Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief - Post 4

Hello again, (as you might know from my prev. posts,) the book I read for this book report is 'Percy Jackson and the Lightning Theif' which is written by Rick Riordan. I read all 375 pages out of 375.

(WARNING: WATCH OUT FOR SPOILERS!!!)

(Picture Source: http://camphalfblood.wikia.com/wiki/Lightning_Thief?file=Earth.jpg)

      There are many obstacles in this book which the main characters face, but I think the most important obstacle was the Olympians' (the twelve main Greek Gods of Olympus from the Greek Myths) accusation of Percy Jackson  (the most important main character and a son of Poseidon, the god of the sea) for stealing the lightning bolt/master bolt of Zeus, the god of the air and thunder/lightning. (I don't know if 'accusation is the right word for this situation, but I guess maybe I could use that) The gods thought that Percy stole the lightning bolt because he was the son of Poseidon, who challenged Zeus and his power before, and who is likely to have challenged Zeus again. Since gods can't directly steal other gods' symbol of power or their weapon (like the lightning bolt), they have to use demigods to steal it instead. The gods thought that Poseidon planned to use Percy to steal the lightning bolt, so they decided that the lightning bolt has to be returned by the summer solstice, which is the 21st of June, and which is the chance for Percy to prove that he is not the thief. I think the main obstacle is pretty much that, a matter of time (to retrieve the lightning bolt by the summer solstice), to find who stole the lightning bolt and to retrieve it, and the quest for retrieving the lightning bolt itself. 

      As I said before, there are many other smaller obstacles in this book, which are problems like monster attacks, fights, etc. One of them is when Percy and his two friends, Annabeth (a daughter of Athena) and Grover (a satyr: a half-man, half-goat) go sightseeing in the St. Louis Arch, where Percy (who was alone since his friends were in an elevator) has an encounter with Chimera, an ancient and very dangerous monster which is a fire-breathing creature with a snake's tail, a head of a lion, and a body of a goat, and Echidna, a snake-woman monster and the mother of Chimera. Chimera and Percy fight until falls down from the St. Louis Arch into the Mississippi river.

      Another obstacle was when Ares, the god of war, asks Percy and his friends to retrieve his shield in Waterland in Denver, which was an abandoned water amusement park. They do, but as Annabeth and Percy is getting the shield, they discover that that was a trap made by Hephaestus, the god of blacksmiths, forges, and fire, in order to catch Ares and Aphrodite dating. The shield was a lever which activated the trap, which shot nets to supposedly trap Ares and Aphrodite. So Percy manages to save himself and Annabeth by using his power to control certain amounts of water. 

      This other obstacle was when Percy and his friends try to enter the Underworld to go to Hades in order to retrieve the lightning bolt and possibly Percy's mom, who was kidnapped by the Minotaur and Hades. They (Percy and his friends) disocver that Hades didn't steal the lightning bolt, and he thinks that Percy stole his Helm of Darkness (which is Hades's symbol of power and which was stolen too), so Hades tries to kill Percy and his friends with his living skeleton soldier minions. Percy and his friends manage to escape narrowly using the three magic pearls which Percy got from a Nereid (a water spirit) while he was in the Mississippi River, which transports them to the ocean near Los Angeles. 

      This one was when Percy, Annabeth, and Grover discover that Ares helped the lightning thief by tricking Percy into taking and carrying the lightning bolt without him knowing when Ares gave Percy the backpack Percy was carrying with the lightning bolt inside it. According to Ares and the lightning theif's plan, Percy wasn't supposed to come back alive from the Underworld, but since he came back, Ares and Percy decide to duel, which ends when Percy stabs Ares's foot which causes Ares to bleed Ichor, the golden blood of immortals. 

      I think that is pretty much most of the obstacles in the book.

Bibliography/Sources:

Camp Half-Blood Wiki: http://camphalfblood.wikia.com/wiki/Camp_Half-Blood_Wiki

The book: 'Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief'