Rick Riordan - by Kyle Fan

Introduction   

  Starting in my mid-elementary school years until even my early middle school ones, I spent a vast amount of time reading Rick Riordan's fantastical and exhilarating novels of ancient mythology. Even though I have outgrown Riordan's literature, I still hold deep respect for him as an author who was a cornerstone in my early reading. Once upon a time, I adored Rick Riordan.

His Books

    Rick Riordan writes fantasy and mystery books for young adults mainly set in worlds where mythologies from ancient worlds are real. His most popular series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, is the first series I read from him, and also one of the first I read in general. This book is a staple in most elementary and middle school libraries.

(I read these books in elementary/middle school so I may get some details wrong)

    Percy Jackson is a series that follows Percy Jackson, a 12-year boy with dyslexia and ADHD. The puzzling and unexplainable follow him wherever he goes. He is raised by his mother, and after he tells her about a specific incident at school, she decides to send him off to a special camp called camp half-blood. After arriving at camp, Percy discovers he is a demi-god, half god half human, and that his father is Poseidon, Greek God of the Sea.

    Percy Jackson is a book most people have read and has become a fantasy classic. Percy goes on engaging adventures and the universe Riordan has crafted is quite expansive. Even if the book might target a slightly younger audience than high schoolers, I would highly recommend it. 

    Another series that Riordan has written is The Heroes of Olympus. In the first book, Jason wakes up on a bus full of teenagers with no memory. He has two supposed best friends Piper and Leo. The bus stops at the Grand Canyon for a trip, but a large storm emerges and mythical creatures attack the kids. Jason, Piper, and Leo are saved by Annabeth, the girlfriend of Percy Jackson, and eventually brought back to camp half-blood, where Jason finds out he is the son of Jupiter, Roman god of the sky. 

    This series is quite similar to the Percy Jackson series, following the heroes through their adventures, with more of a focus on Rome, and includes many characters from Percy Jackson.

    The Final series by Riordan I will mention is Magnus Chase. Magnus is a homeless teenager looking for clues about his mother's death. He stumbles across mythological trouble, he is killed by fights nobly to the end. He awakens to find himself in Valhalla, a Norse paradise for dead but heroic warriors. He also learns (surprise surprise) that he is the son of a Norse god. 

    Magnus Chase also follows Magnus, accompanied by the friends he makes along the way, through their Norse adventures. This book also features cameos from Percy Jackson and others from his series.

    Looking back, Riordan's books had a very similar premise.  His books branch off in different directions but were still pretty similar. If I were to read Riordan's books today, I definitely would feel the repetitiveness of his series that I did not in elementary school. But the reason he was able to reuse the same premise so many times is that it sets up a very interesting setting for young adult fantasy novels. Riordan does a very good job connecting the universes of all of his books while keeping the plots separate. And he is talented at creating fun plots while educating young people about ancient mythology.

    

Conclusion

    While it may have been a long time since I have read any books by Riordan, I can look back on the time I spent reading his books very fondly. If you have not read any of his books, I would recommend trying at least one series mentioned in this blog post. I probably will revisit Riordan by reading one of his newer books this year, to see if his books still hold up.