Sunday, April 5, 2015

Book Review: Percy Jackson and the Greek Gods


Review:  #478
Title:  Percy Jackson and the Greek Gods
Series:  Percy Jackson and the Olympians - companion book
Author:  Rick Riordan
Read Before:  no
Comments:  Get excited!  Percy Jackson and the Greek Gods is a fully fledged companion book written in the first person view of Percy that we all know and love.  Unfortunately, it is nowhere near as funny as the original five Percy Jackson books.  The author seemed to have taken a strong fancy to overusing heaps and heaps of contemporary references where it loses its charms very quickly and at times, it just isn’t that funny.  It can feel awkward and extraneous at times, kind of like how product placements are when they’re overused.  Also, this is not a story about Percy, rather he is the one narrating about stories of the twelve Greek gods.  That in itself is interesting and worthwhile to read; the author puts on a spin to these myths with some inside jokes although as mentioned before, the contemporary references ruin things a bit and seems at odds with the tales which are set in ancient times.  I was very surprised at the length of the book, being approximately the same as a book from the Heroes of Olympus series and yet it still felt too short.  We are constantly teased with many more stories that could be told but didn’t have the space, so here’s hoping to a sequel where we get to hear some of the other famous Greek myths such as Hercules and Jason.  While it never goes up to the same heights as the Percy Jackson books, it is a good read and the Greek myths are interesting.  What’s more, if you get the UK copy, while you may lose the awesome color illustrations, you get The Son of Sobek as a bonus.
Rating: 6/10

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