Reading books. Sadly, as time goes on (and public school grips the throat of your enjoyment of reading and strangles it out by forcing you to read books you’re not the slightest bit interested in), people are stripped of that fiery love of reading. Maybe your story is different. Maybe you didn’t need to read often and just lost the skill, too. You can still do it, but not at the same level. Whatever the case is, you’re missing out on one of the best hobbies you can have and one of the most ancient traditions of humanity! So where do you start?
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: a spectacular series written by Rick Riordan that slowly builds in size and difficulty. My friends who want to re-enter reading, this is one of the best places to start your re-entry. The series has various reasons for being one of the best starting points for getting back into reading. In this lovely, brief article here I’ll tell you every single one! So strap in, check your pocket for your pen, and get ready to learn about one of the best series you can read!
The first five books are in the first person. So, instead of reading, “He rolled under the claws of the dragon, before slashing upward with all his might into the gut of the foul beast.” Sentences would play out more like “I quickly ducked and rolled under the dragon’s claws (I swear I felt my hair get swiped off!).” These sentences and this point of view are often better for people attempting to get back into reading, as they make more sense in a reader’s head. They can see themselves in the character more easily and can use this point of view to immerse themselves in the action! This also helps with making the writing flow more naturally, which further enhances its benefits to the reader.
Second, the series slowly builds up its complexity. Like with anything, you can’t take on the worst part of it at first. You have to build upon yourself by taking on more difficult tasks. Reading is just like this! You have to build back into it, slowly and steadily. Percy Jackson helps with this as the first five books are in first person before transitioning to a third person writing style. Also, the books start on the lower side of page counts, before slowly building higher and higher till you’re reading big, bulky, story-rich books that capture the setting perfectly!
The setting that the books have is intoxicatingly addictive. To avoid spoiling much, I won’t be going too in-depth into the setting Riordan perfectly crafts, but a large amount of the setting is based on Greek mythology. The story follows Percy Jackson and the kids of Camp Half-Blood, the summer camp for demigods. Born of the gods and man, the kids of Camp Half-Blood are endowed with special abilities from their godly parents. They can also see through the mist, the mystical force that hides monsters and evil beings, as well as what the demigods fight with monsters. However, monsters can’t be slain with just any old metal. They must be slain with celestial bronze, mined from Mount Olympus itself. Percy and his newfound friends must travel to save the world from a war between the gods, and to save Percy’s mother from peril!
For all of those reasons, pick up The Lighting Thief from the Liberty High School library! It’s an amazing first book, and it leads to one of the best fictional universes I’ve ever read about! Make from there, keep reading the series and I promise you, you’ll find yourself engrossed by the addictive nature of the books!
