Percy Jackson and the Greek Gods

Rick Riordan's writing is known for a million different things: the plot twists, the story, the action, the style of narration, the way mythology is interwoven with the story he is writing. The cardinal feature, however, is probably the humour he manages to insert in the book in some manner or the other.

Whether it is overly dramatic scenes clearly intended to be farcical, or just witty off-the-cuff remarks in conversations, his brand of humour is definitely one of the most easily understood and liked.

Having said that, it is now time to refer to the book at hand: Percy Jackson and the Greek Gods. Of course, we know about the Greek gods from the Percy Jackson series, but this one's different. In this book, narrated as Jackson would have, we are told of some of the more well-known and lesser-known tales of the gods. One thing is made clear right away, of course: Percy wrote the book purely for the pepperoni pizza promised to him.

Now, however, we get to know about the Greek gods in more detail than we might have expected at first. While informative, Riordan, through Percy, manages to daub humour onto unsuspecting tales, while showing a surprising amount of respect where required.

As one might have anticipated, the twelve Olympians are in the spotlight, but gods like Hades are not ignored either. The book begins from the beginning of the universe as known in Greek mythology. Chaos, Night, Gaia (the Earth), Ouranos (the Sky)-the primordial entities are the first to exist, followed by the Titans.

Here, we get an account of the time before the Greek gods. One thing to be noted is that Riordan takes considerable license in certain matters, purely to make it child-friendly. Thus, certain details tend to differ from the classically accepted versions. However, in no way does this detract from the appeal of the book; on the contrary, it makes the novel more accessible and lucid.

Coming back to the Titans. Kronos was the king, while his brothers Iapetus (Hi, Bob), Hyperion and Krios were the Titans of primary importance, so to speak. The birth of the gods, more powerful beings, caused Kronos too much concern, even though they were his progeny. His solution was as simple as it was elegant: eating the immortal gods and goddesses. Zeus, however, was saved by his mother, Rhea, and was then brought up separately.

Once he grew up, he freed the other gods, not by murdering Kronos right away, but by getting him to vomit them out. Thereafter, we come to the Titan war, waged by the gods against the Titans.

After that, we also come to know of the giant war, waged by the giants against the gods. These two major wars aside, the birth of several important gods and goddesses are also narrated in Percy's style, dripping with teenage candour and humour, combined with a matter-of-fact attitude.

Both glories and misdeeds are stated as facts, with no jokes spared at any god's expense. Ares, aptly described as the "Manly Man's Manly Man", does seem to have more redeeming qualities than it seemed in the book. Poseidon, on the other hand, may have had a more active social life than you had initially thought. The best, of course, is reserved for Zeus, dubbed "Old Thunderpants". The goddess of the hearth, often overlooked, is given her due credit for a change, while no words are minced when it comes to Hera. All in all, there is enough information in the book for one to hold their own in a passing conversation with like-minded bookworms or enthusiasts of Greek mythology. 

The novel seems less of a book and more of a conversation, thanks to the simple writing style of Riordan. It is difficult to review a book which covers as many plots, subplots and tales as this one, but I have tried to do so without spoilers. Give the book a read, and note the names of the chapters; they're apt, if unconventionally named. Happy reading!