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  • The Lightning Thief

  • Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1
  • Written by: Rick Riordan
  • Narrated by: Jesse Bernstein
  • Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (1,093 ratings)

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The Lightning Thief cover art

The Lightning Thief

Written by: Rick Riordan
Narrated by: Jesse Bernstein
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Publisher's Summary

Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school...again. No matter how hard he tries, he can't seem to stay out of trouble. But can he really be expected to stand by and watch while a bully picks on his scrawny best friend? Or not defend himself against his pre-algebra teacher when she turns into a monster and tries to kill him? Of course, no one believes Percy about the monster incident; he's not even sure he believes himself.

Until the Minotaur chases him to summer camp.

Suddenly, mythical creatures seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy's Greek mythology textbook and into his life. The gods of Mount Olympus, he's coming to realize, are very much alive in the 21st-century. And worse, he's angered a few of them: Zeus's master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect.

Now Percy has just 10 days to find and return Zeus's stolen property, and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. On a daring road trip from their summer camp in New York to the gates of the Underworld in Los Angeles, Percy and his friends, one a satyr and the other the demigod daughter of Athena, will face a host of enemies determined to stop them. To succeed in his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the true thief: he must come to terms with the father who abandoned him; solve the riddle of the Oracle, which warns him of failure and betrayal by a friend; and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves.

©2005 Rick Riordan (P)2005 Random House, Inc. Listening Library, an imprint of the Random House Audio Publishing Group

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What listeners say about The Lightning Thief

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good story but can be tough to listen to reader

This is a good story and I have enjoyed it quite a lot. My issue is with the reader. He is ok but pronounces several words different than the normal pronunciation. He also says ‘both’ with an L in it like ‘bolth’. It’s been a pet peeve of mine and most probably won’t have any issue at all. It’s a good story and helps to give a basic knowledge of the gods and who they are and their basic history.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Clever Kids' Story- Replaceable Narration

This book is ideal for kids aged 8-12. Rick Riordan taps into a topic that every child finds fascinating: Ancient Mythology. He does a very nice job weaving the fantastic (Gods, Titans, Mythical Monsters, and Heroes) into the life of a relatable hard-luck misfit kid with a Heart-of-Gold. Yes, it's formulaic, but it’s effective ("more mature" youth literature authors - Collins (Hunger Games), Meyer (Twilight), Bardugo (Shadow & Bone), etc - bow to these conventions for a reason - they work).
The dialogue is fairly childish, there are (Ugh) fart and poop references mixed into the text, and the twists are predictable.. but Riordan's plot is clever, descriptions are excellent, there is frequent action, and the characters are surprisingly deep. These books are justifiably popular.

The weakest aspect of this audiobook is the narration. Jesse Bernstein is clearly interested in the text and reads with admirable pacing, cadence, and emotiveness.. but his range is limited (characters consequently sound similar); his repertoire is poor (Bernstein tends to surfer-dudes and Southern accents); and he delivers most of the book in a matter-of-fact timbre (even during action scenes). I'm convinced another reader would vastly improve this project.

I no longer have little ones at home, but genuinely enjoy books written for children. If you have pre-teens (this is likely too sophomoric for older youth), 'The Lightning Thief' is engrossing - they'll love it. For an adult listener, it's only worth 5.5 stars out of 10. I can personally set aside the subpar reading (I will be continuing the 'Percy Jackson and the Olympians' series - it's a captivating premise).. but you are justified if you decide to pass on this one.

[I hope Bernstein does better with Book 2]

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Love it!

I really like the voice and performance. I love the book. This is my very first Audible! I am very happy with it!

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great Read

So this was my first audible book and I have to say it was amazing. The story and narration had me so interested. If you are new to audible I highly recommend trying this one out forsure.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

book is great naration ok

long time fan of Rick Roridan. love all his works and all the books he sponsors.
the reading of this book is what brings my rating down by one star. mispronunciations of the greek names mainly.
otherwise would have been a 5/5.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Awesome

I liked this book because there's good characters and it's very exciting. -Luke, Age 7

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing Books

The Percy Jackson books were what made me start reading at 13, and as im re-reading the saga at 20, its no less amazing.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

amazing

i found this book when i was 12 but i still find myself going back to it all the time. favourite series of all time :)

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story, but only okay diction

I have always adored this series of books, but unfortunately this performance left me wanting. There were multiple instances where the pronunciation of some of the Greek terms and names were off. (Eg. ichor, Demeter, Dionysus, Elysium) These unfortunately stuck out like a sore thumb which broke the immersion of the story. I’m unsure if I will listen to the rest of the series.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

First audio book since I was a kid!

Loved the narration, long chapters at times but great creative writing led the imagination; listened with my 10yearr old son and he enjoyed it which was nice bonding time for us.

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1 person found this helpful