Neon Synopsis

My reviews here.

Percy Jackson & The Olympians Series Review

Beware: Spoilers!


(Image copyrighted to respectful owners. Image found on Google)

Author: Rick Riordan

I decided to review all 5 books together (aside from the first one, which was half reviewed and half compared to the movie in an earlier post), since this series has already been completed.

Overall, I really enjoyed the series. I do have to admit that I had trouble getting through the first book. In my opinion, The Lightning Thief was still more of a draft. It wasn’t too exciting and I bit bland for my taste. In all honesty, if I hadn’t already taken out the second book and had it laying on my desk when I finished the first one, I would have probably never kept on reading. 

I liked the other 4 books much more. I thought that the plot and style of writing continually improved until the very end. Where as the first book seemed too baby-ish, the rest were presented in a more…solid? manner.

I have to admit that the ages of the characters confused me. Percy is 12 in the first book and ages a year during each sequel. However, what threw me off is the amazing insight and deep thought that Percy and the other characters presented. Yes, they are  demigods, but their wisdom, understanding and insight was over the top. Throughout the series, I kept picturing the main characters’ ages to hover somewhere around 15-17. Heck, when Nico di Angelo was introduced and said to be 10 years old all was a-okay until he suddenly had his mental growth spurt in the 3rd and 4th book. Seriously. It’s like the kid aged a good 5 years.

Basically, I have a bone to pick with Rick’s choice for the characters’ ages.

I also had to *tsk* to myself when it was revealed that Kronos had power over time. Kronos is a Titan - Chronos is the personification of time. Not a big deal, but it made me mentally face palm.

I kept on hoping that the Greek Gods would appear more, especially the kinder ones (Hermes, Apollo, Hephaestus, Poseidon…) but whenever any appeared, it was the ones I wanted to slap. I remember hating on Artemis when she first appeared - I think her feminist ways are ridiculous; Ares was kind of a given - seeing as he’s the god of war and bloodlust (though I liked his Roman counterpart much more); I thought Aphrodite was a bitch, and still do. Her comment about gaining enjoyment from pairing people up and then breaking them apart made me want to punch her. Zeus was a dick. Period. Athena and Hera were just very full of themselves. Hera’s part in Heroes of Olympus made me hate her so. damn. much. Hades was okay. I wish we got to see more of him. His fight with Zeus and Maria di Angelo’s death nearly broke my heart. All that pain and suffering of numerous people because Zeus was a dick. Demeter and Persephone made me want to slap myself. Dionysus is also a dick, but a different kind of dick from Zeus. How apathetic can you be!?

As for the kinder gods, I wished we saw more of them. Riordan really humanized them and made them more…eh…understandable? I felt for them. I’m really looking forward to seeing more of the minor gods in Heroes of Olympus. That should be fun.

I do hope the crueler gods get their just deserts. Especially Zeus and Hera. Their feeling of self-importance ruined quite a few lives. Not much would be bring me such pleasure as seeing these two getting their asses whooped somehow. Seriously. No joke.

I have to admit I hoped Luke wouldn’t die and go good side. But now that he’s gone, I hope, hope, HOPE he stays gone in Heroes of Olympus.

I do have to wonder if anyone ever thought about helping out poor Mary Castellan. I’d think Dionysus would’ve been able to cure her madness, no? And technically shouldn’t it have been lifted when Hades’s curse was lifted from the Oracle? Hm.

The Prophecies made me laugh. I had most of them figured out when they were introduced. One thing that pissed me off were all the secrets. Most of the issues/problems could have been solved without casualties had Chiron, Annabeth, Percy and others just spilled the beans. Ugh. So many unnecessary deaths.

Er, I think this is it. For now. I feel like there was more I wanted to mention, but that might just be my shipping-wars thoughts. Oh well. I’ll update if I remember anything else that’s relevant.

Overall Rating: 8.5/10 (upped the max. 5/5 is too high, 4/5 is too low)

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