#Each Rick Riordan e book collection, ranked – Destructoid

For those who went to center college within the mid-2000s or know a child who goes to center college, you most likely know the title Rick Riordan. One of the prolific fantasy authors of our time, Riordan has written dozens of addictive books, and he’s displaying no indicators of slowing down.

I can’t consider a author who’s modified my life greater than Rick Riordan. Percy Jackson and the Olympians got here out across the time I began studying severely as a interest, and I’ve saved myself caught up on his work ever since. There’s one thing magical about Riordan’s prose, a cost coursing via each phrase that magnetizes my eyes to the web page each time I open one in every of his books.

Riordan has written many books all through his profession, and I’d argue all of them are among the many better of their respective genres. Nonetheless, it wouldn’t be a rating record if all of them had been of equal high quality, would it not?

It’s “Rick Riordan Presents,” NOT “Rick Riordan Writes”

Earlier than we dig into the meat of issues, I need to make clear a spot of confusion that pops up usually in discussions about Rick Riordan and his physique of labor. In 2016, Riordan launched a novel publishing imprint known as “Rick Riordan Presents.” Created in direct response to followers of the creator’s need to see YA books primarily based on numerous world mythologies, Rick Riordan Presents scouts out writers from underrepresented cultural heritages, enabling them to offer their historical past and folklore the “city fantasy glow-up therapy” Riordan’s already given Greco-Roman, Egyptian, and Norse mythology.

Riordan edited and promoted each standalone e book and collection revealed beneath the Rick Riordan Presents label, however he wasn’t their creator. These tales are improbable in their very own proper, and I’d suggest them to any fan of the “trendy mythology” sub-genre Riordan helped prop up.

6. Tres Navarre

Earlier than he set the world of YA literature ablaze, Riordan honed his authorial abilities by writing Tres Navarre, a collection of neo-noir novels set in his house state of Texas. Jackson “Tres” Navarre, an unlicensed non-public investigator and Tai Chi fanatic, solves mysteries that spring up throughout San Antonio, encountering a litany of colourful characters and nefarious ne’er-do-wells alongside the way in which.

Studying the Tres Navarre collection was a surreal journey for me. There are not any fantastical parts right here: these books are concerning the horrible crimes that may unfold on the gritty streets and dusty plains of the Lone Star State. That mentioned, there are glimmers of the creator Riordan would grow to be hidden all through Tres Navarre‘s pages. The titular detective is an apparent prototype of the snarky, ungovernable protagonists that headline Riordan’s later collection, and although the humor’s darker than what you is perhaps used to, these books are nonetheless hilarious.

5. The Trials of Apollo

The third and closing (for now, a minimum of) installment in Riordan’s career-defining Camp Half-Blood Chronicles, The Trials of Apollo collection can also be the one one within the franchise that doesn’t comply with a demigod. As a substitute, our protagonist is Apollo, the god of archery, artwork, therapeutic, and prophecy. Forged down from Olympus after a collection of world-imperiling slip-ups, Apollo should earn his god-hood again by defending 5 oracles from Triumvirate Holdings, a multinational company headed by three of Rome’s worst emperors.

ToA has many good issues going for it. Riordan takes full benefit of the large solid he’s constructed up over a decade of storytelling right here. He pushes established characters in new and thrilling instructions whereas introducing memorable new faces to his already-expansive roster.

Sadly, as enjoyable as ToA is, it’s held again by an unescapable air of franchise fatigue. Barring one jaw-dropping twist within the third e book, ToA performs it fairly protected, which is a giant disappointment. I nonetheless keep in mind all of the difficult however thrilling turns the earlier Camp Half-Blood Chronicles collection took, and it’s disappointing that ToA by no means lets itself take related dangers.

4. The Kane Chronicles

Written lower than a 12 months after he wrapped Percy Jackson and the Olympians (for the primary time), The Kane Chronicles proved Riordan wasn’t a one-trick pony. When their estranged Egyptologist father disappears after a wierd incident on the British Museum, Carter and Sadie Kane uncover their household’s connection to a hidden world of magic, sorcerers, and gods of the Nile.

Somewhat than repeating the sample he set with Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Riordan does one thing fully new with the characters and the key magic world of TKC. The Egyptian gods don’t affect the world via their half-mortal youngsters just like the Greek Gods of PJO; they act via magicians skilled in magical faculties. As a substitute of 1 smart-mouthed protagonist writing his ideas in a journal, we’ve got two inscribing their adventures as audio information (associated not: the audiobook variations of Riordan’s books are all improbable).

Whereas the pacing feels rushed after the primary e book, TKC is a enjoyable romp from cowl to cowl with well-rounded characters, artistic makes use of of magic, and even a blatant exploration of the unfairness bi-racial youngsters face all too usually.

3. The Heroes of Olympus

Percy Jackson and the Olympians inform a satisfying story about Greek mythology’s most iconic deities and creatures. Nonetheless, it solely scratches the floor of the tradition’s large solid of characters. The Heroes of Olympus, a direct sequel to PJO, dives even deeper into that mythos, and it’s all the higher for it.

Following a bunch of demigods tied collectively by a prophecy foretelling the tip of the world, HoO expands the scope of PJO’s world to astronomical proportions. Camp Jupiter, a second demigod camp inhabited by the youngsters and descendants of the Greek Gods’ Roman features, is launched, and with it comes a number of enthralling new characters, lots of whom have gone on to grow to be fan favorites.

All the things feels massive in HoO; the gods are extra awe-inspiring, the chances towards our heroes preserve escalating, and their journey stretches far past the borders of the continental United States. With that mentioned, issues get messy by the ultimate e book, with too many ongoing plotlines getting wrapped up earlier than they attain their full potential. Regardless of that, HoA saved the Percy Jackson title alive, triaging a lot of the harm twentieth Century Fox’s disastrous and in the end aborted movie collection did to the franchise’s status.

2. Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard

With tales concerning the Greeco-Roman and Egyptian pantheons beneath his belt, Riordan tackled Marvel’s favourite classical mythology with Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard. We comply with Magnus Chase, estranged cousin of Percy Jackson’s friend-turned-girlfriend Annabeth, who discovers he’s the son of a Norse god after he dies and ascends to Valhalla.

MCGA is noticeably extra mature than most of Riordan’s different collection. The books use the gods and monsters of Scandinavian fantasy to discover difficult themes like homelessness, ableism, islamophobia, and anti-LBGTQ rhetoric. Fortunately, the collection doesn’t ditch the attraction that defines different Riordanverse installments. Magnus is a improbable protagonist, armed with the identical razor-sharp wit we’ve come to anticipate from Rirodan’s leads.

For those who’re a fan of Norse mythology, you’ll have a good time with MCGA. Simply be able to brace your self when the heavy moments fall like Mjolnir on a large’s cranium.

1. Percy Jackson and the Olympians

What would occur if the gods of Greek mythology had been actual and so they by no means stopped having youngsters with mortals? That’s the query on the core of Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Percy Jackson is a troubled boy with ADHD and dyslexia, and even he’s betting towards his odds of residing a very good life. That’s till he discovers he’s the son of Poseidon and the gods of Olympus’ final hope to win a struggle towards the vengeful Titans they overthrew millennia in the past.

Riordan weaves one of the partaking fantasy worlds I’ve ever encountered, placing a enjoyable twist on the gods and monsters of Greek mythology whereas introducing some distinctive concepts into the combo. Regardless of that, the true coronary heart of the collection lies in its protagonist.

Percy Jackson is among the most inspiring YA heroes ever written. His coming-of-age is a robust exploration of the struggles neurodivergent youth face, and seeing him rise to the event and show his price as a hero and an individual by no means loses its luster. Realizing that Percy was impressed by Riordan’s son makes it much more touching.