The Lightning Thief

My kids finally got me to read The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. I've seen the movie several times, and it was entertaining, but I admit I was pretty surprised that the book has very little that actually made it into the movie. I've seen such things before, like with Jurassic Park. Still, I wonder why it is that a studio takes a successful story and then not only alters it, but completely rewrites it. I'm sure there is some sort of justification, but as a storyteller myself I find it hard to understand.

Anyway, the story was fast and good. I'm a fairly slow reader myself (I love to endulge myself in the words, imagery, and imagination of whatever I'm reading), but the book flew past really well. It was nice having short, snappy chapters, and especially a good deal of action. I tend not to analyze overly much as I read, but because I saw the movie first it was hard not to compare constantly. The movie definitely came up short on plot, but I found the characterization of Percy much stronger in the movie (mainly because of the visuals, which is tough to get through in a book). Still, I'm pulling up the second book on my Kindle and I'll read that one before the movie comes out.

Like many authors (and probably most if they're honest), I dream about my own books showing up in movie theaters. I wonder if they will keep the plot, or will they go crazy with rewrites? I hope my plots are strong enough to make it on their own, but it'll be fun to find out.

- M

On a side note, I'm still working on getting this blog looking good. I'm trying to get some links on the side to my author page on Amazon and my author page on Facebook. So, expect a few changes as I tinker :)