“The Lightning Thief” struck me as a natural translation of Harry Potter: teen, troubled in the real world, finds his inner, hereditary potential at a school for… fighters!
I just saw a preview for “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”. Looks, on the surface, like the same thing, but with a ranged striker, complete with Chaos Bolt.
I’d like to see the Leader version. Whose superpower fantasy is of being the party cleric?
I don’t know about clerics, but if we want to look at other Leader classes, Ender’s Game is basically about a kid who realizes his inner potential at a special school for Warlords.
Good point about the warlord!
Lucy from The Chronicles of Narnia is basically a party cleric, with her potion that will cure anyone of any wound.
Susan lucks out and gets an archery ranger!
[…] mentioned that recent young-adult fantasy book/movie series are beginning to look like teen origin stories in […]
Lucy is, if it were even possible, even more the party gimp than a standard Cleric. Her role is entirely superfluous. They could hand the potion to any hireling and tell HIM to use his action every round to administer a sip. She’s basically the kid to whom they gave the Potion of Extra Healing. Whoo!