Percy Jackson
This article is about the book series. For the film, see Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.
Percy Jackson & the Olympians is a pentalogy of adventure and fantasy fiction books authored by Rick Riordan. The series consists of five books, as well as spin-off titles such as The Demigod Files and Demigods and Monsters. Set in the United States, the books are predominantly based on Greek mythology. The Lightning Thief, the first book, is the basis of a film called Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, which was released in the United States and Canada on February 12, 2010. All the books are written as though the hero is telling the story. This helps with the suspense of solving the Oracle's mysteries that start the conflict or hero quest particular to each book. Interestingly, the main character gets involved with all the prophecies whether they pertain directly to him or not. This is the recurring plot throughout the series. The protagonist of the series is Percy Jackson, who discovers that he is the son of Poseidon, Greek god of the sea. He learns that the legendary beings of Greek mythology still exist, and have always existed, including monsters, cyclopes, empousi, Titans, and the Greek gods, including the Twelve Olympians themselves, who dwell on Olympus; now situated on the mythical 600th floor of the Empire State Building in New York. Percy is frequently attacked by monsters because he is a child of one of the "Big Three": king of the gods and the god of the sky, Zeus, the god of the sea; Poseidon; and the god of the Underworld, Hades, who made a pact after World War II not to have any more children because they were too powerful and unpredictable. The other reason for the pact was a great prophecy, given by the Oracle, that a child demigod of the "Big Three" would decide the fate of Olympus and the gods, when the demigod child reached the age of 16. The pact was made in an effort to prevent the prophecy from ever happening. Both Zeus and Poseidon break the pact by having demigod children after the war – Zeus had Thalia Grace and Poseidon had Percy Jackson. Ironically, Hades, who is meant to be the most untrustworthy god, did not break the pact. However, he had Bianca and Nico di Angelo, who were born before the war, but were trapped in the Lotus Casino for 70 years. This meant they were still able to fulfill the prophecy. Percy meets many other young demigods, both friendly and hostile, who are also in the process of discovering their ancestry and powers.
More than 20 million copies of the books have been sold in more than 35 countries.
As of December 5, 2010, the series has been on the New York Times best seller list for children's books for 177 weeks.
A sequel series was released, entitled The Heroes of Olympus. The first book, The Lost Hero, was released on October 12, 2010.
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