Rick Riordan Will Make A Return To The World Of 'Percy Jackson' Next Year
Percy Jackson's books have been quiet for some time, but this will change next year. It was in 2009, according to Publisher’s Weekly, that the last actual story about Percy Jackson and his friends was released to the public. In 2014 there was a Rick Riodan series with the same Greco-roman theme called Heroes of Olympus. It didn’t feature Jackson but showed the adventures of Jason Grace, a roman demi-god. In contrast to the stories with Percy Jackson as the main character, Heroes of Olympus was told through different points of view, giving it a different feel.
The new novel will be called Percy Jackson and the Chalice of Gods, according to Riodan. It will continue with the traditional Percy Jackson story style of fighting monsters, going on different adventures, and searching for mystical artifacts worldwide. This one is not similar to previous ones because the characters have already aged a bit. They will likely be in their late teens, getting ready for another period of their lives. Riordan talked about this new setting, arguing that
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All we know is he’s in school in New York. So what would happen to him? Of course, he’s getting ready for college. And I’ve been through that with my two boys, and that means recommendation letters. And to get into New Rome University, you need recommendation letters from the gods, and they don’t give those out for free. So Percy has to do quests—not to save the world this time, but just to get into college.
Chalice of Gods, also per Publisher’s Weekly, will be a standalone story, therefore not connected to the other books that Riordan wrote. He also promised the public that not much will change. The audience targeted by his stories will remain the same because he has readers of all kinds of ages that are interested in his work:
I’d feel very comfortable recommending this to middle graders who knew the other books. There’s not going to be a huge tonal shift; we’re not tackling darker or more violent themes. That’s just my mindset. I write in a very middle-grade way. I have readers from eight years old to 80, and everybody’s welcome. As long as you don’t mind silly dad jokes and middle-grade humor.
This novel has a good time frame because it will likely be released around the same time as the new Percy Jackson TV series, called Percy Jackson and the Olympians. 2023 will be a really good year for fans of the franchise in general. Next year it will also be the 10th anniversary of Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters movie that featured Logan Lerman, Alexandra Daddario, and Brandon T. Jackson as the protagonists.
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Source: Publishers Weekly