Culture Cabinet

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief is receiving a lot of attention right now with the last episode of the new series being released earlier this week. However, I have seen a lot of fan theories on TikTok from fans who didn’t read the books. This is a guide on how to read the books in the correct order as well as a little bit about them.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

These first five books focus on Percy Jackson, a 12-year-old who discovers he’s a demigod. Throughout these books he navigates friendship, fighting Titans, and saves Olympus alongside his friends, Annabeth Chase and Grover Underwood. The Lightning Thief now has a TV series based on it starring Walker Scobell, Leah Jeffries, and Aryan Simhadri.

1. The Lightning Thief
2. The Sea of Monsters
3. The Titans Curse
4. The Battle of the Labyrinth
5. The Last Olympian

The Heroes of Olympus

This series combines Greek and Roman mythology and introduces a lot of new characters. In fact, Percy doesn’t appear in The Lost Hero at all. Jason Grace, Piper McLean, and Leo Valdez take a front role in this series, though later we do reunite with Percy and Annabeth.

1. The Lost Hero
2. The Son of Neptune
3. The Mark of Athena
4. The House of Hades
5. The Blood of Olympus

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Chalice of the Gods

Note: While this book is considered a part of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, it chronologically comes after the Heroes of Olympus series.

In this book, planned to be the first part of a trilogy, Percy is going to college! However, he needs to complete three trials to get the recommendation letters he needs. Each book will detail the adventure to right some wrongs and get one recommendation letter.

The Trials of Apollo

Moving away from the previous two series, this series is focused on Apollo. While there are appearances from Percy, it’s mostly focused on Apollo and the friends he makes among the way to free the five Oracles. The last book, The Sun and the Star, brings back fan-favorites Nico Di Angelo and Will Solace. Riordan says the last book is separate from the series, but you definitely need to have read The Tower of Nero first so I included it here.

1. The Hidden Oracle
2. The Dark Prophecy
3. The Burning Maze
4. The Tyrant’s Tomb
5. The Tower of Nero
6. The Sun and the Star

Special Editions

There are a lot of novella-type stories and special editions relating to the Riordanverse- with more still being released! There are two special collector editions of the first book (Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief), as well as a full set of graphic novels from the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. I’ve included the ones I know about below, but I might be missing a few.

• Percy Jackson: The Demigod Files
  • This book is a “guide” to the original Percy Jackson and the Olympians series featuring short stories, interviews, puzzles, and games.
• Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Ultimate Guide
  • Another “guide”, this book is about monsters, Gods, and everything you need to know to navigate the life of a demigod. It has illustrations, maps, and even trading cards.
• Camp Half Blood Confidential
  • This book is about living at Camp Half Blood. It includes stories from heroes who have passed through there, an introduction from Chiron, and words of wisdom from Apollo himself.
• Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods and Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes
  • These illustrated books are about the actual Greek Gods and heroes behind Riordan’s stories, but with Percy Jackson’s sarcastic commentary.
• The Heroes of Olympus: The Demigod Diaries
  • This book features four short stories, one of which is written by Riordan’s son Haley Riordan – the original inspiration for Percy Jackson. It features the demigods we know and love from both Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus series.  
• The Trials of Apollo: Camp Jupiter Classified
  • Featuring Camp Half-Blood’s rival Camp Jupiter, this book is about the adventures and retribution of the campers at Camp Jupiter.
• Demigods and Magicians: Percy and Annabeth Meet the Kanes
  • In this book, Greek mythology meets Egyptian magic and Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase meet Carter and Sadie Kane (from Riordan’s The Kane Chronicles). The demigods and magicians team up to defeat evil and save the world.

Rick Riordan has written multiple universes from Greek mythology to Roman mythology to Egyptian magic including Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Heroes of Olympus, The Trials of Apollo, Kane Chronicles, Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, The 39 Clues, Tres Navarre, and Daughter of the Deep. Even after all of that, he’s still releasing new books about our beloved Percy Jackson.