The best author, Rick Riordan

   Finally we have an author who brought back a reason to read mythology again, the one, the only, Rick Riordan, author of the Percy Jackson series, Heroes of Olympus, Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, The Kane Chronicles, The Trials of Apollo, and many other series and books based off of all kinds of mythologies. There are Greek, Roman, Norse, and Egyptian, and he’s also done some mystery books such as Mission Road, Big Red Tequila, and The Maze Of Bones.

   The book that launched Riordan into stardom was Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief, along with the rest of the Percy Jackson series. The story is about Percy Jackson, an average slacker with ADHD and family problems, when he finds out about the hidden world and that he is a half-blood, son of Poseidon.

   With his best friend Grover, who turns out to be a satyr in disguise, and new friend Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, Percy goes on deadly quests that almost always involve fighting evil monsters. Percy’s life kind of sucks as it was predicted by a prophecy that’s been around since before he was born and it also decides his fate.

   The spinoff after this series is the Heroes of Olympus, involving new characters and revealing more secrets from the unseen universe. Starting with a new trio Jason Grace, Piper McLean, and Leo Valdez, they’re new demi-gods and have some secrets of their own. This series brings Roman and Greek mythologies together.

   Riordan creates a spinoff of the spinoff called the Trials of Apollo, which follows the deity Apollo as he’s changed into a human as a consequence of what he did in the previous series. He gets his own adventures and we see an epilogue for most of the old characters.

   After creating Greek and Roman masterpieces, he moved onto Egyptian folklore, with the Kane Chronicles, focusing on Sadie and Carter Kane who are trying to uncover the mystery of how their mom died. The kids are separated following the disappearance. Sadie has to live with her maternal grandparents and Carter travels all over the world with his father. On the anniversary of their mother’s (supposed) death, they reunite and come across a secret that changes their whole lives.

   The last of the four main lores, Norse mythology, introduces Magnus Chase who wakes up dead in the halls of Valhalla, proceeded his life on Earth where he wandered as a homeless person running from the police, the law, and his Uncle Randolph. He meets other deceased people in the halls, and he winds up in crazy adventures as he tries to live contrary to his previous life.

   When asked about Riordan’s writing style, Jacob Vincent, PVHS sophomore, stated, “In the Kane Chronicles, it’s written as if it’s from a voice recorder, which leaves room for plot twists and unexpected villain encounters.”

   Riordan has also completed a series called, Tres Navarre, which was made before the Percy Jackson series, and is part of the adult fiction genre. He created the first book of the series “The 39 Clues: The Maze of Bones” and set the story arc for the rest of the novels, since he’s collaborating with fellow authors, Gordan Korman, Jude Watson, and a couple other writers.

   The man has made a name for himself, and his books’ publicity have two movies about the series (even if they were incredibly inaccurate). Riordan has fans all over the literary world. Taylor Herron, PVHS English teacher, said, “While the obtuse masses plop their noses into the contrived, absurd world of a geeky ‘wizard,’ Harry Potter, I prefer to expand my awareness and scholarship through the exploration of actual literature.”