Western culture.  So Mt. Olympus is on the (secret) 600th floor of the Empire State Building and the main entrance to the Underworld is in Los Angeles.  If the gods are destroyed, so too will be Western Civilization.  The first book ends *minor spoiler alert* with the revelation that Voldem- ah, that is, Kronos, is rising from Tartarus and gathering the Titans to make war on the gods.*

Each book then features a ‘quest’ the young demigods must undertake on the road to stopping Kronos and the revelation of the prophecy’s meaning.  Percy is joined by his friend Grover (who it turns out is a satyr who was charged with protecting him) and Annabeth, a daughter of Athena, as well as a whole host of enjoyable minor characters (you know, like the Weasleys).  And while I poke fun at the Harry-Potter formula Riordan uses in these books, he uses it to perfection.  These books are tons of fun, and they really do delve into some great themes – loyalty, honor, family, redemption, fidelity, and more.

In the end, Riordan uses the power of myth to remind us what’s best about Western culture without shying away from all of our shortcomings. 

Plus, if you like Greek mythology, you’ll love figuring out which monster Percy’s going to fight next, how he’s going to defeat it or which Titan is behind the latest attacks.  And don’t worry – no mortals have a clue what’s going on, thanks to the Mist, a (probably appropriate) deus ex machina that lets Percy and friends battle in mid-town Manhattan or at the top of the St. Louis Arch with mythical monsters and not have to make the evening news.

Bottom line: if you want a fun, easy read that’s not all empty carbs, you need to meet Percy Jackson.

*For those of you not familiar with Greek mythology (shame on you!), before the gods created humankind, Kronos gave birth to Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, as well as the Titans.  Kronos tried to kill the gods, but they rose up against him, chopped him into bits and tossed him into Tartarus, the bottomless pit in the Underworld.  So he’s sort of mad at them for doing that.  The gods also trapped or destroyed all the Titans – including guys like Prometheus and Atlas.