Percy Jackson and the Olympians
U.K. logo for Percy Jackson and the Olympians (as the series is known there)
|
|
|
|
| Author | Rick Riordan |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | John Rocco (from 2006 or 2007) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Greek mythological fiction, fantasy, adventure and children's fiction |
| Publisher | Disney Hyperion (early volumes originally Miramax Books) |
| Published | 2005–2009 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover and paperback), audiobook, e-book |
| No. of books | 5 |
| Followed by | The Heroes of Olympus |
Percy Jackson & the Olympians, often shortened to Percy Jackson, is a pentalogy of adventure and mythological fiction books written by American author Rick Riordan. Five supplementary books, along with three graphic novels, have also been released. More than 45 million copies of the books have been sold in more than 35 countries.
As of October 28, 2011, the series has been on The New York Times Best Seller list for children's book series for 223 weeks. The first book was adapted into a film titled Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief in 2010, which was commercially successful, but received mixed reviews. An adaptation of the second book, titled Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, was released in 2013.
Development for both The Lightning Thief and the Percy Jackson series commenced when Rick Riordan began making stories for his son Haley Riordan, who had at the time been diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia. His son, Haley, had been studying Greek mythology in second grade and requested that his father tell him bedtime stories based on Greek myths. When Riordan ran out of myths, his son suggested that he make up new stories using existing mythological characters and new ones. This led Riordan to create the fictional character of Percy Jackson and create the story of how he travels across the United States to recover Zeus's lightning-bolt. Haley suggested that he should turn that story into a book, and Riordan wrote the book over the next year despite being busy at that time.
Leaving his manuscript with his agent and editor for review, Riordan presented the book to a group of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders to read and critique. He gained their approval, and with their help, came up with the name of the book and created the way Percy's sword works. In 2004, the book was sold to Miramax Books for enough money for Riordan to quit his job and focus on writing. After it was released on 28 June 2005, it sold over 1.2 million copies. The book was released in multiple versions, including hardcover, paperback and audio editions. It has been translated into multiple languages and published all over the world.
...
Wikipedia