Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

Story

12-year-old Percy knows that something is wrong when his teacher turns into a fury and attacks him. What he doesn’t expect is that his absent father is in fact the Greek god Poseidon – and he himself is a demigod! He is brought to Camp Half-Blood, where he hears about impending trouble in Olympus: Somebody has stolen Zeus’ lightning bolt. Together with a satyr and the daughter of Athena, Percy goes on a quest to find it to prevent the gods from waging war.

Why we chose it

Hugely popular stories for adventure and fantasy loving readers. When we asked young visitors to the museum to tell us their favourite stories Percy Jackson was one of the most frequently mentioned books.

Where it came from

Rick Riordan had been teaching Greek mythology at middle schools for many years before he became a full-time author. His son loved hearing stories about the heroes and mythical creatures and when they eventually ran out of myths, he asked his father to come up with stories of his own. As a teacher Riordian had taught a number of children with ADHD and dyslexia and wanted to show that these children are creative thinkers with original ways of solving problems. Percy discovers that it’s not a bad thing to be different and it can mean that you are very talented.

Where it went next

The Lightning Thief is the first of five books. Between them, they won numerous awards and fans all across the globe and were translated to over 20 languages. In 2007 and 2013, movie adaptations of the first two books were released. There have also been several musical productions and a graphic novel.

Associated stories

When fans of Percy Jackson couldn’t get enough of thrilling mythology-inspired adventures after the series ended, Rick Riordan went on to tell more stories about the residents of Camp Half-Blood. The two series The Heroes of Olympus and The Trials of Apollo followed. After that, Riordan went on to publish book series' with new settings, such as The Kane Chronicles, which is inspired by Egyptian mythology, and Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, which draws on Norse myths.