• The Lightning Thief

  • Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1
  • By: Rick Riordan
  • Narrated by: Jesse Bernstein
  • Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (31,642 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
The Lightning Thief  By  cover art

The Lightning Thief

By: Rick Riordan
Narrated by: Jesse Bernstein
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $18.00

Buy for $18.00

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

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.

Don't miss the other titles in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.
©2005 Rick Riordan (P)2005 Random House, Inc. Listening Library, an imprint of the Random House Audio Publishing Group

Featured Article: The Best Kids Audiobook Series for Every Young Listener


Audiobooks are a great resource for children, whether they are just learning to read or already voracious readers. Studies show that listening to audiobooks has a positive effect on their developing minds, and listening to stories with great narration and voices help kids engage more with a story. We've chosen a variety of great audiobook series for kids and broken them down into age groups to make it easier to find an option that works for you and your family.

What listeners say about The Lightning Thief

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    23,978
  • 4 Stars
    5,340
  • 3 Stars
    1,647
  • 2 Stars
    385
  • 1 Stars
    292
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    17,574
  • 4 Stars
    4,817
  • 3 Stars
    2,210
  • 2 Stars
    548
  • 1 Stars
    429
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    20,538
  • 4 Stars
    3,612
  • 3 Stars
    1,049
  • 2 Stars
    227
  • 1 Stars
    168

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

BEST BOOK EVER!!

This is a great book for the fam! A little scary at times for the younger readers but over all a brilliant book!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Love the Olympian Storys with a modern twist.

Great plot and story all around. Great Reader, was easy to listen to him and follow him. Would highly recommend this book to anyone.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good book but could use a better narrator

I really enjoyed the book overall. I really didn't like the narrator but I'm going back for the second book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Eye catching

I loved this book so much! It had so many great parts. With the new tv series coming out I’m excited to follow along while reading the rest of the books.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Fun and exciting listen

Great series for anyone at any age! A timeless classic. The narrator annoyed me at times with his weird pronunciations of words. Other than that, great story and listen!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story

The reader did not do a good enough job of differentiating the characters. Other than that, I really enjoyed it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I vaporize my pre-algebra teacher 

I loved this chapter because like the title name is pretty hysterical and I just really like this whole entire series. I really think you should read this whole entire story series and love it as much as I would!!!!!!😃

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

amazing story!!!

I have loved these stories since I was a kid and I'm always happy to realisten to such an awesome book. the reader is also good and fun to listen to!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Good book not the greatest pronunciation

I enjoy the book a lot and I will probably get the second audio book in the series, but the pronunciation of some of the words was a little odd, and the speed at which read was a little off at times. All in all it was a good experience

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story telling

I have listened to this book many times. Along the same vibe as the Harry Potter series.💕

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!