Rick Riordan

• Born: June 5, 1964
• Place of Birth: San Antonio, Texas

Biography

Rick Riordan is an American fiction author for middle-grade and young adult readers. His best-known work is the series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, which follows the adventures of the eponymous Percy, a seemingly ordinary boy who learns that he is the son of Poseidon and, thus, a demigod. In addition to that best-selling series, Riordan is the author of several further series that draw from ancient mythology and several companion books. He has also published a series of mystery novels for adults.

Richard Russell Riordan was born in San Antonio, Texas, on June 5, 1964. His parents, Rick and Lyn, were teachers who divorced when Riordan was still young. As a child, Riordan disliked reading and was especially bored by the books he was assigned to read in school. His outlook changed, however, when he discovered fantasy literature in middle school, becoming a devoted fan of J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. He developed a strong interest in mythology thanks to his eighth-grade English teacher, who encouraged him to write and submit stories for publication.

After high school, Riordan enrolled in North Texas State University to study guitar. He later transferred to the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied English and history. During the summers, he worked at a camp that would later inspire Camp Half-Blood, one of the key settings of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. After obtaining his teaching certification at the University of Texas in San Antonio, Riordan found work as a middle school English teacher. He taught in Texas and California for fifteen years before quitting teaching and writing full-time.

While working as a teacher, Riordan published his first novel, Big Red Tequila, in 1997. The novel became the first of seven mystery novels featuring private detective Tres Navarre. He began working on The Lighting Thief (2005), the first novel in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, early in the next decade. The novel originated as a story he told his eldest son, to whom he had previously told versions of numerous Greek myths as bedtime stories. The character of Percy was inspired in part by Riordan's son, who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as well as dyslexia; Percy struggles with both, but he learns that they are, in fact, the result of his demigod heritage. Published in 2005, the novel proved very successful. It led to the publication of five additional books in the series by 2009, as well as several companion books, including The Demigod Files (2009) and Percy Jackson's Greek Gods (2014). The Lightning Thief and the second installment in the series, The Sea of Monsters (2006), were adapted into films in 2010 and 2013, respectively.

Following the success of that series, Riordan began writing the Heroes of Olympus series (2010–14), set in the same world. Diversifying his novels' mythological backgrounds, he also published the Egyptian myth–based Kane Chronicles, beginning with The Red Pyramid (2010), and the Norse myth–inspired Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series, beginning with The Sword of Summer (2015). Riordan has also written two books for younger readers, The Maze of Bones (2008) and Vespers Rising (2011), as part of the multiauthor 39 Clues series. From 2016 through 2020, Riordan published a series sequel to the Heroes of Olympus with his The Trials of Apollo series.

In 2016, Disney-Hyperion announced a new imprint, "Rick Riordan Presents," which publishes new authors Riordan recommends for their diverse and mythology-based fiction. Riordan received the 2017 Stonewall Book Award for children's literature (Mike Morgan and Larry Romans Children’s and Young Adult Literature Award) from the American Library Association for Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Hammer of Thor. To accompany the Magnus Chase series, Riordan published an official companion book that provides background on the deities, mythical beings, and fantastic creatures that appear in his books: Hotel Valhalla Guide to the Norse Worlds: Your Introduction to Deities, Mythical Beings and Fantastic Creatures (2016). He also published a coloring book and additional companion work to complement the series.

From 2016 through 2020, Riordan published The Trials of Apollo series, a series sequel to the Heroes of Olympus. In 2021, Riordan published, Daughter of the Deep, inspired by science fiction writer Jules Verne. In 2023, he released The Sun and the Star, which was published in collaboration with Mark Oshiro and followed characters from his previous Greek and Roman demigod series. Riordan has also published multiple graphic novels. In 2022, Riordan became head writer and executive producer of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series on the streaming service Disney+. He then added to his Percy Jackson series with The Chalice of the Gods (2023) and Wrath of the Triple Goddess (2024).

Riordan and his wife, Becky, have two sons, Haley and Patrick. They live in Boston, Massachusetts.

Major Works

Perhaps the most prominent feature of Riordan's novels for middle-grade and young adult readers is their recurring use of mythological characters, settings, and motifs, which in many ways are defining features of his work and help differentiate his novels from the various other fantasy series that are popular with young adults, such as J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. Figures from mythology play a significant role in Riordan's novels: Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea, is Percy's absentee father, while the protagonist of the Heroes of Olympus series, Jason, is the son of the chief god Zeus. Similarly, the novels in the Kane Chronicles feature appearances by numerous Egyptian gods, including Isis, Osiris, and Set.

Like many middle-grade and young adult novels, Riordan's books often have strong coming-of-age themes. Riordan has commented in interviews that his works, particularly those in the Percy Jackson series, tend to follow a traditional framework in which a hero must prove themself by going on a quest and overcoming challenges to come of age. This framework, articulated as the hero's journey in famed mythologist Joseph Campbell's Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949), has roots in ancient myth and folklore. Riordan's novels, then, are connected to the myths that inspired them not merely through characters and settings but also on a deeper narrative level.

Bibliography

"A Gift From The Gods! “Percy Jackson And The Olympians” Gets Second Season Order At Disney+." Disney Plus Press, 7 Feb. 2024, press.disneyplus.com/news/disney-plus-percy-jackson-and-the-olympians-season-two-announcement. Accessed 12 July 2024.

“In ‘Red Pyramid,’ Kid Heroes Take on Ancient Egypt.” NPR Books, 19 Dec. 2012, . Accessed 12 July 2024.

Parker, Dan. “If the Name Rick Riordan Sounds Familiar—It Should.” Port Aransas South Jetty, 25 Aug. 2011, . Accessed 12 July 2024.

“Rick Riordan Presents.” Rick Riordan, rickriordan.com/rick-riordan-presents. Accessed 12 July 2024.

“Rick Riordan Presents Roundup: The New Releases of 2023.” Read Riordan, 20 Jan. 2023, www.readriordan.com/2023/01/20/rick-riordan-presents-roundup-the-new-releases-of-2023. Accessed 12 July 2024.

Riordan, Rick. “About.” Rick Riordan, 2024, rickriordan.com/about. Accessed 12 July 2024.

Riordan, Rick, editor. Demigods and Monsters: Your Favorite Authors on Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series. Expanded ed. Dallas: Benbella, 2013.

“Rick Riordan Answers All Your Questions.” The Guardian, 3 May 2011, . Accessed 12 July 2024.

Williams, Sally. “Percy Jackson: My Boy's Own Adventure.” The Guardian, 8 Feb. 2010, www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/feb/08/percy-jackson-rick-riordan. Accessed 12 July 2024.