I have asked my 15 year-old son, Vincent, to write some book reviews. He is very well-read for his age, and can always be found with at least one book in hand. He has been known to walk into inanimate objects because he had his nose in a book. He prefers fantasy books, but has read a lot of other styles. What follows are his words. Enjoy!

My reviews will be divided into three sections, besides the rating, which itself will be how many stars out of five the series deserves. The first is Basic Portagonist. This one gives a few glimpses at the hero’s basic characteristics, to help determine whether the book would appeal to you. The second is Basic story, to acquaint my readers even to just the setting of the book. The third section is Possible Problem Areas. As the name suggests, this section covers any possible problems with the books. The final section is Good Areas. This area lists all the things concerning style and skill that the author excels at. As I am an avid lover of books, trying to list every positive portion of a book would require several pages of writing, so I have summarized my opinion of the book’s level of readability and enjoyability in the rating. You will never see a rating of 0 stars, since if a book is bad enough to merit that rating, I won’t be making a review of it. The lowest rankings you will ever see in this review are 3 or maybe 2 stars.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan

5 stars
Basic Protagonist – The narrator in that series is a first-person, rather down-to-earth New Yorker, and he speaks with a complete disrespect to any authority that doesn’t deserve his respect. He always treats his mom with honor and respect, of course, but those who just want to control him for their own purposes he treats with total disrespect and dismissiveness. He always fights for his friends, and he will never leave them to face problems on their own, no matter the danger.

Basic Story – A dyslexia and ADHD diagnosed New York boy has led a life going from school to school and getting expelled from each one because of his problems, occasionally seeing strange things and events that no one except his mom believes. Then, after one final incident, he discovers that he isn’t just another troubled kid, but is in fact the son of one of the ancient Greek gods, who are now in America, the new heart of western civilization. And not only that, but there are dozens of others just like him. He soon is chosen to go on a quest, and it is just the first of many in this five-book series, during which he tries to battle the rise of an ancient evil and still stay alive.

Possible problem areas – There are several trips to the afterlife, and a boy raises the dead, being a child of Hades, the god of death. There is some romance, but nothing more than kissing. The series centers for the most part about a showdown between good and evil, so there is some fantasy violence. Characters, including the protagonist, are injured, several others are killed non-graphically, and monsters dissolve upon being wounded. The only other problem related to violence is that the main character realizes that his stepfather has hit his mother. It doesn’t describe the action more than that; it just says that it happened. There are only two other things that may put some people off of the series. For one, its founding core premise is that Greek mythology is real, so that may be a problem for some. The other issue is that the way the heroes of the series are born is by affairs between gods and humans. The author doesn’t dwell on this topic, or touch on whether or not it’s moral. It is necessary for the story to move, though, so he leaves it.

Good Areas – The story has a great storyline and gripping plot. The author’s blunt, choppy mode of writing appeals perfectly to preteens, and his imaginative twists on Greek mythology will interest anyone who has had any exposure to or knowledge of it. The main character has an acerbic wit, perfect timing, and a wonderful sense of humor, resulting in several very humorous exchanges between characters. But it isn’t all humor. The hero is very serious about his duties, helping tie in slightly more serious readers and giving the reader have an immense desire to have the hero succeed.

(Note: This review does not apply to the sequel series, The Heroes of Olympus, which I may review at a later date. Don’t be surprised if you try to read that one and don’t find it to be the same as the original series.)