Rick Riordan

Richard Russell Riordan Jr. (born June 5, 1964) is an American writer, most famous for his Camp Half-Blood Chronicles, a universe that includes the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, The Heroes of Olympus, The Trials of Apollo, and The Nico di Angelo Adventures. His work has appeared in 42 languages and has sold over 30 million copies in the United States. The first two Percy Jackson books were adapted into films by 20th Century Fox, though Riordan had no involvement in those movies. He later co-created and served as an executive producer for a television adaptation of the series, which premiered on Disney+ in 2023 and earned him two Emmy Awards. His books have also led to graphic novels and short story collections.

Riordan’s first novel was *Big Red Tequila*, which launched the Tres Navarre series. His big break came with *The Lightning Thief* (2005), the first of five books in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, which places modern teenagers in a Greco-Roman mythological world. He followed this with *The Heroes of Olympus*, a sequel series; *The Kane Chronicles*, a trilogy centered on Egyptian mythology; and *Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard*, a trilogy focused on Norse mythology. Riordan also helped Scholastic Press develop *The 39 Clues* series and wrote its first book, *The Maze of Bones*. In 2021, he published *Daughter of the Deep*. His fourth spin-off series in the Percy Jackson universe, *The Nico di Angelo Adventures*, began on May 2, 2023, with *The Sun and the Star*, co-written with Mark Oshiro. Originally planned as a standalone, positive reception led to a sequel, *The Court of the Dead*, in 2025.

**Life and career**

Riordan was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, with family roots in Cork, Ireland. He graduated from Alamo Heights High School, initially studied music at North Texas State University with hopes of becoming a guitarist, then transferred to the University of Texas at Austin to study English and History. He earned teaching certification in those subjects from the University of Texas at San Antonio and taught English and Social Studies for eight years at Presidio Hill School in San Francisco. In 2021, he completed an online master’s degree in Gaelic literature from University College Cork. He married Rebecca "Becky" Klahn in 1985 on their shared birthday; they have two sons, Haley and Patrick. The family moved from San Antonio to Boston in June 2013 when their older son, Haley, started college there.

Riordan has built several successful book series. The Tres Navarre adult mystery series, about a Texas private eye, won the Shamus, Anthony, and Edgar Awards. He came up with the idea for Percy Jackson while telling bedtime stories about ancient Greek heroes to his son Haley. Haley’s diagnoses of ADHD and dyslexia inspired Riordan to give the main character those same traits. He published *The Lightning Thief* in 2005, followed by four sequels, ending with *The Last Olympian* in 2009. Before Percy Jackson, he had written the Tres Navarre series for adults. The Percy Jackson series follows a twelve-year-old who learns he is the modern-day son of the Greek god Poseidon. Fox bought the film rights and released two movie adaptations between 2010 and 2013. After Percy Jackson’s success, Riordan created *The Kane Chronicles*, featuring Egyptian gods and siblings Sadie and Carter Kane, as well as the sequel series *The Heroes of Olympus*. He also helped create *The 39 Clues* and wrote its first book, *The Maze of Bones*, which topped *The New York Times* Best Seller list on September 28, 2008. He wrote the introduction to the Puffin Classics edition of Roger Lancelyn Green’s *Tales of the Greek Heroes*, noting its influence on his own Greek mythology series.

In 2022, Riordan co-wrote the pilot for the *Percy Jackson and the Olympians* TV series on Disney+ and serves as an executive producer. Disney had acquired Fox in 2019, securing the rights to adapt the novels. He won an Emmy as an executive producer when the show’s first season won Outstanding Young Teen Series, and a second Emmy as a writer when the pilot won Outstanding Writing for a Young Teen Program at the 3rd Children’s and Family Emmy Awards.

**Mythology**

Riordan’s children’s literature adapts mythology for modern readers, drawing on Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Norse traditions across five separate series. His mythological elements are largely historically based but include unique features, such as an emphasis on human-divine interaction and a preference for anglicized names. Examples include:

- **Greco-Roman mythology**: Camp Half-Blood Chronicles (*Percy Jackson & the Olympians*, *The Heroes of Olympus*, *The Trials of Apollo*, *The Nico di Angelo Adventures*) - **Egyptian mythology**: *The Kane Chronicles* - **Norse mythology**: *Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard*

Riordan’s sources for the mythology are inferred from scattered interview comments, as he has never published a list. They include myths he encountered as a child and unnamed “novels on Norse mythology” suggested by a teacher.