How to read the Percy Jackson books in order

Percy Jackson is a main character of a same-named, five-part book series written by American author Rick Riordan. Rick Riordan’s books draw inspiration from Norse, Roman, Egyptian, and Greek mythology. Many of his most famous characters were inspired by Greek heroes of legends.

The story follows a young demigod Percy Jackson, a son of Poseidon; Annabeth Chase, the daughter of Athena; and Grover Underwood a Satyr whose duty is to find young demigods and bring them to Camp Half-Blood where they can be safe from monsters hunting them. Over the duration of the series, they are joined by many other demigods on their quests.

The Percy Jackson books in order of publishing and reading:

• The Lightning Thief (2005)

• The Sea of Monsters (2006)

• The Titan’s Curse (2007)

• The Battle of The Labyrinth (2008)

• The Last Olympian (2009)

There are also companion books to the main series—The Demigod Files, The Demigod Diaries, and The Chalice of the Gods—as well as short stories like “Percy Jackson and the Singer of Apollo” and “The Son of Sobek.”

Aside from Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Rick Riordan has also written a second pentalogy called The Heroes of Olympus, a series of graphic novels, two movies, and an upcoming series being announced for 2024 made by Disney.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Percy Jackson & the Olympians series is a pentalogy, meaning there are five main books in the series. Here’s a summary of each of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians books.

The Lightning Thief

This is the first book in the Percy Jackson series following a young demigod as he learns of his heritage as a child of Poseidon and the burden that comes with having the blood of Greek gods running through his veins. The heroes take up a journey to try and retrieve Zeus’s lightning. In the meantime on Mount Olympus gods are throwing accusations and threats at each other. Percy and his group sneak into the house of Hades where they uncover that the lightning thief is a demigod they met at the start of their adventure.

The Sea of Monsters

Camp Half-Blood is under attack and Thalia’s tree that’s been protecting the camp Half-Blood for years now is dying due to being poisoned. The only way to stop its death is to find a Golden Fleece, hidden somewhere in the sea of monsters. Clarisse La Rue a daughter of Areas is sent on a quest to retrieve it while Percy and Annabeth depart to find and save Grover who disappeared on a mission

On return to camp Half-Blood, they used Golden Fleece to heal the tree and simultaneously rescue Thalia Grace, a daughter of Zeus that was sealed in a tree by her father Zeus in order to save her life and protect the camp Half-Blood.

The Titan’s Curse

Percy, Annabeth, Thalia, and Grover are sent to find and rescue two demigods Bianca and Nico di Angelo. Their quest is interrupted by a Manticore and they were rescued by Artemis and her huntresses. During the battle, Annabeth and Artemis are captured by Luke leading the armies trying to resurrect Kronos.

They rush to find them and rescue Artemis and Annabeth, unfortunately, Bianca dies and Nico runs away to their father Hades.

The Battle of The Labirynth

Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Tyson who’s Percies paternal half-brother are sent to find Ariadne’s String and use it to find Daedaluse’s workshop hidden within the Labyrinth. At the same time, Mr.D (Dionysus) is trying to rally lesser gods to fight in the upcoming war against Kronos. In the labyrinth, they discover a workshop belonging to Hephaestus being used by Kronos’s smiths.

The party flees back to Camp Half-Blood where Demigods living there are forced to prepare for battle as Kronos’s army attacks.

The Last Olympian

Percies father Poseidon decides to introduce Perci to details of an old prophecy, where children of Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades will either prevent or cause the destruction of Olympus.

Looking for a way to save the Greek Gods on mount Olympus, Perci talks with Nico di Angelo who already has a plan, a plan that Perci is not looking forward to, taking a bath in the River Styx that would allow him to fight Luke who’s now being possessed by Kronos. As the battle is nearing closer and closer Kronos placed mortals in New York to sleep as the battle for Mount Olympus and the fate of Greek gods begins, Percy is leading demigods into battle.

The Heroes of Olympus

In the Heroes of Olympus series, a prophecy was unveiled during the events of The Last Olympian that seven demigods would unite and protect the world from the reawakening of goddess Gaia.

The demigods from both the Greek camp, Camp Half-Blood, and a newfound Roman camp, Camp Jupiter were meant to unite.

The Lost Hero (2010)

The novel introduces three new heroes Jason Grace, Piper McLean, and Leo Valdez that are newly discovered demigods who are traveling to Camp Half-Blood and heading on a mission to prevent the rebirth of a giant king Prophyrion and to find a Roman camp.

The Son of Neptune (2011)

Percy Jackson is suffering from amnesia as he discovers camp Jupiter and meets several Roman demigods who received a prophecy from Mars. Percy, Frank Zang, and Hazel Levesque travel to Alaska to prevent the return of a giant and free the god Thanatos.

The Mark of Athena (2012)

Argo II brought Greek demigods to negotiate with Roman ones, but an incident occurred as weapons of Argo II accidentally opened fire on camp Jupiter causing an unintentional battle between the two camps.

A small talisman guides them to the hidden Patheon of Athena where Percy and Annabeth are banished to Tartarus where Nico di Angelo promises them to bring other demigods to the “Doors of Death,“ an exit from Tartarus.

The House of Hades (2013)

Percy and Annabeth travel through the Tartarus with help of Bob the Titan that wishes to prevent monsters from escaping Tartarus.

The Blood of Olympus (2014)

Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter are preparing for battle as seven travel to Greece and face Gaia and her army. During the battle, Leon sacrificed himself to defeat the goddess, in the Camp Half-Blood Greek and Roman demigods mourn the death of a young hero not knowing that Leon was revived by his dragon and that he went to join his crush Calypso.

The Kane Chronicles

The Kane Chronicles is a trilogy of novels depicting the rise of the Egyptian Patheon within a modern world. Carter and Sadi Kane, a pair of young magicians chosen as “hosts“ by the gods Horus and Isis, are being hunted by a house of light. The story is placed in the same universe as the Camp Half-Blood Chronicles, Magnus Chase, and The Gods of Asgard.

The books in the trilogy are

• The Red Pyramid (2010)
• The Throne of Fire (2011)
• The Serpent’s Shadow (2012)

Demigods and Magicians

The Demigods and Magicians is a trilogy of compilations of short stories and a crossover between the Camp Half-Blood Chronicles and The Kane Chronicles book series.

The Trials of Apollo

The god Apollo angered his father and king Zeus turned him into a mortal and sent him to camp Half-Blood to train, make new allies, and then return the hidden oracles. The books in order of publication are:

• The Hidden Oracle (2016)
• The Dark Prophecy (2017)
• The Burning Maze (2018)
• The Tyrant’s Tomb (2019)
• The Tower of Nero (2020)

Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard

Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard is a trilogy written by author Rick Riordan, greatly inspired by Norse mythology, is a trilogy following a demigod Magnus Chase, a homeless orphan from Boston. Magnus Chase is a son of a Vanir Norse god Frey and is a cousin of Annabeth Chase.

The Sword of Summer (2015)

Magnus Chase is contacted by a fire giant Surt and killed in battle as he wanted to retrieve “Sumarbrander“ (the Sword of Summer). He was brought to Valhalla by a Valkyrie where he met his allies and successfully ruined the giant’s plans of releasing Fenrir thus starting Ragnarok early.

The Hammer of Thor (2016)

Magnus Chase receives a quest from Otis, one of Thor’s goats to go and find the hammer of Thor Mjolnir, a quest he departs on in the company of his friends Samirah, Hearthstone, Blitzen, and Alex Fierro who’s a son of Loki.

The Ship of the Dead (2017)

The Ship of the Dead is the third and final book in the Magnus Chase and Gods of Asgard series. Magnus Chase has taken a task to find and capture Loki. Upon their return from the quest, Magnus Chase went back to Boston where he opened an orphanage.

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