Percy Jackson, my new favorite thing.

Having seen the trailer for Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Lightning Thief and listened to the kids behind me talk about how much they enjoyed the books, I decided to take the plunge. I hadn't read them before since they hit when I was either in college or just starting out in bookselling and was so overwhelmed that I didn't have time for them. Being the good book buyer that I am, and by my compulsion to be knowledgeable about the things that I am ordering and also recommending, I jumped in. All I can say is WOW. Seriously, if you have a brain in your head and a funny bone in your body, you will laugh and laugh hard. Rick Riordan has taken what can be stodgy and imperialistic and made it modern and smart. His characters are full of heart without being fake, his plots are well thought out with loose ends tied up for the most part (but not always the way the reader expects which is nice), and his treatment of the various Greek myths and Gods/Goddesses is thought-provoking and hysterical. His characterizations of each of the Gods/Goddesses is spot on with plenty of "in" jokes for those in the know. The best part is that even if you have a working knowledge of Greek myths, you still want to go back and rediscover the stories that he is referring to (I've also seen this first hand with many of his younger readers; we usually stock classic mythology texts very close to the Percy Jackson books because of the constant need for them) just to find all the nuances and allusions. I mean, whoever thought to describe Poseidon as sporting cutoffs, Tommy Bahama hawaiian shirts, flipflops, and week-old stubble? It works, but isn't necessary dignified for a major player in the myths. But it makes him, as well as the rest of the Gods/Goddesses, accessible for the young reader and hilarious for the older ones. I'm so pumped about getting back into Greek myths that I am even considering picking up Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter series (recommended by a sales rep friend who shall remain nameless so as to protect her guilty pleasure . . . you know who you are!) which also plays on the different myths, but with a vastly different effect. I just don't know how to explain those titles to my husband while they are laying around. Dark Lover, etc. Hmmm.