Since the Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 1 finale aired on Disney+ in January, we’ve been feeling its absence and gathering as much information as possible about Season 2. In the meantime, many of us are returning to the show’s source material: Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson books.
Since The Lightning Thief was published in 2005, Riordan has written dozens of books in the Percy Jackson universe, which is vast and full all kinds of monsters and gods—and just like any book series, some titles are better, more interesting reads than others. On the eve of The Lightning Thief’s 20th anniversary next year, a new installment in the franchise entitled The Wrath of the Triple Goddess will hit shelves in September. It’s the seventh book in the original PJO book series, and it follows Percy, Annabeth, and Grover in their senior year of high school.
While we wait for more Percy Jackson to grace our shelves and screens, let’s take a dive into the six available books in the original series and rank them from worst to best. Note that we have not included supplemental books like The Demigod Files or Camp Half-Blood Confidential.
6. The Sea of Monsters (Book #2)
The Sea of Monsters isn’t a bad book. It simply doesn’t top any of the other books in the Percy Jackson series, which unfortunately lands it in the “worst” spot on this list.
After the tree that protects Camp Half-Blood is mysteriously poisoned, putting all the campers at risk, Percy, Annabeth, and Grover go on a quest to retrieve the magical Golden Fleece to reverse the damage and save the day. The problem is, they have to sail into the Bermuda Triangle—a.k.a. the Sea of Monsters—to get it. Along the way, they meet Percy’s half-brother, a cyclops named Tyson, and encounter multiple mythical figures ranging from the witch Circe to the pirate Blackbeard.
5. The Chalice of the Gods (Book #6)
High school senior Percy Jackson has saved the world a few times over and all he wants is to have a normal school year before he heads off to college. Unfortunately for him, he needs three letters of recommendation from Mount Olympus, and the gods will only provide them if he completes some tasks for them first.
The Chalice of the Gods is a nostalgic romp with interesting new dynamics. It jumps back into the fray without missing a beat, proving Riordan is just as invested in Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and their friends now as he was two decades ago.
4. The Lightning Thief (Book #1)
The Lightning Thief is the book that started it all and this mythical road trip is an absolute delight to this day.
Percy Jackson is an average kid with ADHD and dyslexia—or so he thinks until yet another school field trip goes sideways and he discovers a series of disturbing truths. His best friend, Grover, is a satyr. He’s the demigod son of Poseidon. And he’s part of an ancient prophecy that will change the world. Meanwhile, Percy, Grover, and the know-it-all daughter of Athena, Annabeth, are chosen to cross the country to retrieve Zeus’s Master Bolt, a quest that’s even more dangerous than they imagine.
3. The Battle of the Labyrinth (Book #4)
As the titan lord Kronos’s army prepares to invade Camp Half-Blood’s once-impenetrable borders and Percy’s freshman year kicks off with a literally demonic pep rally, things are getting increasingly complicated in the war for Olympus. To stop Kronos, Percy, Annabeth, and Grover must traverse the Labyrinth without the help of Ariadne’s string. Danger lurks around every corner in The Battle of the Labyrinth, the penultimate book in Riordan’s original five-book series.
This book is heart-pounding and dramatic, a deft exploration of how the characters have grown and what they want versus what they’re obligated to do. It’s a fast, intense read with increasingly higher stakes.
2. The Last Olympian (Book #5)
The Great Prophecy foretelling the rise or fall of Olympus at the hands of a demigod child born of either Zeus, Poseidon, or Hades is about to come true and Kronos’s army has descended upon New York City—above which the seat of the gods is all but free for the taking. In the original finale to Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Last Olympian, Percy, his friends, and even his rivals must work together to save Western civilization from ultimate destruction—or die in the attempt.
This final battle is so cleverly written and incredibly executed, pulling together strings that Riordan has been weaving through the entire series so far.
1. The Titan’s Curse (Book #3)
When Grover discovers two powerful demigods who are literally lost in time, he, Percy, and Annabeth unwittingly fall into a trap laid by the titan lord Kronos. Meanwhile, an ancient monster has returned, but Artemis—the only goddess who can track it—has been kidnapped. The heroes have just a week to find her and stop the monster, and this is one quest where a tight deadline is especially daunting.
The Titan’s Curse is the best book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series because it introduces its best characters: Nico di Angelo, son of Hades, and Thalia, daughter of Zeus. It also introduces the Hunters of Artemis, establishes just how much more powerful the “Big Three” gods are than the rest, and establishes the emotional stakes for the remainder of the series. It boasts arguably the most heartwrenching scene in the entire series and ratchets the intensity in every part of the story.
(featured image: Disney Hyperion)
