Although he has missed a lot of earlier schooling, due to his escapades of fighting evil and saving the world on more than one occasion, he has been granted credits for the education he has missed. 

His first day at school has not been without incident. He attended his first two classes, but has since been paged to report to his counsellor at the Administration block.

When he arrives at the Counsellor's office, he is asked if he has filled in his college applications? He answers that he had just arrived. She says that she understands he wants to attend the New Rome University. 

While searching for the appropriate forms, she lets it slip that it appears the 'mortal counsellor' does not appear to have stock of any of the forms. 

He picks up his ears when he hears this, and suddenly realises that she is NOT the counsellor but an agent sent by his father to discuss his future and the conditions under which he has to proceed. 

He is told that, besides the usual human requirements for the University, he is also required to undertake some special entry requirements. 

He is very unhappy about this development and says that maybe his father should explain this in person, rather than sending her to break the bad news. Then she gets a message from his father, her boss, saying that he thinks his son is right and he will explain in person. (How did he know what was going on - well, he is a God.)

Next thing, the floor under his seat suddenly disappears and he is swept down into the Atlantic Ocean and whisked away to his father's palace positioned at the edge of the Continental Shelf, with views over the abyss. It's a good job he can breathe underwater. 

He meets his father and, after a convivial conversation, he is given instructions to follow to complete three quests for other Gods, who will give him the three College Recommendation letters that he needs to enrol in the University.

One of those quests is to recover the 'Chalice of the Gods' 

The book is filled with the adventures and trials he has to complete, with the help of his girlfriend, Annabeth, who is another demigod.

Does he find and rescue the Chalice? You need to read the book.

This book comes recommended for teenagers. It is well written, in the style of a mid-teenager, with many asides, metaphors and a good deal of sarcasm. It is mildly amusing, although I would suspect, highly amusing for teenagers. 

As a caution, this book should not be taken as a work of literature. Besides the Americanisms, because the author is American, it should be taken as a fun book to read, which it is, but not one that uses good English language. 

Review by Ken.

The author

Rick Riordan is a teacher and a writer, and has won many awards for his mystery novels for adults. He says that the idea for Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief first came to him while he was teaching Greek mythology at middle school in San Francisco. But rumour has it that Camp Half Blood actually exists, and Rick spends his summers there recording the adventures of young demigods. Some believe that, to avoid a mass panic among the mortal population, he was forced to swear on the River Styx to present Percy Jackson's story as fiction. Rick lives in Texas (apart from his summers on Half Blood Hill) with his wife and two sons

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