Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Book and Movie Review

Last summer, I discovered this series quite by accident.  The Lightning Thief movie happened to come on after something else I was watching and, since I've always liked mythology, I thought I'd give it a try.  Usually, I get bored watching movies in real time on TV, but I waited through the commercials to get to the end of this one. 

I enjoyed the movie, and since the books are always better, I checked out the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series the next time I went to the library.  I absolutely loved them; I read all five books in something like ten days and will definitely be reading them again. 

I think this a fantastic series.  I love the way traditional mythological creatures and characters- well known and otherwise-  are woven into the story and I really enjoy the way all the different gods are portrayed.  I like the way the demigod/god/monster society is set up and portrayed.  And I think the story is really interesting and very well written.

I love Percy's narration, he just has such a way of saying things (as evidenced by the chapter titles). And the characters are, I think, part of what makes the books so good.   All of the characters feel real, all with their own personalities, strengths, and shortcomings.  Percy of course, is one of my favorites and I love Grover.   And who can help but love Tyson?  Contemporary female characters tend to annoy me, but Annabeth doesn't.  I think she's a really nice balance of toughness and feminity.  I like how she's there for Percy and can still hold her own, and I think her complex relationship with Luke is an interesting addition to the story.
The other girls, Thalia and Zoe, both did annoy me at the start of Titan's Curse (which I think is my favorite book, but it's so hard to pick a favorite of this series) but they grew on me, and, as we got to know them more, I started to like both of them.
However, I think Luke is my favorite character.  I actually didn't want to admit that for quite a while but I think he is.  I think one of the reasons he’s my favorite is because he’s one of the most complex characters in the series.  Minor Lightening Thief spoiler I really like that, unlike most turncoats, his motivation for working for Kronos wasn’t money or power. He went because he wanted to hurt the Olympians, a desire that ultimately stemmed from understandable, though not justifying, feelings of abandonment as a child.  I like that he was a good guy, who genuinely thought he was doing what was right.  End spoiler  Luke went through a lot as a result of the way Olympians deal with their kids, and he saw plenty of other kids who also suffered and even died.  The way he went about it wasn’t the best, but he thought he was making things better.  I also like how, even when they were on opposite sides, he still at least tried to look out for Annabeth. 

SPOILER I actually guessed that Luke would turn back, just in time to die to save the others when I was reading Sea of Monsters.  I didn’t want that to be the way it happened, partly because I’d guessed it and I wanted to be wrong, so I would be surprised by the ending.  I wanted Luke to turn back, and then have to live with it; to pick up the pieces of the life and relationships he left and have to deal with it while everyone learned how to move on.  I thought that would be more interesting and I even had plans for a fanfiction with my sister that had that element.  But once I actually read Luke’s death, I couldn’t take that from him.  It was too perfect, all things considered, too sadly beautiful.  So, I kind of miss his character, but he died well and in the end, I think that was the best way to end it.  END SPOILER

While on the subject, here’s a link to one of my favorite YouTube videos.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk8BTzYdO5Y

I just love it.  It is so sweetly sad, and I think perfectly sums up the things Luke would have wanted to say to Annabeth- the little sister he let down. 

While I love the Percy Jackson and the Olympian series, I've had a falling out with the Heroes of Olympus series.  It became more about the characters demigod abilities, rather than the characters themselves.  I also don’t like how everyone is paired off in Heroes of Olympus.  I was trying to continue with the series for Percy and Annabeth, but I ended up leaving off in the middle of House of Hades.  While I definitely recommend the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, it’s my opinion that if you didn’t read Heroes of Olympus, you wouldn’t miss a whole lot. 

Now for the movies.

When I first read The Lightning Thief, I was upset by how different they'd made the movie.  (I like strong book to movie accuracy.  I don't rewatch Prince Caspian because I was so disappointed in how that book was translated into a movie.)  But I started to realize why they changed what they did.  This doesn’t make it ok, but maybe it makes it at least a little less annoying.   Of course, it's always going to be shorter, that is the difficulty with turning several hundred pages of print into two hours of a movie.  As far as I can guess, they must have taken Kronos out because they weren't sure of they'd get a sequel, so they left out most of what set up the rest of the series.  However, they put it all back into Sea of Monsters, so that helps.   I think the actors were older just to make it easier (able to work adult hours etc.)  It took me a while to come up with a reason for the difference with the pearls, but I think I've figured that out too.  They made the pearls part of the quest to help the movie along. Traveling from one end of the country to the other, just to get somewhere for a large portion of time works fine in a book, but it doesn't work as well in a movie. 

So, those are the somewhat “excusable" discrepancies.  However, there are some things that aren't.  How long would it have taken to paint on a scar for Luke?  I suppose not knowing if they'd have a sequel could explain not wanting to add Clairese, but I didn't really like making Annabeth the bully at the start.  And, one of my biggest issues: Percy: Luke, why do you want a war of the gods? Luke: Control.   Me: No! That's not it! 

And the whole, “Zeus decreed that no one could have contact with their demigod children thing.”  Was anyone else thinking that was Olympian propaganda?

Also, while I do enjoy Brandon T. Jackson’s character, it’s not Grover.  Grover was supposed to be sweet and shy and socially awkward. So while movie Grover is funny and likeable, he’s not the Grover we love from the books and that’s a little disappointing.  

So yes, I know Lightning Thief wasn't a very good book interpretation, and as always the book is sooo much better, but I still wish that people wouldn't hate on the movies so much.  The Lightening Thief is still a good movie and Sea of Monsters is much better as far as book accuracy, though it also had a few flaws.  They put in a lot of what they originally took out, including Mr. D, and Clairese, who are, in my opinion, played perfectly, as well as Luke's actual motivation, Thalia's Tree and the Kronos story line. 

Given the improvements to Sea of Monsters, I think there is still hope for this series as movies and I would very much like to see them continue with Titan’s Curse.   (Though with writers and a director who have actually read the books and want to preserve them as much as possible would be nice.  I’d even be ok if they had to change some of the actors as long as they keep Jake Abel, as well as Stanley Tucci and Tyson (sorry, can’t remember his real name) because I think they are all perfect.)   

Short Introduction

Hello, as you can see, my name is Micaela Sparrow and this is just a short post to tell you a little bit about me and what kinds of things to expect in this blog. 

I’m a writer, and I love good stories whether they come from books, movies or television.  So I expect to be posting  book and movie reviews.  I may occasionally post snippets of my writing, but I may not.   I’m also a geek/nerd/fangirl whatever you want to call it.   I love the Middle-Earth stories, Star Wars, Doctor Who, Percy Jackson, Marvel movies, The Hunger Games etc.  Along with my own writing I also do a fair amount of fan fiction, which I might post parts of sometimes.  I’m probably more likely to post that than my original writing. 

 Personality wise, I’m an INTJ, and according to Divergent standards I’m Dauntless, with Erudite leanings.  (I took half a dozen different faction quizzes before I read the books so that I wouldn’t be biased toward any faction.  Most of them gave me Dauntless, but I think two gave me Erudite.) 

I suppose that’s all for now.  I hope to have some things posted soon. J