Cover 2006 Disney-Hyperion paperback edition of the first book in the series

(7) RICK RIORDAN –

PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS (2005 – PRESENT)

Yes – it’s another one of my entries that are better than Potter.

In my eyes, the Percy Jackson series has a similar core concept to that of Harry Potter – a magical world that exists in hidden masquerade within our own but I just like Percy Jackson better because it’s magical world is that of classical mythology.

I also prefer the ingenuity with which the Percy Jackson applies that core concept – such as that mythic geography moves with the human psyche, such that Mount Olympus has moved with the seat of western civilization to the United States or that the “Sea of Monsters” in the Odyssey has moved to the Caribbean (hence the Bermuda Triangle).

As for the series, it revolves around the titular protagonist Percy Jackson as a son of Poseidon and hence superpowered demigod facing a literal clash of the Titans in our contemporary world. It’s a nice personal touch that the idea for it started with Rick Riordan telling his son bedtime stories – and he adapted his son’s dyslexia and ADHD to traits of the protagonist (because the latter’s mind is hardwired for Greek rather than English).

RATING:

A-TIER (TOP TIER)