He was abandoned by his father because of an oath made by the Big Three (Zeus, Poseidon and Hades), the sons of Cronos, to not father any more children after World War II.
Set in the mid-2000s, the series follows the story of Perseus "Percy" Jackson, a boy who discovers he is a demigod son of Poseidon. It has been translated into multiple languages and published all over the world. The book was released in multiple versions, including hardcover, paperback and audio editions.
After it was released on 28 June 2005, it sold over 1.2 million copies. In 2004, the book was sold to Miramax Books for enough money for Riordan to quit his job and focus on writing. He gained their approval, and with their help, came up with the name of the book and created the way Percy's sword works. Leaving his manuscript with his agent and editor for review, Rick Riordan presented the book to a group of sixth, seventh, and eighth graders to read and critique. Haley suggested that he should turn that story into a book, and Riordan wrote the book over the next year despite being busy at that time. This led Riordan to create the fictional character of Percy Jackson and create the story of how he travels across the United States to recover Zeus's lightning bolt which was stolen and thought to be done so by Hades. When Rick Riordan ran out of myths, his son suggested that he would make up new stories using existing mythological characters and new ones. His son, Haley, had been studying Greek mythology in second grade and requested that his father tell him bedtime stories based on Greek myths. Riordan at the Texas Book Festival in November 2007, doing publicity for Book 4ĭevelopment for both The Lightning Thief and the Percy Jackson series commenced when Rick Riordan began telling bedtime stories for his son Haley Riordan, who had at the time been diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia.
A TV series based on the novels is in production for Disney+. An adaptation of the second book, titled Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, was released in 2013, also to mixed reviews. The first book was adapted into a film titled Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief in 2010, which was commercially successful, but received mixed reviews from critics and the audience. As of January 2022, the books have sold more than 180 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling book series of all time.
Five supplementary books, along with graphic novel versions of each book, have also been released. All the books were published in the United Kingdom by Penguin Books. The first three books were published in the United States by Miramax Books before it was folded into Hyperion Books, which published the following books. The novels are set in a world with the Greek gods in the 21st century, and follows the protagonist Percy Jackson, a young demigod who must prevent the Titans, led by Kronos (Cronus), from destroying the world. Percy Jackson & the Olympians is a pentalogy of fantasy novels written by American author Rick Riordan, and the first book series in the Camp Half-Blood Chronicles. Print ( hardcover and paperback), audiobook, e-book