Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Percy Jackson is what I call a 'go to series' – I have the entire series (5 books that aren't too long) on my MP3 player and whenever I'm between books they are like old friends I can visit and listen to again and again. I have real human friends who mock me for my ability to listen to the same book, or watch the same movie, again and again. I just ignore their jeers and turn the volume up to drown out their taunts.

The series, by Rick Riordan, starts with The Lightning Thief. It follows the adventures of Percy Jackson – a dyslexic young teen who discovers his missing father is really the Greek god Poseidon, and that he is considered a demi-god or halfblood (half god / half human). After spending a good deal of his childhood being chased by monsters, he ends up at Camp Halfblood, a summer camp where he and other halfbloods learn archery, chariot racing, Pegasus riding, and basic survival skills that include how to fight monsters. While at camp Percy is given a quest and if he succeeds he will save the world. If he fails we are all doomed – this pretty much happens in each of the books. His best friends Annabeth, a daughter of Athena, Grover, a Satyr - half goat / half human, and his half brother Tyson, a cyclops, join him on his adventures. I won't go into the plot of each of the books but by the end of the last book Percy and his campmates must save Mount Olympus, which currently resides on top of the Empire State Building, and the rest of the world in a giant battle of good vs. evil.

All of Rick Riordan's books are a great read / listen. They are full of excellent characters, plenty of action, and in this case – excellent lessons on Greek Mythology. Riordan successfully takes Greek myths out of the past and makes them a bit more immediate and relevant.

The relationships between the characters are also outstanding. I liken this series to the Harry Potter books and many people who like Harry Potter are also fans of Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Jesse Bernstein, who narrates the series, is one of the few American readers I really enjoy. He voices the characters with amazing consistency and  switches so effortlessly between characters that I forget I'm listening to someone reading to me. I'm actually lulled into believing I'm listening to the characters themselves. I think this is the ultimate test of an audiobook reader – do I forget I'm listening to an audiobook? I've even started looking for other things Bernstein has read.

In 2010 Rick Riordan started a new series, The Heroes of Olympus, that starts where the previous one left off. I'll review that one later. Jesse Bernstein doesn't read it.

I downloaded all five books for free through the BC Public Library's Library to Go site. You can download excerpts from there, or from the Random House Audio / Listening Library links below.

Listen Up!

The Lightning Thief, (10 hours, 2 minutes), Listening Library, (2005)
The Sea of Monsters, (7 hours, 56 minutes), Listening Library, (2006)
The Titan's Curse, (8 hours, 48 minutes), Listening Library, (2007)
The Battle of the Labyrinth, (10 hours, 33 minutes), Listening, Library (2008)
The Last Olympian, (11 hours, 0 minutes), Listening Library, (2009)