Here's What You Need to Know (and Read) About Percy Jackson and the Olympians

With few confirmed Marvel, Star Wars, DC, or other tentpole projects on the horizon, one franchise is about to become the talk of the town: Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for almost 20 years, you’ve probably heard of Rick Riordan’s internationally bestselling children’s and YA series, which bring ancient Greek myths into the modern world. After two disastrous attempts to adapt the books for the big screen, a fan favorite stage musical adaptation, ongoing graphic novel adaptations, sequel and spin-off series, and Riordan’s publishing imprint that allows other authors to adapt their cultures’ legends, myths, and stories for kids, the original beloved novels are finally getting the big-time adaptation they deserve.

While Disney’s publishing arm has always been the books’ publisher, 20th Century Fox, which was behind the ignominious big-screen adaptation, had the film rights. The studio’s choice not to continue adapting the series for film meant future attempts were mostly dead in the water, until Disney’s acquisition of Fox. While his previous experience with Hollywood making those films was, to put it lightly, a nightmare, Riordan and his wife Becky took this, and the recent success of big budget fantasy streaming series, as the opportunity to try again. Thanks to Riordan reminding executives that the House of Mouse had published the books from the start, Disney+’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians is now almost here, premiering December 20th with two episodes.

Much like the author, fans have been petrified if it’ll work this time around. But the Riordans’ extensive involvement behind the scenes, the impressive resume of the creative team (like the production designer from the Lord of the Rings films, Dan Hennah), and perfect casting, have many feeling optimistic. Based on what we’ve seen so far, Percy Jackson and the Olympians is one of the best live-action adaptations of a fantasy novel series to date. Following in the footsteps of recent critically acclaimed adaptations like His Dark Materials and The Wheel of Time, the show strikes the perfect balance between a close, faithful adaptation of the text, while expanding unexplored areas of the source material and even fixing some of its most glaring issues.

The setup is simple: Percy Jackson (played in the series by Walker Scobell), who struggles in school due to learning disabilities and a rough home life, learns his issues are because he is a Greek demigod, and his brain is wired differently than others to help him survive the monsters that wish to kill him just for existing. There are many kids’ books about a Chosen One discovering they are special and entering a magical world. But Rick Riordan created this story to help his son, who was struggling with ADHD and dyslexia. He wanted to show that any kid could be a hero, and what made them different didn’t have to be cured, nor detract from their strength.

Instead of leaving for a magical world once he discovers he is special, Percy has to deal with the magical world of myths on top of being a “troubled” kid in the modern world. This leads to many scary, poignant, and often funny moments where the mythical intertwines with the mundane, through the eyes of a snarky but lovable kid. (The original books are told from Percy’s first person POV).

For an incredibly funny series, it’s also quite dark. Almost every demigod Percy meets, including his best friend Annabeth Chase (Leah Sava Jeffries in the show), has a traumatic past, and being a demigod is portrayed as an unenviable curse that many children do not survive. Despite being for children, Riordan’s books capture the brutality of ancient Greek myths, where there are heavy prices to be paid, and being a hero is not all it’s cracked up to be. It’s no wonder many kids (and older readers) of various marginalized identities, growing up in an increasingly scary world, took to the books so readily.

While there’s a level of nostalgia for many going into the Disney+ series, what is there for those who haven’t read the books, aren’t a kid anymore, or don’t know much about Greek mythology? What makes this show so good so far is that it justifies the adaptation, translating the story for the medium of television. Viewers meeting Percy for the first time will feel the magic the same way so many did as children.

This is in no small part due to the mantra oft-repeated by the producers, cast, and crew when asked about how they approached the project. In a recent press conference attended by Primetimer, costume designer Tish Monaghan said the producers and director told her, “when in doubt, go to the book.”

Showrunner Jon Steinberg, known for his work on the critically acclaimed Black Sails, said the team’s approach was built on being “extremely respectful” yet also “not afraid” of the source material, and this is evident in the finished product. He stressed that having the Riordans on board enabled this “constant balancing act.” Executive producer Dan Shotz explained that because Rick Riordan wrote these books almost 20 years ago, he now has a healthy distance from them, so he brought his own ideas for how to “explore different themes and ideas, and dig deeper into all of it.”

Without giving anything away, the show emphasizes one of the books’ most important, enduring themes, making its thesis clear from the jump without being heavy-handed. As Percy discovers more about how Greek gods and monsters have integrated into modern society, he uncovers an unjust system of arbitrary rules meant to benefit only the most powerful few (sound familiar?).

Many fantasy series suffer from a “boring hero problem,” but Percy is almost universally beloved because he is loyal, funny, and most importantly, willing to question institutional injustice. He’s not just a rebel because it’s fun, but because he has been taught by his mother, the MVP of fictional moms, Sally Jackson (now played by Virginia Kull), that to be kind is to be compassionate about others, and to question what you are told. Even as he is chased by monsters he didn’t think were real a week ago, his mother reminds him to always think about who the real monsters are.

In the books, which are told from Percy’s POV, his reactions to the world’s injustices often come up in his thoughts and narration. But since the show isn’t told from Percy’s perspective, it has to make these elements clear in other ways. It does this by centering Percy’s close relationship with his mother, despite being busy fighting monsters and trying to complete a quest in less than a week.

While there are a lot of wonderful genre offerings in TV and movies right now, all of the big budgets and complex lore often leave viewers to wonder why a story is being told. Every story doesn’t need a “point” to be worth watching, and no one wants to be spoon-fed a morality play, but Disney+’s adaptation of PJO is a wonderful reminder of why fantasy remains so compelling. Genre stories like fantasy, sci-fi, and horror, use the fantastical to reflect the human experience back at us. It’s refreshing to watch a well-crafted, fun, and poignant work of fantasy that has something to say other than “make sure you watch the sequel.”

You can totally go into this streaming series knowing nothing at all, but it’s not hard to join longtime readers. The first season will only be covering the first book of the original series, so if you want to have a bit of advanced knowledge, you could just read that before starting. The original series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, is written for middle-grade audiences, so the books are very short and easy to get through (but appealing truly to all ages!). Some elements of the wider world-building and even the second book are incorporated in interesting ways in the first season, so you may want to read the whole original series to be sure.

Percy and his Greek demigod friends’ stories at Camp Half-Blood consist of three main series of five books each: Percy Jackson and the Olympians (PJO), The Heroes of Olympus (HOO), and The Trials of Apollo (TOA), with several ancillary novels, short stories, and a new additional trilogy (let’s call it “New PJO”) which just started.

The two spin-off trilogies, The Kane Chronicles and Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, occur in the same universe and at the same time as the Greek demigods’ series. They do cross over, significantly in some places, but you can read them at the end if you wish. We’ve arranged them in a recommended order here just in case you want to dive headfirst into it all, though. (For example, the Kane Chronicles are set in the same time as and were released alongside Heroes of Olympus; ditto Magnus Chase and The Trials of Apollo.)

The original series, PJO, is firmly for a middle-grade audience, both in voice and length. The second two are more young adult, as Percy and his friends grow up, in both content and POV. The two spin-offs straddle the line between the two, and the final novel chronologically, The Sun and the Star, is firmly young adult as well. You will also notice changes in cultural sensitivity over time as the author received feedback from fans and the publishing industry evolved. Some things age well, some things don’t, and some things create anticipation for how they will be improved upon with the expanded input of a writers’ room.

So grab your Libby and Hoopla apps, and let’s get started (these books are VERY popular, so if your library provides Hoopla, it may be the best option to reduce wait times):

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

The Lightning Thief
The Sea of Monsters
The Titan’s Curse
The Battle of the Labyrinth
The Demigod Files (short story collection)
The Last Olympian
Percy Jackson and the Singer of Apollo (short story)

The Heroes of Olympus

The Lost Hero
The Son of Neptune
The Demigod Diaries (short story collection)
The Mark of Athena
The House of Hades
The Blood of Olympus
Camp Jupiter Classified (short story)

The Kane Chronicles

The Red Pyramid
The Throne of Fire
The Serpent’s Shadow
Brooklyn House Magician’s Manual (short story)

PJO/Kane Chronicles Crossover Short Stories

(Collected in Demigods & Magicians in print, but available separately on Libby/Hoopla)

The Son of Sobek
The Staff of Serapis
The Crown of Ptolemy

“New” PJO

(While these are technically a part of the original PJO series, they’re placed here chronologically for reasons you’ll see once you read them.)

The Chalice of the Gods
Wrath of the Triple Goddess (coming soon)

The Trials of Apollo

The Hidden Oracle
Camp Half-Blood Confidential (short story)
The Dark Prophecy
The Burning Maze
The Tyrant’s Tomb
The Tower of Nero

Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard

The Sword of Summer
Hotel Valhalla: Guide to the Norse Worlds (short story)
The Hammer of Thor
The Ship of the Dead
9 From the Nine Worlds (short story collection)

The Sun and The Star: A Nico di Angelo Adventure

This is a standalone—yet extremely necessary—novel about an important character throughout all three main series. It must be read at the end, though, because it includes discussion of events from all of them. It can be read before the two spin-offs if you’re holding those for later, though.

While this may seem like a lot, they are books for younger readers, so they go far faster than you realize — and have the added benefit of being real pageturners, so you feel like you can’t put them down! Whether you choose to go into the Disney+ series without background, just read the first book or series, or dive headfirst into the entire Riordanverse, it’s never too late to enter Camp Half-Blood for the first time. Let’s hope Disney realizes this as well and greenlights further seasons before these child actors grow up too fast, because in a world of superhero fatigue and endless reboots, Percy Jackson and the Olympians is a breath of fresh air.

Klaudia Amenábar is a media critic who co-hosts RuPalp's Podrace: A Queer Star Wars Podcast, and the Mystery Spotcast: A Supernatural Rewatch. She has appeared on NPR, the Mary Sue, io9, Comics Beat, and more.