Michael Reads Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief (Ch 20)

One more chapter and this blog series can legally buy alcohol!

Percy does some clever stuff and then picks a fight with the god of war. That’s right, it’s time for the twentieth installment of Michael Reads Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief…

I Battle My Jerk Relative

Percy wastes no time confronting Ares in this one. (Well, okay, I suppose Ares was there waiting for him on the beach so that made things easy, but…) Still, one can’t help but wonder at the wisdom of going against the god of war in a fight directly. I guess Camp Halfblood didn’t get to the presentation on hubris in the short time Percy was there. Still, the kid does have guts.

He also did some smart stuff right before this, being clever enough to let himself get wet and being sure to cover up Grover’s hooves in order to keep a low-profile upon their rescue. Credit where credit is due. That made me feel better about him not having pressed the issue with Hades in the previous chapter.

Um… Well it was like that when I got here, it was!

Percy did make a pretty good showing of himself against Ares, even if the god was likely toying with him. At first I wondered why he wasn’t trying to use the bolt against Ares, but I realized that was probably some hubristic thought on my own behalf. Mythology tells of how Apollo’s son thought he could handle his father’s chariot and wound up creating the Sahara desert, so it’s probably a good thing Percy didn’t try to wield the most powerful weapon in the pantheon. That’s a mistake I might have made myself, and then WHAM, I’d have blown up the moon or something.

And then Artemis would be PISSED.

I bet Harry Potter would’ve tried it.

So now I’m wondering just who stopped the fight. I’d assumed it was Hades or Zeus pulling rank, but Percy’s and Annabeth’s reaction seem to indicate that they think it was the Crooked One. I’m confused as to how they came to that particular conclusion, but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt for now. (Did I miss something?)

But now at least Hades knows that Percy wasn’t the thief. Now they’re off to fly the unfriendly skies. I wonder if Zeus will show up on the plane? Hey, what’s going to happen when TSA asks Grover to take off his shoes?

Random Observations

• Until Ares said so, it honestly hadn’t even crossed my mind that Ares might have actually found the bolt when sent to search for it, and that he’d kept it to himself. Nicely done. It’s also pretty funny that he didn’t seem to think to keep it for himself. He’s not the mastermind here.

Would you have tried to use the bolt? Are you the same kind of idiot I am? Help me feel better about myself! 😉