Over the break, I was gifted a set of Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. I read a couple of these books back in high school, but it wasn’t until now that I had full set of all of the books.  If you’re like me and you enjoy reading, Riordan’s series was a perfect break from the drudgery of all the semester’s reading.

After we spend all semester in the trenches of lengthy and hard to understand reading assignments, it’s really nice to drop into something that’s an easy read. Aimed at much younger reading level, Riordan’s series provides a fast read that is purely enjoyable.

Riordan’s first book in the series, The Lightning Thief, offers a quick paced read in which the readers are swept up in the story of young Percy, a teenager who finds out that he is half Greek God half human. What follows is Percy’s journey to prove himself as a true hero. Percy is accompanied by Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, and Grover, a satyr who hopes to prove himself on Percy’s quest. Percy meets a series of classic Greek mythologies and must battle his way across the United States and back before the summer solstice. Percy’s quest has just enough action and history to keeps readers flipping quickly through the pages.

In addition to the exciting and rapidly moving plot, Riordan presents a text that at the same his incredibly funny. While most of us can’t say that we are demigods, the names of kids like Annabeth and Percy, the characters in the story are relatable. Reading the series after the end of the puberty, readers of the story can and will be able to identify the awkwardness of puberty and coming of age.

The series progresses well from the first installment.  The series grows and builds upon itself leading Percy all across the country and to new farther mythological places. Throughout the series, the plot continues to build and increase and, as with any good series, it provides us all with the opportunity to grow with these characters. Riordan’s series gives a strong example of character development. There are five books within the series: The Lightning Thief, The Sea of Monsters, Titan’s Curse, The Battle of the Labyrinth, and The Last Olympian.

Overall, the series was very exciting and definitely worth the free reading time. If you find yourself completely swept away by the mythology, the humor, and the rich characters within the story, my friends tell that as a semi follow up series readers can catch The Heroes of Olympus, which revolves around some of the same familiar characters, has seen much success and is aimed at an older group of readers. If you find yourself fascinated with the mythology stories you should also check Riordan’s series pertaining to Egyptian mythology entitled The Kane Chronicles. If you have a younger sibling, Percy Jackson and the Olympians is great and easily accessible text for younger audiences.