<Tr> <Th> LC Class </Th> <Td> PZ7. R4829 Li 2005 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Followed by </Th> <Td> The Sea of Monsters </Td> </Tr> <P> The Lightning Thief is a 2005 fantasy - adventure novel based on Greek mythology, the first young adult novel written by American author Rick Riordan . It is the first novel in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, which charts the adventures of modern - day twelve - year - old Percy Jackson as he discovers he is a demigod, the son of a mortal woman and the Greek god Poseidon . Percy and his friends Annabeth Chase and Grover Underwood go on a quest to prevent a war between the gods Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades . </P> <P> The Lightning Thief was published in June 2005 by Miramax Books, an imprint of Hyperion Books for Children and thus Disney Publishing (succeeded by the Disney Hyperion imprint). The book has sold over 1.2 million copies in the subsequent four years, appearing on The New York Times children's Best Seller list and being listed as one of the Young Adult Library Services Association's Best Books for Young Adults, among other awards . It was adapted into a film named Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief released in the United States on February 12, 2010 . The sequel to this novel is The Sea of Monsters . The book has a rating of 4.22 out of 5 on Goodreads . </P>

When did the lightning thief book come out