Michael G. Munz

Michael Reads Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief (Ch 12)

November 16, 2014 By Michael G. Munz 7 Comments

Did you know you can click on these title images to see the entire blog series?
Did you know slugs are aliens from Tau Ceti VI?

So apparently Pan is missing, and dogs can read! Makes sense to me. I learn all this and more preparing for the twelfth chapter installment of Michael Reads Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief…

We Get Advice from a Poodle

This chapter felt pretty short, though I didn’t go back and count pages. That may be due to the fact that, aside from Percy’s dream, there’s no action or overt conflict. (Or maybe it really just is a short chapter.) [Read more…]

Michael Reads Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief (Ch 11)

November 13, 2014 By Michael G. Munz 4 Comments

“Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?”

Percy learns what 93% of all D&D players already know: Mysteriously detailed statues are a certain indication of imminent danger. Yes, it’s time for the 11th installment of Michael Reads Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief…

We Visit the Garden Gnome Emporium

I need to start by saying that the opening paragraph of this chapter is just downright charming. I was reminded a little of David Sedaris with the way it waltzes through the details, beginning the chapter via in a little narrative dance with just the right measure of snark. (Okay, so it’s admittedly been a while since I’ve read anything by Sedaris, so I could be way, way off here, but that’s the connection my brain made.) In fact, I’m going to bump the “favorite line” portion of this post to the front so I can quote the whole thing: [Read more…]

Michael Reads Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief (Ch 10)

November 11, 2014 By Michael G. Munz 4 Comments

We’re into double-digit chapters here, people. Things’re gettin’ serious.

Ambrosia in Ziploc bags and a busload of Furies! It must be time for the tenth chapter of Michael Reads Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief, a.k.a…

I Ruin a Perfectly Good Bus

Hey, wait. Isn’t “Busload of Fury” a Quiet Riot album? (No? AC/DC?)

Regardless, Percy’s quest has begun! I wonder how long the journey just to get TO Hades will take? He starts out his quest as any self-respecting Greek hero and/or MI-6 agent should: with a few special goodies to help him on the way. That the ambrosia was given to him in a baggie was a nice modern touch (Was the nectar in a Thermos?), and Chiron re-loaned him Anaklusmos, the sword that’s as mighty as the pen. [Read more…]

Michael Reads Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief (Ch 9)

November 9, 2014 By Michael G. Munz 2 Comments

The square root of nine is three! And what does that tell us?
Absolutely nothing.

Oracles in the Attic! No, it’s not a V.C. Andrews novel; it’s time for the ninth chapter of Michael Reads Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief…

I Am Offered a Quest

After a bit of good ol’ fashioned teenaged social ostracizing (on what could arguably be termed an officially “epic” level, given the mythological connections), Percy is offered a quest! It’s an exciting development that would have been completely surprising were it not for the spoiler in the chapter title. (I’m teasing, The Lightning Thief, I’m teasing. I still likes ya!) [Read more…]

Michael Reads Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief (Ch 8)

November 5, 2014 By Michael G. Munz 4 Comments

Did you know you can click the image to see all of the previous posts in this series?
Did you know elephants can’t jump?

Well it’s about danged time! And it’s also time for chapter eight in my series, Michael Reads Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief…

We Capture a Flag

This will be a quick post. A lot happened but my reactions are pretty brief. Finally it’s made official that Percy is Poseidon’s son! I was boggling at the idea that even after he’s found to be good at canoeing and energized by having water dumped on him, people “weren’t having an easy time of” figuring out who his father was. It occurred to me that perhaps some of them were simply good at keeping their suspicions from Percy. [Read more…]

Michael Reads Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief (Ch 7)

November 3, 2014 By Michael G. Munz Leave a Comment

Yeah, it’d be nice if there were a clever caption here, but we can’t always get what we want.

Something was stolen, monsters are attracted to demigods, and Mr. D’s still cranky. I now present the seventh chapter of Michael Reads Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief…

My Dinner Goes Up in Smoke

This is another chapter that’s primarily given to world-building and character development, both of which are welcome things at the moment. Most of the development goes to Annabeth while she introduces Percy to more of the camp and many of the concepts related to it. I still like her – she’s friendly enough, but she’s got her own agenda as well; this is a good thing. She seems to be her own character rather than just a prop for Percy. Luke, the counselor that’s one of Hermes’s sons, got a bit of development, too, but so far the book hasn’t had a chance to give him too much depth. [Read more…]

Michael Reads Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief (Ch 6)

October 29, 2014 By Michael G. Munz 2 Comments

I was supreme lord of the bathroom once, but then I took an arrow to the knee.

I used to be supreme lord of the bathroom like Percy, but then I took an arrow in the knee.

Something weird is in the attic, and there’s sewage water everywhere! So naturally that means it’s time for the sixth chapter of Michael Reads Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief…

I Become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom

I liked this chapter. It had a lot of exposition, but it’s exposition that previous chapters have given me an appetite for, so it works. Percy gets a tour of the camp, learns that all the kids (including him) have a divine parent, and then unwittingly empties a bathroom’s worth of toilet water on some of Ares’s kids. [Read more…]