PERCY JACKSON!

Rick Riordan and I have a very complicated relationship. And by relationship, I mean one-sided relationship, because he doesn't know I exist. And by complicated, I mean that for a long time, I didn't have any interest in reading Riordan's books. I often drifted to more realistic fiction, comedy, historical fiction, and even sci-fi, but I didn't love fantasy. As you know, Riordan's covers look like this:

and that put me off instantly. (I just had a bias against fantasy-style covers...) I never started reading Percy Jackson and the Olympians around the time everyone else my age was (and I also didn't read Harry Potter, but that's a story for another time.) I'd always heard good things about the Percy Jackson series and Riordan's books in general, but I assumed they would be something I didn't personally enjoy. I read the first book of the Kane Chronicles (about Egyptian mythology) for a school book club and enjoyed it, but I never finished the rest of the series. I checked out Percy Jackson's Guide to the Greek Gods and I also really enjoyed that book, but it didn't lead me to immediately read Percy Jackson. However, my curiosity had surged. Finally, during the pandemic, I decided to read the original Percy Jackson series, no longer stuck behind my perception of fantasy-style covers and mythological favorites as not "being my thing." I was interested enough into the way Greek mythology was part of the books and was excited to read about the beloved characters that seemed to include better representation than some other books. From the moment I read the first book, I was hooked. The world, characters, and plot were all so interesting to me and I was entertained. The books also had an element that comes up in a lot of series I read, which is a lighthearted storytelling approach but a darker, deeper plot growing behind it. I read through the whole series and really enjoyed it, but I was disappointed and a little confused that there weren't more books. Wasn't there a whole large universe behind Percy Jackson? Weren't there books that took place during Percy and Annabeth's relationship?

I knew about Riordan's other series of course, but I thought they were more spin-offs and unrelated stories taking place in different timelines and different settings. Much later, maybe a year after I had finished the original series, I realized that the Heroes of Olympus series (which I had originally brushed off as "that series where a guy named Jason lost his memory and goes to a camp for bad kids) was actually part of the Percy Jackson storyline and took place after the original series. Excited, I decided to read the first book. WOW it was incredible! I really loved this first book for the same reasons that I loved the original series but I actually enjoyed it even more. The writing and plot were just as interesting and the characters were amazing. Now, I'm waiting to read the next books in this series, and I'm excited for Percy Jackson to be part of the story again. Overall, I'm so glad I decided to read Rick Riordan's books despite a lifetime of childhood bias, and I'm even more happy that I decided to read the Heroes of Olympus series after finishing the Percy Jackson series. I'm really excited to read the rest of Riordan's work and I will try to update you guys when I finish things. The way he incorporates different mythologies and religions into it while keeping it modern and easy to read is so impressive. It really makes me enjoy reading the series and of course, following the characters through the imaginative world Riordan has created. 

Thanks for reading and talk to you later!

<3 Emily