Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief

Lately, I have been reading and watching books, movies and TV shows of the fantasy, supernatural and sci-fi genres. This is partly because my friend and I have been watching the first seasons of Moonlight and Sanctuary. But, like my friend Sarah says, "I'm a normal person. Why would I want to watch shows about normal people?"

Outside of watching Moonlight and Sanctuary I have started rereading the Harry Potter series. I also began the Percy Jackson & The Olympian series.

I read the first book, The Lightning Thief and last night, I watched the movie adaptation of the book. It was interesting to read the book and watch the movie so close together because the differences between the two were made that much more apparent. And differences there were! I have to say that I greatly enjoyed the movie--probably more than the book--because it was, I felt, more exciting. However, if one goes into the film looking for a good representation of the book, they will be disappointed, as it was quite different. It's one of the movies that, when you watch it, you need to separate it from the book. They took the idea and some of the great plot points and changed the story, made it their own.

I have to say that I really enjoyed the cast! Kevin McKidd as Poseidon, Uma Thurman as Medusa, Pierce Brosnan as Chiron. There were some surprises, though. I imagined Percy's mom much differently. I had envisioned someone who looked more like Michelle Pfeiffer or Nicole Kidman. Percy, Annabeth and Luke looked different than expected as well.

Overall, it was a fun book to read though I thought the movie was a little more exciting. I'm looking forward to moving on the series and hoping for more Percy Jackson movies to come.