Richard Russell Riordan Jr. ( ; born June 5, 1964) is an American author, best known for writing the ''

Percy Jackson & the Olympians ''Percy Jackson & the Olympians'' is a fantasy novel series by American author Rick Riordan. The first book series in his ''Camp Half-Blood Chronicles'', the novels are set in a world with the Greek gods in the 21st century. The series foll ...

'' series. Riordan's books have been translated into forty-two languages and sold more than thirty million copies in the United States.

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

adapted the first two books of his ''Percy Jackson'' series as part of a series of films in which Riordan was not involved. Riordan currently serves as a co-creator and executive producer on the television series adaption of the book series that was released on

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

in 2023 and for which he won two

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

. Riordan's books have also spawned other related media, such as graphic novels and short story collections. Riordan's first full-length novel was '' Big Red Tequila'', which became the first book in the ''Tres Navarre'' series. His big breakthrough was '' The Lightning Thief'' (2005), the first novel in the five-volume ''Percy Jackson and the Olympians'' series, which placed a group of modern-day adolescents in a Greco- Roman mythological setting. Since then, Riordan has written '' The Heroes of Olympus'', a sequel to the ''Percy Jackson'' series; ''

The Kane Chronicles ''The Kane Chronicles'' is a trilogy of adventure novels based on Egyptian mythology written by American author Rick Riordan. The series is set in the same universe as Riordan's other franchises, ''Camp Half-Blood Chronicles'' and ''Magnus Chase ...

'', a trilogy of similar premise focusing on

Egyptian mythology Egyptian mythology is the collection of myths from ancient Egypt, which describe the actions of the Egyptian pantheon, Egyptian gods as a means of understanding the world around them. The beliefs that these myths express are an important part ...

; and '' Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard'', again a trilogy of similar premise focusing on

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...

. Riordan also helped

Scholastic Press Scholastic Corporation is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, teachers, parents, children, and other educational institutions. P ...

develop '' The 39 Clues'' series and its spinoffs, and penned its first book, '' The Maze of Bones''. In 2021, he published '' Daughter of the Deep''. His third standalone novel, '' The Sun and the Star'', co-written with author Mark Oshiro, was published on May 2, 2023.

Life and career

Riordan was born and raised in

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

, Texas. He graduated from Alamo Heights High School, and first attended the music program at

North Texas State University The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public university, public research university located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its main campus is in Denton, Texas, Denton, with a satellite campus in Frisco, Texas, Frisco. It serves as the ...

, wanting to be a guitarist. He transferred to the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

and studied English and History. He received his teaching certification in those subjects from the

University of Texas at San Antonio The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA or UT San Antonio) is a Public university, public research university in San Antonio, Texas, United States. Established in 1969,Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

in June 2013, in conjunction with older son Haley starting college in Boston."Update from Athena House"
. June 12, 2013. ''Myth & Mystery: The official blog for author Rick Riordan'' (rickriordan.blogspot.com). Retrieved November 14, 2015. Riordan has created several successful book series. ''Tres Navarre'', an adult mystery series about a Texas private eye, won the Shamus, Anthony, and

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America which is based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards hon ...

s. He conceived the idea for the ''Percy Jackson'' series as bedtime stories about ancient Greek heroes for his son Haley. Haley had been diagnosed with

ADHD Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity, and emotional dysregulation that are excessive and pervasive, impairing in multiple ...

and

dyslexia Dyslexia (), previously known as word blindness, is a learning disability that affects either reading or writing. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, wri ...

, inspiring Riordan to make the titular protagonist hyperactive and dyslexic. Riordan published the first novel in the series, '' The Lightning Thief'', in 2005. Four sequels followed, with the last, '' The Last Olympian'', in 2009. Prior to ''Percy Jackson'', Riordan had written the ''Tres Navarres'' series, a series of mystery novels for adult readers. His ''

'' series features the titular twelve-year-old who discovers he is the modern-day son of the

ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

god

Poseidon Poseidon (; ) is one of the twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and mythology, presiding over the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 He was the protector of seafarers and the guardian of many Hellenic cit ...

purchased the film rights and released two feature film adaptations between 2010 and 2013. Following the success of ''Percy Jackson'', Riordan created ''

'', which features a modern-day

Egyptian pantheon Ancient Egyptian deities are the God (male deity), gods and goddesses worshipped in ancient Egypt. The beliefs and rituals surrounding these gods formed the core of ancient Egyptian religion, which emerged sometime in prehistoric Egypt, prehist ...

and two new sibling protagonists, Sadie and Carter Kane. Riordan also created a sequel series to Percy Jackson, '' The Heroes of Olympus''. Riordan also helped create the children's book series '' The 39 Clues''. He authored several of its books, including '' The Maze of Bones'', which topped ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list on September 28, 2008. He also wrote the introduction to the

Puffin Puffins are any of three species of small alcids (auks) in the bird genus ''Fratercula''. These are pelagic seabirds that feed primarily by diving in the water. They breed in large colonies on coastal cliffs or offshore islands, nesting in crev ...

Classics edition of Roger Lancelyn Green's ''Tales of the Greek Heroes'', in which he states that the book influenced him to write his Greek mythology series. In 2022, Riordan co-wrote the pilot for the '' Percy Jackson and the Olympians'' series on

and is serving as an executive producer for the show. Disney had earlier acquired Fox in 2019, allowing it to gain the rights to adapt the ''Percy Jackson'' novels. Riordan won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

as an executive producer when the show's first season won Outstanding Young Teen Series, and a second Emmy as a writer when the pilot episode won Outstanding Writing for a Young Teen Program at the 3rd Children's and Family Emmy Awards.

Mythology

Riordan's works of children's literature center around an adaptation of

mythology Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

for modern readers and for children. He has used

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

Egyptian ''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...

, and Norse and combinations thereof in a total of five separate novel series. The mythology used in his works possesses elements unique to his series, but has a largely historical basis. Some of its characteristics include an emphasis on human-divine interaction and a preference for anglicized names. Examples include: *

Greco-Roman mythology Classical mythology, also known as Greco-Roman mythology or Greek and Roman mythology, is the collective body and study of myths from the ancient Greeks and ancient Romans. Mythology, along with philosophy and political thought, is one of the ...

: ''

Camp Half-Blood Chronicles ''Camp Half-Blood Chronicles'' is a media franchise created by author Rick Riordan, encompassing three five-part novel series, two short-story collections, two myth anthology books, a stand-alone short story, three crossover short stories, an es ...

'' ** ''

'' ** '' The Heroes of Olympus'' ** ''

The Trials of Apollo ''The Trials of Apollo'' is a pentalogy of fantasy adventure and mythological fiction novels written by American author Rick Riordan that collectively form a sequel to the '' Heroes of Olympus'' series. It is set in the same world as Riordan's ...

'' *

: ''

'' *

: '' Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard'' *

Greek Mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

: '' The Sun and the Star'' Riordan's sources for the mythology used in his books are surmised from isolated comments on the subject during various interviews, as he has never released a list of any kind. These sources begin with the myths and the derivations thereof that he was exposed to as a child. Unnamed "novels on

", suggested to him by a teacher who noticed his interest in ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...

'', were his first introduction to mythology and continue to influence his writing today. The author also claims to have read such notable classics as '' The Iliad'' and ''

The Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...

'', and to use his "general knowledge" of a given mythology as a basis for his stories. As far as

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

is concerned, Riordan has stated that ''Tales of the Greek Heroes'' by

Roger Lancelyn Green Roger Gilbert Lancelyn Green (2 November 1918 – 8 October 1987) was a British biographer and children's writer. He was an Oxford academic. He had a positive influence on his friend, C.S. Lewis, by encouraging him to publish ''The Lion, the ...

—called by its author a "retelling of the Greek myths... based on multitudinous sources"—was one of his first introductions to that type of myth, and is in part responsible for his decision to interpret myths in his own books. Finally, Riordan has stated that he uses modern sources such as The Theoi Project for

fact-checking Fact-checking is the process of verifying the factual accuracy of questioned reporting and statements. Fact-checking can be conducted before or after the text or content is published or otherwise disseminated. Internal fact-checking is such che ...

purposes, as needed. None of his novels include a list of references. '' Percy Jackson's Greek Gods'' and '' Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes'' alone possess "Background Reading" sections, listing novels such as Robert Fagles's translation of ''

The Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; or ) is a Latin epic poem that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who fled the fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. Written by the Roman poet Virgil between 29 and ...

'' and

web site A website (also written as a web site) is any web page whose content is identified by a common domain name and is published on at least one web server. Websites are typically dedicated to a particular topic or purpose, such as news, education, ...

s such as the Encyclopedia Mythica.

Awards

Since 2020 till 2025, Rick Riordan has been the Goodreads Choice Award champion, having surpassed

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

in 2020. Riordan was the recipient of the Goodreads Choice Award in Middle Grade and Children's category every year from 2011 till 2021, collecting 11 awards so far.

Publications

''Percy Jackson & the Olympians''

Original Series

# '' The Lightning Thief'' (2005) # '' The Sea of Monsters'' (2006) # '' The Titan's Curse'' (2007) # '' The Battle of the Labyrinth'' (2008) # '' The Last Olympian'' (2009)

The Senior Year Adventures

# '' The Chalice of the Gods'' (2023) # '' Wrath of the Triple Goddess'' (2024)

Related books

# '' The Demigod Files'' (2009) # '' The Ultimate Guide'' (2010, in collaboration with Antonio Caparo, Philip Chidlow, and Keven Hays) # ''Percy Jackson and the Singer of Apollo'' (2013; short story published in Guys Read) # '' Percy Jackson's Greek Gods'' (2014, illustrations by John Rocco) # '' Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes'' (2015, illustrations by John Rocco) # ''The Percy Jackson Coloring Book'' (2017, artwork by Keith Robinson) # ''The Lightning Thief: Illustrated Edition'' (August 14, 2018, illustrated by John Rocco)

''The Heroes of Olympus''

# '' The Lost Hero'' (2010) # '' The Son of Neptune'' (2011) # '' The Mark of Athena'' (2012) # '' The House of Hades'' (2013) # '' The Blood of Olympus'' (2014)

Related books

# '' The Demigod Diaries'' (2012) # ''Demigods of Olympus'' (2015, interactive e-book)

''The Kane Chronicles''

# ''

The Red Pyramid ''The Red Pyramid'' is a 2010 Fantasy literature, fantasy-adventure novel based on Egyptian mythology written by Rick Riordan. It is the first novel in ''The Kane Chronicles'' series. The novel was first published in the United States on May 4 ...

'' (2010) # '' The Throne of Fire'' (2011) # '' The Serpent's Shadow'' (2012)

Related books

# ''Survival Guide'' (2012) # ''Brooklyn House Magician's Manual'' (2018)

''Demigods and Magicians''

Published individually first, then as an anthology titled ''Demigods and Magicians'' in 2016. # ''

The Son of Sobek The Son of Sobek is a 2013 fantasy short story written by Rick Riordan, first released in the paperback version of ''The Serpent's Shadow (Riordan novel), The Serpent's Shadow'' on May 7, 2013 and as a single e-book on June 18, 2013. On April 5 ...

'' (2013) # ''

The Staff of Serapis ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'' (2014) # ''

The Crown of Ptolemy The Crown of Ptolemy is the third and last book in the '' Percy Jackson and the Olympians'' and ''The Kane Chronicles'' crossover series. It was released in the back of the paperback version of '' The House of Hades'' on March 31, 2015, and later ...

'' (2015)

''Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard''

# '' The Sword of Summer'' (2015) # '' The Hammer of Thor'' (2016) # '' The Ship of the Dead'' (2017)

Related books

# '' Hotel Valhalla: Guide to the Norse Worlds'' (2016) # ''The Magnus Chase Coloring Book'' (August 14, 2018, artwork by Keith Robinson) # ''9 from the Nine Worlds'' (October 2, 2018)

''The Trials of Apollo''

# '' The Hidden Oracle'' (2016) # '' The Dark Prophecy'' (2017) # '' The Burning Maze'' (2018) # ''

The Tyrant's Tomb ''The Tyrant's Tomb'' is an American fantasy novel based on Greek and Roman mythology written by American author Rick Riordan. It was first published on September 24, 2019, and is the fourth book in ''The Trials of Apollo'' series, the second ...

'' (2019) # '' The Tower of Nero'' (2020)

Related books

# ''Camp Half-Blood Confidential'' (2017) # ''Camp Jupiter Classified'' (2020)

''Nico DiAngelo Adventures'' (in collaboration with Mark Oshiro)

* '' The Sun and the Star'' (2023) * ''The Court of the Dead'' (2025)

''Tres Navarre''

# '' Big Red Tequila'' (1997) # ''The Widower's Two-Step'' (1998) # ''The Last King of Texas'' (2001) # ''The Devil Went Down to Austin'' (2002) # ''Southtown'' (2004) # ''Mission Road'' (2005) # ''Rebel Island'' (2008)

''The 39 Clues''

# '' The Maze of Bones'' (2008) # ''Introduction to The 39 Clues: The Black Book of Buried Secrets'' (2010) # '' Vespers Rising'' (2011, in collaboration with Peter Lerangis, Gordon Korman, and

Jude Watson Judy Blundell, pseudonym Jude Watson, is an American author of books for middle grade, young adult, and adult readers. She won the annual National Book Award for Young People's Literature in 2008 for the young adult fiction, young adult novel ''Wh ...

)

Graphic novels

''Percy Jackson & the Olympians''

# ''The Lightning Thief Graphic Novel'' (2010, in collaboration with Robert Venditti, Nate Powell, and Jose Villarrubia) # ''The Sea of Monsters Graphic Novel'' (2013, in collaboration with Robert Venditti, Attila Futaki, and Tamas Gaspar) # ''The Titan's Curse Graphic Novel'' (2013, in collaboration with Robert Venditti, Attila Futaki, and Gregory Guilhaumond) # ''The Battle of Labyrinth Graphic Novel'' (2018, in collaboration with Robert Venditti, Orpheus Collar and Antoine Dode) # ''The Last Olympian Graphic Novel'' (2019, in collaboration with Robert Venditti, Orpheus Collar and Antoine Dode)

''The Kane Chronicles''

# ''The Red Pyramid Graphic Novel'' (2012, adapted by Orpheus Collar) # ''The Throne of Fire Graphic Novel'' (2015, adapted by Orpheus Collar) # ''The Serpent's Shadow Graphic Novel'' (2017, adapted by Orpheus Collar)

''The Heroes of Olympus''

# ''The Lost Hero Graphic Novel'' (2014, in collaboration with Robert Venditti, Nate Powell, and Orpheus Collar) # ''The Son of Neptune Graphic Novel'' (2017, in collaboration with Robert Venditti, Antoine Dode, and Orpheus Collar)

Standalone novels

* ''Cold Springs'' (2004) * '' Daughter of the Deep'' (2021)

Other

* Introduction to the anthology ''Tales of the Greek Heroes'',

(2009) * Introduction to the essay collection '' Demigods and Monsters'' (2009, 2013)

Rick Riordan Presents

In September 2016,

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

- Hyperion announced a new Rick Riordan imprint. The imprint is called " Rick Riordan Presents" and was launched in March 2018. It is headed by Riordan's editor, Stephanie Owens Lurie. Lurie said that Riordan had been approached about an imprint several years ago but initially dismissed the idea because of his heavy workload. Later, he reported back that he had been "toying with the idea" and was "willing to go forward with a publishing line that was not a brand extension for his own work but a platform for Riordan to bring other great writers to the attention of his vast and loyal audience." She also said that the imprint planned to launch with two then-undetermined books. "The point of making this announcement now is to get the word out about what we're looking for." The imprint does not publish books written by Riordan, "whose role scloser to curator." In an interview with the ''Iowa Gazette'', Riordan said, "Instead of me writing all of the mythologies we are going to look for authors who already are writing about that stuff. If I feel like I can recommend them o my readers... we're going to have them out here in the spotlight." A focus will be placed on "diverse, mythology-based fiction by new, emerging, and under-represented authors". Lurie expressed hopes that the imprint would help satisfy Riordan fans without asking the author to write more than his usual two books a year.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Riordan, Rick 1964 births Alamo Heights High School alumni American fantasy writers Living people Writers from San Antonio University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts alumni Anthony Award winners Shamus Award winners 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American mystery novelists American male novelists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Stonewall Book Award winners

Life and career

Mythology

Awards

Publications

''Percy Jackson & the Olympians''

Original Series

The Senior Year Adventures

Related books

''The Heroes of Olympus''

Related books

''The Kane Chronicles''

Related books

''Demigods and Magicians''

''Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard''

Related books

''The Trials of Apollo''

Related books

''Nico DiAngelo Adventures'' (in collaboration with Mark Oshiro)

''Tres Navarre''

''The 39 Clues''

Graphic novels

''Percy Jackson & the Olympians''

''The Kane Chronicles''

''The Heroes of Olympus''

Standalone novels

Other

Rick Riordan Presents

References

Further reading

External links