Title: The Last Olympian: The Graphic Novel
Author: Rick Riordan & Robert Venditti
Series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians – The Graphic Novels #5
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Graphic novels, Greek mythology, Urban fantasy
Dates read: 21st February 2020
Pace: Fast
Format: Graphic novel
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Year: 2019
5th sentence, 74th page: The fire-stealer guy?

The end is near.

War is upon the half-bloods as they prepare for battle against the Titans, knowing that the odds of victory are grim. Kronos’s army is stronger than ever, and with every god and half-blood he recruits, the evil Titan’s power only grows.

While the Olympians struggle to contain the rampaging monster Typhon, Kronos begins his advance on New York City, where Mount Olympus stands virtually unguarded. Now it’s up to Percy Jackson and an army of young demigods to stop the Lord of Time.

Except Percy is running out of time as the long-awaited prophecy surrounding his sixteenth birthday finally unfolds. And as the battle for Western civilization rages on the streets of Manhattan, Percy faces a terrifying suspicion that he may be fighting against his own fate.

I already knew what was going to happen in this story – I’ve read the novel that it was based on. But it was still beautiful and stunning. Almost impossible to forget. There is just something so beautiful about this graphic novel. It’s a lot lighter than some of the graphic novels that I tend to read. It’s also great to see a graphic novel interpretation that actually envisions things like I did. It didn’t ruin my perceptions by being something so totally different.

Spending the night reading this graphic novel made me want to go to my shelves and grab yet another Rick Riordan novel. I kind of need to finish / start the Kane Chronicles, so it’s definitely something that is insanely tempting… but I probably need to finish some of the series that I have already started.

I found the Last Olympian novel a bit of a darker storyline than the rest of the series. Yet, somehow, this was quite a nice, light book. Both in the gorgeous colours and the way that the storyline is set out. The more horrible parts don’t take up a large portion of the storyline, but they do still feature. In a way that makes the tale a little more uplifting and bright than what I was expecting.

This was a great, easy finish to the graphic novel adaptations. It was a good way to spend an hour just drifting back into an amazing world that I’m not all that keen on leaving most of the time.

Image source: Riordan Wiki-Fandom

Title: The Battle of the Labyrinth – the Graphic Novel
Author: Rick Riordan & Robert Venditti
Series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians – the Graphic Novels #4
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Graphic novels, Greek mythology, Urban fantasy
Dates read: 28th June – 4th July 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Graphic novel
Publisher: Puffin
Year: 2018
5th sentence, 74th page: That’s why the Titans’ army is after it.

Honestly, blowing up another school was the last thing I wanted to do.

As the son of a Greek god, I’ve had my share of near-death disaster – and now my arch-enemy Luke wants to invade camp via an ancient labyrinth.

If he succeeds, thousands of bloodthirsty monsters will attack. So it’s ‘Goodbye, sunshine; hello, darkness’ as four of us descend into the terrifying underground and beyond…

It took me a little longer to get into this graphic novel than the first three in the series. I don’t know if it’s maybe because I just didn’t originally like this storyline as much (it mostly just sets up the final battle), or if I picked it up at an inconvenient time. But, regardless, it took me a fair bit longer to read than a graphic novel usually would. Although, once I got past the first part / chapter, I didn’t stop.

There was a lot of information in the original novel, and a lot that was missed out in the graphic novel. But Venditti and Riordan managed to work this perfectly. I didn’t feel like important aspects were skipped out on, but rather, wondered why I enjoyed them so much in the novel. There was a great flow and pace to the storyline as you sink into the depths of the labyrinth and hope for the best with Percy and all his friends.

One of the parts of this graphic novel that stuck with me was the panels which showed Annabeth, Percy, Grover and Tyson walking through the labyrinth. Each panel has a different background to the characters and I thought that this showed the tricky, everchanging nature of the labyrinth perfectly.

Image source: Penguin NZ

Title: Percy Jackson and the Titan’s Curse – the Graphic Novel
Author: Rick Riordan & Robert Venditti
Series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians – the Graphic Novels #3
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Graphic novels, Greek mythology, Urban fantasy
Dates read: 27th May – 6th June 2019
Pace: Fast
Format: Graphic novel
Publisher: Puffin
Year: 2013
5th sentence, 74th page: Bianca is gone.

IT’S NOT EVERY DAY YOU FIND YOURSELF IN COMBAT WITH A HALF-LION, HALF-HUMAN.

But when you’re the son of a Greek god, it happens. And now my friend Annabeth is missing, a goddess is in chains and only five half-blood heroes can join the quest to defeat the doomsday monster.

Oh and guess what. The Oracle has predicted that not all of us will survive…

I felt like there was a little more information left out of this graphic novel adaptation than past ones. Although, since this is the book that really starts to set up the final battle, that really wasn’t very surprising. And, the parts that they left out and glossed over really didn’t affect the way in which the storyline actually moved forwards. Which, all in all, didn’t leave me feeling too disappointed.

Like the first two graphic novel adaptations, the drawings in this were exquisite. They showed almost exactly what I had picture in my mind’s eye. It really wasn’t hard to be swept away in the story all over again.

Although I have read the novel, I love the fact that there was a big enough gap between my readings that it almost felt like I was reading the story all over again. My only real disappointment was that it was over so quickly…

Image source: Amazon

Title: The Seas of Monsters: The Graphic Novel
Author: Rick Riordan & Robert Venditti
Series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians – The Graphic Novels #2
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Graphic novels, Greek mythology, Urban fantasy
Dates read: 11th April 2019
Pace: Fast
Format: Graphic novel
Publisher: Puffin
Year: 2013
5th sentence, 74th page: Splash

You can’t tell by looking at me that my Dad is Poseidon, God of the Sea.

It’s not easy being a half-blood these days. Even a simple game of dodgeball can turn into a death match against an ugly gang of cannibal giants – and that’s just the beginning.

Now Camp Half-Blood is under attack and, unless I can get my hands on the Golden Fleece, the whole camp will be invaded by monsters. Big ones…

This was such a fun, easy and enjoyable read. As an adaptation from a novel that includes a lot of detail, it works kind of brilliantly. It also swept me up in the world of Percy Jackson all over again. Enough so that I quickly picked up Magnus Chase and the Hammer of Thor as soon as I turned the last page – Riordan always takes you on such a great journey through mythology and teenage fun!

There were some parts of the novel that I missed in this retelling – primarily the prophecy which Clarisse is given. It is vaguely mentioned once towards the end, but it doesn’t feature as heavily in Clarisse’s character development (what little there is) throughout the story. Although, since this is a series about Percy, it is understandable that one of the first aspects to be cut out is the development of a secondary character.

I love that this isn’t an overly bright and colourful graphic novel. The series isn’t really one that lends itself to a bright and deliriously happy outlook. After all, Percy spends the entire five years of this storyline being attacked by numerous gods and monsters… but it is still a little light and colourful, and that humour and enjoyment of life manages to weave itself into the colour scheme.

Image source: Amazon UK

Title: The Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel
Author: Rick Riordan & Robert Venditti
Series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians – The Graphic Novels #1
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Graphic novels, Greek mythology, Urban fantasy
Dates read: 9th Arpil 2019
Pace: Fast
Format: Graphic novel
Publisher: Puffin
Year: 2010
5th sentence, 74th page: Thank you, Father.

Look, I didn’t want to be a half-blood. I never asked to be the son of a Greek God.

I was just a normal kid, going to school, playing basketball, skateboarding. The usual. Until I accidentally vaporized my maths teacher. Now I spend my time battling monsters and generally trying to stay alive. This is the one where Zeus, God of the Sky, thinks I’ve stolen his lightning bolt – and making Zeus angry is a very bad idea.

There is something about the Percy Jackson stories that I just can’t seem to get enough of. Actually, almost anything created by Rick Riordan seems to draw me in pretty fully and quickly. So I’m not really sure why it took me so long to realise that there was a series of graphic novel rewrites of the original series… and then why it still took me a little while to get my hands on the first one of these… and now that I have… I’m super, super glad. And looking forward to getting the other four and spending my afternoons in the beautiful illustrations.

It’s always hard to adapt a full length novel into anything shorter. I mean, there’s a reason that I very rarely like movie adaptations of well-loved books, there is ALWAYS something that needs to be left out. I might only just be sinking my teeth into graphic novels, but it’s definitely the same for these adaptations too. What do you leave out? What do you leave in? Luckily for me (and unluckily for my bank account), this adaptation was kind of perfect. Yes, there were many small details and moments left out, but the storyline was still able to move on quite happily. Within two pages I had ordered The Sea of Monsters, because this adaptation was able to meet all my expectations.

Image source: Amazon