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Early in the book, the character Chiron makes a distinction between God, capital-G, the creator of the universe, and the Greek gods (lower-case g). I’m certainly not interested in changing or contradicting anyone’s religious beliefs. The Lightning Thief explores Greek mythology in a modern setting, but it does so as a humorous work of fantasy. It’s part of being an educated member of society. In fact, I think you have to know Greek myths to understand where our modern culture came from. As long as we recognize them as stories that are part of our heritage and long-since stopped being any kind of serious religion, I don’t see the harm in learning mythology.
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As a culture, we tend to believe in one God, but we also grow up steeped in these wonderful old stories about the Olympians. In Western Civilization, we’ve always had an uneasy mix between Classical mythology and Judeo-Christian values.
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Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, Rick's first novel featuring the heroic young demigod, was the overall winner of the Red House Children's Book Award in 2006 and is now a blockbuster film franchise, starring Logan Lerman. He lives in Boston with his wife and two sons. Rick Riordan is an award-winning mystery writer.