Percy Jackson Books

The first Percy Jackson book, The Lightning Thief, was published on June 28, 2005 by Rick Riordan.¹ The first book in a five book series features Percy Jackson, a twelve year old boy who lives in southeast New York. Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can’t seem to focus on school work, making friends, or controlling his temper. And being at boarding schools has only made things worse. When he comes home to tell his mom, Sally Jackson, that his Pre-Algebra teacher attacked him, she knew it was time to tell him the truth about his heritage. She explains to Percy that his dad is a god from Greek Mythology, Poseidon, the god of the sea. She sends Percy to Camp-Half Blood, a summer camp in Long Island for demigods, where he learns to control the powers he inherited from his dad. Soon a mystery unfolds and together with two friends, Annabeth Chase and Grover Underwood, they set off to stop a war between the gods that will tear the world apart if not stopped. Having a heroin the same age as me when I read these books really inspired me. I love these books because of how inclusive and open-minded they were.

Percy Jackson Movies

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, directed by Chris Colombus, dropped on February, 12, 2010 in the United States.² Rick Riordan, had no say in the movie that was only loosely based on his book. I watched the first Percy Jackson movie and overall, I was disappointed. The characters did not even closely resemble the book in age, likeness, or personality wise. The plot also did not match the first book whatsoever, but instead took ideas and scenes from the entire series. The movie opens to Percy Jackson, played by Logan Lerman, a troubled kid bouncing from boarding school to boarding school. His life becomes more complicated when he finds out that he is the son of an ancient Greek God, Poseidon, the God of the Sea. Percy goes to a camp to help train his powers he has inherited from his dad called Camp-Half Blood. Once there he is recruited for the adventure of a lifetime: He must prevent a feud between the gods from turning into an all out war, as well as save his mom from the clutches of Hades, god of the underworld. This movie really let me down, it had so much potential and hope but I felt let down by how different it was from the books, even if they were only roughly based on them, it still felt like a let down.

There is also a second movie called the Sea of Monsters, roughly based on Rick Riordan’s second book. It was released on August 7th, 2013, seven years after the book was released.³ When the magical tree that protects Camp-Half Blood’s borders gets sick, Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and others go on a quest to find a magical golden fleece that will heal the tree. If they don’t find the fleece in time, everyone at camp will be in grave danger from the monsters in the outside world. I liked this movie more than the first, it still wasn’t my favorite purely because of how different it was from the books, just like the first movie.

Percy Jackson Show

Percy Jackson, Heroes of Olympus, was released December 19, 2023. Percy is played by Walker Scobell, Grover Underwood is played by Aryan Simhadari, and Annabeth is played by Leah Jeffries.⁴ Only one season, eight episodes, has been released so far but with promises of more, fans eagerly await the second season. I personally love this show! Thor Freudenthal, the director, did an amazing job of getting the characters personalities on screen with help of Rick Riordan. The show almost completely mirrors the book, from the demeanors of the characters to the settings and iconic one liners that make the book amazing. The show opens to the same scene as the book with the iconic line, “Am I a troubled kid?” Walker asks, “Yeah, you could say that.” This line perfectly incorporates Percy’s personality from paper to screen. Just like the book, Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase & Grover Underwood set off on a quest to stop a catastrophic war between the gods. While on this journey they learn more about each other, their parents, and how much more challenging this quest is going to be than first intended.

Overall Rating

Altogether the Percy Jackson book series has a 4.8 star rating according to Good Reads, while the movies have a 2.6 star rating, and the show so far has a 4.3 star rating.⁵ I liked the book series the best out of the three, but the show seems promising. The movies I was very disappointed about when I first watched them, but on their own, are really good movies.