Since the beginning of the 21st century, leisure has been transformed in a way never seen before thanks to the countless forms of entertainment that we have right now within our reach. Even so, despite mobile phones, tablets, the internet and streaming platforms or video games, the healthy habit of reading is maintained, with increasingly popular franchises focused on young audiences. And if Harry Potter marked the first decade thanks to its film adaptations, Percy Jackson joined the party from bookstores starting in 2005.
It is clear that the phenomenon created by Rick Riordan is a direct heir to the success of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter books, but we cannot take away all the merit it has for that. And it is that he had the enormous success of, based on a magical universe that takes place in the current world, in the present, inserting elements as well known as those of Greek mythology, rich in gods, demigods and heroes who face the most powerful enemies that Olympus has ever seen and that now, by the way, is based on the 600th floor of the Empire State Building.
It’s because of that connection that the books in the Olympian Gods series quickly became a hit after their first release in 2005. So much so that all five books have sold over 45 million copies in more than 32 years. countries that have seen how this descendant of the most mythical deities faces real threats that want to end the entire world.
Who is Percy Jackson?
Percy Jackson is neither more nor less than the son of Poseidon, God of the sea and earthquakes, who one day finds out that he is a demi-god and that everything they told him in Greek mythology school is so true that he himself descends from those stories. So he will soon come into contact with other characters, such as Annabeth Chase , daughter of Athena, or Grover, a good-looking satyr who will have to face the king of the titans and God of Time (Cronos) to prevent him from destroying Olympus.
Throughout all the books, Percy Jackson grows like a normal boy from one year to the next. One of the keys to the novels is that we are following the evolution of the character from his initial 12 years of The Lightning Thief to 17 (more or less) of the last of the deliveries, The Last Hero of Olympus , moment in which ends the pentalogy of The Olympian Gods .
Officially born on August 18, 1993 on Long Island, New York, his mother Sally named him after Perseus, one of the few ancient myths that did not end badly. Percy always lived with the strange feeling of hiding from everything and everyone, so he will soon discover that the reason is that Poseidon abandoned him as a child to protect him and hide him from the wrath of Zeus . Even so, the god of the oceans continued to visit him furtively, seeing how he was growing and with the aim of explaining to him one day what his role would be within the global scenario where Olympus is in danger because of a certain Cronos.
How was the idea born?
The origin of the character arose from some short stories that Rick Riordan invented to tell his son before bed, and who had been diagnosed with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and dyslexia, two qualities that Percy Jackson himself will inherit in the books and that they will be, in some way, what will prevent him from integrating into many of the schools he will visit.
In addition, placing the adventures of this new hero within the typical elements of Greek mythology was not random, but an express request of the writer’s own son , who had met them at school and aroused enormous interest in him.
The books
Although books linked to the Percy Jackson universe have not stopped being published since 2005, in reality only the first five published between 2005 and 2009 belong to the series of The Gods of Olympus . The following collections of The Heroes of Olympus , The Trials of Apollo or Magnus Chase and the gods of Asgard , already have other different protagonists who expand that imaginary, in some cases even mentioning Percy Jackson himself in passing as a relevant figure of that universe.
But we are going to focus on the five great books of the saga, and here you have them:
Percy Jackson The Lightning Thief (2005)
The initiatory story of the hero begins in New York, where Percy Jackson studies at a boarding school for children with problems and dyslexia. He will soon discover that he is a descendant of the gods when he visits Camp Half-Blood and is told the story that Zeus, god of the heavens, Hades, god of the underworld, and Poseidon, god of the oceans, sealed the promise never to have mortal children. . By skipping it, Percy’s father learns that he was persecuted by Zeus, which puts everyone who knows him in danger.
Percy Jackson Sea of Monsters (2006)
The magical borders that protect Camp Half-Blood are being torn down by a horde of monsters inspired by Greek mythology, which would mean the total destruction of the last sanctuary in which the children of the gods hide. To save him, Percy will have to find the legendary magical Golden Fleece.
Percy Jackson The Titan’s Curse (2007)
Percy Jackson receives a call from his friend Grover in which he urges him to prepare for a battle that is about to take place. When they go to him they discover that the satyr has found two new very powerful mestizos of unknown ancestry. Together with Annabeth, Thalia and his Riptide sword, Percy will have to face Cronos, who has set a trap for them that could end their lives.
Percy Jackson The Battle of the Labyrinth (2008)
Percy has now just arrived at the institute where his life will begin to take a radical change. Those who seem to be his friends are discovered to be less so and soon we will see that the hand of Cronos is rocking the dark events that are about to come. He now threatens to destroy Camp Half-Blood where all the young demigods take refuge. Our protagonist will have to undertake a tortuous path through the labyrinth, an underground world full of fearsome creatures that anxiously await his new prey.
Percy Jackson The Last Olympian (2009)
Cronos has become more and more powerful and a terrible battle between the half-breeds and the titans is coming, where it seems that Percy and all his friends face a fatal fate. But when the hordes of evil threaten to reach New York and that 600th floor of the Empire State Building where the Olympus of the gods is located, events change and a small opportunity opens up to avoid the catastrophe.
Supplementary Books
Along with these five books, Rick Riordan completed them with three publications that we could consider as expansions of the series of The Olympians . These are El Expediente del Demigod , published in 2008, Demigods and Monsters , which hit bookstores in 2009, and The Essential Guide in 2010.
In the case of the first two, they are brief narratives, interviews and images, as well as essays by several current (young) authors, as well as a directory that expands the information on some places, characters and events of Greek mythology. The latter is more of a compendium of Percy Jackson related products such as trading cards, color diagrams and maps.
Movies and series
Warner’s runaway success with Harry Potter prompted other production companies to consider how they could get their own teen wizarding phenomenon. And 20th Century Fox was clear about it, acquiring the rights to release the first of Percy Jackson’s books in 2010 but, unfortunately, the creative reins were not in charge of the writer himself (as in the case of JK Rowling) and it was the I study the one who thought that using only the name and changing practically everything that happened in the books, they had guaranteed success.
Although both films, Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief (2010) and Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters (2013) grossed just over $200 million each, they quickly became part of the list of free adaptations (and monstrous) that did not do justice to the quality of the books. The author himself, who relinquished creative control in the agreements with Fox, would complain bitterly about the mistakes made by the studio : the first thing was to distance himself from the action of the books but, above all, to change the age of the protagonist who instead 12 years old was 17 in the first of the films. So all the evolution of Percy Jackson disappeared and with it any possibility of recovering the literary essence of his adventures.
Luckily, it seems that these two cinematographic attacks against Percy Jackson will soon have redemption, since Disney + prepares an exclusive series in which it will tell the story respecting the books published from 2005 and that belong to the series of The Gods of Olympus . So much so that the protagonist will start the adventure with the same 12 years as the character in the books, which already indicates that the production is moving in the right direction. At the moment, there is no scheduled release date but Rick Riordan will be in charge of the script for the pilot chapter.