Please, any spoilers pertaining to the books, please please please PLEASE put them in spoiler code. No one likes spoilers.

Like this:

Anyway, you know those people (pretty much everyone) who are head over heals for Harry Potter? Well I never got into Harry Potter, but instead I am in love with what I call the "Percy Jackson Series".

The books involving Percy Jackson are actually made up of 9 books so far, soon to be 10 next year. These books are broken up into 2 series, each containing 5 books. 

More about the Books. Minimal Spoilers:

Movies vs the Books... Major Spoilers:

Today, The House of Hades came out. I am currently reading it. 

I read the 1st set, I haven't read the 2nd set. I've seen both movies, can't wait for the next one to come out!

OMG!
I read Percy Jackson & the Olympians and I like, but the The heroes of Olympus I don't know if I like, because I'm afraid to be boring @@

Do it! I still have the last book and a half to read, but OMG... the feels ;__;

I own the first set of the books, but only two books from The Heroes of Olympus. I REALLY need to get back to it.

I really need to finish the last 2 books.

I finished the first series months ago and I am still a huge fan of it. I also kinda saw the movies, though I say kinda because it was on tv and I sometimes could not stay on the station to watch the story be mistold in such a horrible fashion. I mean, it is not impossible to have an adaptation change things from source material and still do well (ex. 90s Sailor Moon), but this was just bad.

As for heroes, I tried the first book and attempted to continue into the second but it didn't take. The fandom keeps me informed but I just didn't have the energy by then for a second series.

Anyways, I really love mythology, and these stories really helped me get my fill. Plus the characters and stories were just awesome. I highly recommend giving these a read.

They're making a third movie??

I read the first series a few years ago, at some point I had hard copies of those books too, but I seem to be unable to find them. I'm a huge fan of mythology, so these books totally play into my love of all that.

The movies were ok, imo the first was much better than the second, however I do understand that some stuff just doesn't translate will from a mental image with lots of description to a visual image.

Beryl Dark wrote:

They're making a third movie??

Where did you hear that?

Batgirl wrote:

I read the 1st set, I haven't read the 2nd set. I've seen both movies, can't wait for the next one to come out!

 This made me think they were making a third movie. I may have misunderstood.

Batgirl's response was from 2013 XD. I wonder if there was a rumour going around at the time? I haven't even heard of this series until now! I'll have to look into it! I like stuff with mythology worked in as well. It's part of what keeps me coming back to Sailor Moon~. I'll definitely go with the books after reading your thoughts. Are the sets standalone enough that I could read the second without having read the first one?

Diagnosed wrote:

Batgirl's response was from 2013 XD. I wonder if there was a rumour going around at the time? I haven't even heard of this series until now! I'll have to look into it! I like stuff with mythology worked in as well. It's part of what keeps me coming back to Sailor Moon~. I'll definitely go with the books after reading your thoughts. Are the sets standalone enough that I could read the second without having read the first one?

I'm not sure if a third film was planned. I didn't become a fan of the series until long after the last movie was released.

I'm so glad you're interested. If you like stuff with mythology, you certainly won't have to look far in this series (specifically for Greek mythology). I certainly learned a lot of myths that I did not even know about before reading it, and it was fun to figure them out for myself.

Unfortunately, these books do have an order to them, so you might miss a few details if you skip around. But I never felt like I dreaded having to get through one book to reach the other in rereads. I hope you have fun, should you choose to read them.

[[Note: Just as a reference, so you know the book order is: 1)The Lightning Thief, 2)Sea of Monsters, 3)The Titan's Curse, 4)Battle of the Labyrinth, and 5)The Last Olympian.]]

Diagnosed wrote:

Batgirl's response was from 2013 XD. I wonder if there was a rumour going around at the time? I haven't even heard of this series until now! I'll have to look into it! I like stuff with mythology worked in as well. It's part of what keeps me coming back to Sailor Moon~. I'll definitely go with the books after reading your thoughts. Are the sets standalone enough that I could read the second without having read the first one?

DO IT! You'll never regret it, they're really good the original series at least. and you'll never tire of reading them! In fact, I am rereading them right now!!!
The only downside is the continuity. While it has some little discontinuities here and there and the first ones even give an explanation of what happened in the previous one, it gets so bad that a MAJOR plot point of the second series has continuity with one of the COMPANION SHORT STORIES not gonna tell you which MWAHAHAHAHA of the original series, and you'll never completely understand it without reading them.

And if you are thinking of reading PJO&HOO, you should really consider reading their fledging sequel, Trials of Apollo, and their sister-series: The Kane Chronicles (about Egyptian Mythology) and Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard (duh). They share the same universe and Magnus Chase actually has an explicit continuity with the others so here is the recommended reading order:

1. Percy Jackson and the Olympians
   
   
   
   1. The Lighting Thief.
      
   2. The Sea of Monsters.
      
   3. The Titan's Curse.
      
   4. The Battle of the Labyrinth.
      
   5. The Last Olympian.
      
   
   
   
   
2. The Demigod Files, (companion stories, take place before/during/after Percy Jackson and the Olympians.)
   
   
   
3. The Heroes of Olympus
   
   
   
   1. The Lost Hero. 
      
   2. The Son of Neptune.
      
   3. The Mark of Athena.
      
   4. The House of Hades.
      
   5. The Blood of Olympus.
      
   
   
   
   
4. The Demigod Diaries (another collection of short stories, from The Heroes of Olympus)
   
   
   
5. The Kane Chronicles
   
   
   
   1. The Red Pyramid.
      
   2. The Throne of Fire.
      
   3. The Serpent's Shadow.
      
   
   
   
   
6. Demigods and Magicians (crossovers between the Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus and the The Kane Chronicles cast, canonically set after HOO)
   
   
   
   1. The Son of Sobek.
      
   2. The Staff of Serapis.
      
   3. The Crown of Ptolemy.
      
   
   
   
   
7. The Trials of Apollo and Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard (should be read together, as they happen simultaneously and reference each other)
   
   
   
   1. The Sword of Summer. (Magnus Chase)
      
   2. The Hidden Oracle (Trials)
      
   3. The Hammer of Thor. (Magnus Chase)
      
   4. The Dark Prophecy (Trials)
      
   5. The Ship of the Dead (Magnus Chase, final book)
      
   6. The Burning Maze (Trials, upcoming book)
      
   
   
   

Oh my lord, that's a huge list.

I'm aware of the series but I've been on the fence about it. I do love myth but I'm always a bit wary about people reinventing them into a modern context. I'll check it out myself.

chrissifniotis wrote:

Oh my lord, that's a huge list.

I'm aware of the series but I've been on the fence about it. I do love myth but I'm always a bit wary about people reinventing them into a modern context. I'll check it out myself.

I wouldn't let the number of books intimidate you. A few are just companion books for the continued universe. If you're really curious, you can just look at first book and see how you feel about it. I certainly think it is worth trying, once.

knowall7 wrote:

chrissifniotis wrote:

Oh my lord, that's a huge list.

I'm aware of the series but I've been on the fence about it. I do love myth but I'm always a bit wary about people reinventing them into a modern context. I'll check it out myself.

I wouldn't let the number of books intimidate you. A few are just companion books for the continued universe. If you're really curious, you can just look at first book and see how you feel about it. I certainly think it is worth trying, once.

Okay, that's good to know, thanks for that mate.

I love the Percy Jackson series! I never read the Kane Chronicles and I couldn't get into Magnus Chase, but Percy Jackson all the way! I have the first series and Heroes of Olympus series. Loved reading both and actually enjoyed Heroes of Olympus more. Maybe because the characters have matured and I enjoyed the crossover into Roman mythology and how the gods had like split personalities because of it. It was a cool concept!

But yeah, to anyone who has not read and loves mythology, it's a seriously fun read!

Meganekko wrote:

I love the Percy Jackson series! I never read the Kane Chronicles and I couldn't get into Magnus Chase, but Percy Jackson all the way! I have the first series and Heroes of Olympus series. Loved reading both and actually enjoyed Heroes of Olympus more. Maybe because the characters have matured and I enjoyed the crossover into Roman mythology and how the gods had like split personalities because of it. It was a cool concept!

But yeah, to anyone who has not read and loves mythology, it's a seriously fun read!

To each their own I guess... but seriously why not Magnus???? Why don't you love our Bi-king Prince of Sass????

I think the thing that hung me up most was that Magnus was related to Annabeth. That was a bit too much for me and I didn't like that two different mythologies were colliding because of it.

Another reason, I think I was just really burnt out on Rick's mythology franchise.

Maybe I'll try again when I actually have time to read. ^^;

Hmmph, I'll admit that it also deterred me for some time before starting to read them, but reloj, give it a chance. By the time their parentage becomes actually plot relevant instead of being addressed as a consequence of the actual plot, you'll already be hooked.

You have to admit there's a drop on quality on HOO, tho

@Sailor Triton
I don't know about the drop in quality of HOO, but it's been a few years since I read it last. I just remember really enjoying it. I liked the new characters introduced, especially Hazel. Frank was pretty cool too. I liked his story a lot. And Rick did a good job of combining the Roman and Chinese mythos.

I know that I found a lot of the technology references annoying because it definitely dates the books. They won't have that timelessness that other books do, but neither will the Percy Jackson series as he uses specific modern technology references in it, too.

But I think the reason I liked HOO so much was because it was cool to see the original characters older and more mature. That just appealed to me more.

/rambling