The Lightning Thief

Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1

By: Rick Riordan

Narrated by: Jesse Bernstein

Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school...again. No matter how hard he tries, he can't seem to stay out of trouble. But can he really be expected to stand by and watch while a bully picks on his scrawny best friend? Or not defend himself against his pre-algebra teacher when she turns into a monster and tries to kill him? Of course, no one believes Percy about the monster incident; he's not even sure he believes himself.

Until the Minotaur chases him to summer camp.

Suddenly, mythical creatures seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy's Greek mythology textbook and into his life. The gods of Mount Olympus, he's coming to realize, are very much alive in the 21st-century. And worse, he's angered a few of them: Zeus's master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect.

Now Percy has just 10 days to find and return Zeus's stolen property, and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. On a daring road trip from their summer camp in New York to the gates of the Underworld in Los Angeles, Percy and his friends, one a satyr and the other the demigod daughter of Athena, will face a host of enemies determined to stop them. To succeed in his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the true thief: he must come to terms with the father who abandoned him; solve the riddle of the Oracle, which warns him of failure and betrayal by a friend; and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves.

©2005 Rick Riordan (P)2005 Random House, Inc. Listening Library, an imprint of the Random House Audio Publishing Group

Fun, even for adults.

I enjoyed this book because it was fun, light "reading." I even learned or remembered a few things from Greek mythology. My 9 year old lost interest quickly, so I recommend it for maybe 13-14 yr olds. I do think the narrator used some strange interpretations of voices. Some of the characters sounded absolutely the same, which left me wondering if they are the same person(but I won't find that out until later), or he has a limited number of voices period. I will definitely download the next book in the series. I think if you like the Harry Potter series, you will probably enjoy these.

Great book, poor reading

This is a wonderful book but the narrator was poor. Not so bad that I wouldn't listen to it again but if you are not driving or listening as you work I would recommend reading it.

Very Enjoyable

I bought books 1-4 in paperback for my autistic son, and figured I'd give it a listen (I try to read whatever he's interested in so we can talk about it later). I was pretty impressed! I would have gone nuts for a series like this as a child (I am a big fan of Harry Potter/Narnia/LOTR still!) Since I work on a PC all day, I listen to many audio books and wish I could trade some of the awful adult ones for this series! But I have to say that I really liked the narrator. He sounds like my 12 yr old son would if he could get the emotions/inflections just right. The story was entertaining enough for me to pick up the rest of the books! Riordan and Jesse (the narrator) did a good job in my opinion, and I will be purchasing more if he does indeed go on to another series.

Great Modern Myth

I got this book to help my son with an essay for school. It was interesting and engaging. Great young adult fiction.

Amazing

I really enjoyed listening to it. best part was voice change for each character. awesome.

Solid Story and Performance

I had never gotten into the series as a child, and it's good to know it still holds up as an adult. At first I was wary of the plot being cliche, but it had a good twist. It also felt like it was being told from the perspective of a 12 year old kid, which was a nice detail.

Cant wait for the next one

Loved it.

Unique point of view for a fable. Highly recommend it. Can't wait for the next release.

Great .. next please!!

I absolutely enjoyed this book. My 13yr old son also enjoyed it. We listening to it non-stop. He keeps asking me when the next one will be out.

Two thumbs up!

Amazing in all aspects of the word. A few weird pronunciations, but overall, a wonderful reading of one of my personal favorites!

Loved It!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, our kids loved it! This is our first audio book and our road trip flew by so much faster than ever before.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

We were driving so one sitting wasn't an option. But the kids were actually disappointed whenever we stopped the car because they wanted to keep listening. :)