Percy Jackson & The Olympians

So if you have nothing better to do and have been closely following my "Read in 2016" page (and if you have, thank you!), you'll know that in the last month, I cranked through the entirety of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson & The Olympians series.  This process took me about eight days total, despite there being five books and well over 1000 pages involved.

I feel like those Dos Equis commercials: I don't always read Young Adult literature, but when I do, I read it at a ridiculous pace.

It's not just that it's YA Lit -- that reading level alone ups my speed since it's just not as challenging -- it's that this series is awesome.

I have always loved Greek mythology.  When I was a kid and I'd ask my parents for stuff to read, ancient mythology was always what I got.  They bought me books upon books of Greek myths and stories (among others) and it's a love I've retained into my adult life.  So when I started teaching 10th grade this year and found out I got to teach Greek myths, I was super excited.  The Olympians, Perseus, Hercules, Atalanta, they are all part of a fascinating and unique culture that I have never been able to get enough of.

To my surprise, my students were (for the most part) just as excited.  I had no idea, but apparently they've either read the Percy Jackson series or watched the movies, and since I tend toward movies like Deadpool, I'd never heard of this.

Turns out, it's a modern-day adaptation of Greek mythology, complete with all the insanity of all the rivalries, monsters, and battles of the original stories.  The basic premise focuses on a series of demigods, including Percy and his friends Annabeth and Luke, who are all part of Camp Half-Blood, the only safe place for those who happen to have an Olympian parent.  There, they are trained for the battles they will no doubt encounter for the rest of their lives -- monsters are attracted to the scent of godly blood, and since demigods are still mortal, these kids are susceptible to their attacks.

The whole set up is clever and absolutely fascinating.  In the first, The Lightning Thief, they visit the Underworld, located under Los Angeles, and Olympus, located on the 600th floor of the Empire State Building.  Percy battles the Minotaur and Medusa and many more in his quest to return Zeus's master bolt, which has been stolen and set off the simmering rivalry between he and his brothers, Poseidon and Hades.  In the second, The Sea of Monsters, Percy voyages across what in our world is the Bermuda Triangle.  In his world, he's crossing the setting of the Odyssey, complete with the whirlpool Charybdis, the island of Circe, and the cyclops Polyphemus.  And the other three go on from there -- the whole world of Greek mythology is adapted and tied up into this universe.  It's fabulous.

There's nothing all that amazing about the story of Percy Jackson -- it's a pretty basic quest myth, though I'm sure that done intentionally considering that mythology is one of the most universal creations of the human race.  But the universe here is what makes this series stand out, and that's what drove me through the entire thing in only a few days.

I will also say this: When I asked students if this series was worth reading, they responded with an enthusiastic YES.  They know mythology as a result -- my test scores have been awesome because the kids already know a lot of this background information so they can now apply it more effectively.  They are not always readers (as is normal for 15-16 year olds), but they have read this, and that speaks volumes.

There are two more books between "The Sea of Monsters" and this one, but I like this cover best :)

It's a fabulously interesting series, and if you've ever loved Greek mythology, it's for you.  Get reading!