Some observations on Percy Jackson

I will be brief. While waiting for my wife to finish The Chestnut King, I buzzed my way through the five volumes of Percy Jackson and the Olympians. The movie had recently been released and I though I'd like to know the story before going to see it. Needless to say, I needn't have bothered. The movie was only barely related to the book. But I digress.
Rick Riordan is very clever. He has a fun way of bringing Greek myths into modernity and maintaining some of their unity. Medusa shows up as the owner of a yard statue emporium and greasy spoon diner outside of New York City. The gods have traded their togas for clothing that befits their personalities in the modern world. Poseidon, for example, is wearing Bermuda shorts, flip-flops and a Hawaiian shirt while Zeus is in a business suit.
The story, through all five books, is fun. But that doesn't make it good. The writing lacks character and quality. I had a hard time deciding if I was reading bad writing or if Riordan was trying extra hard to make it sound like the first-person narrative of a twelve-sixteen year old boy.
I have a host of other observations, but no time to write them. This will have to do for now.