Richard Russell Riordan Jr. (/ˈraɪərdən/RY-ər-dən; born June 5, 1964)[1] is an American author, best known for writing thePercy Jackson & the Olympians series. Riordan's books have been translated into forty-two languages and sold more than thirty million copies in the United States.[2]20th Century Fox adapted the first two books of hisPercy Jackson series as part of aseries of films in which Riordan was not involved. Riordan currently serves as a co-creator and executive producer on thetelevision series adaption of the book series that was released onDisney+ in 2023 and for which he won twoEmmy Awards. Riordan's books have also spawned other related media, such as graphic novels and short story collections.
Rick married Becky Riordan in 1985 on the couple's shared birthday.[9] They have two sons, Haley and Patrick. They moved from San Antonio toBoston in June 2013, in conjunction with older son Haley starting college in Boston.[9][10]
Riordan has created several successful book series.Tres Navarre, an adult mystery series about a Texas private eye, won theShamus,Anthony, andEdgar Awards.[11]
He conceived the idea for thePercy Jackson series as bedtime stories about ancient Greek heroes for his son Haley.[12]Haley had been diagnosed withADHD anddyslexia, inspiring Riordan to make the titular protagonist hyperactive and dyslexic.[13] Riordan published the first novel in the series,The Lightning Thief, in 2005. Four sequels followed, with the last,The Last Olympian, in 2009. Prior toPercy Jackson, Riordan had written theTres Navarres series, a series of mystery novels for adult readers.[14]
Riordan also helped create the children's book seriesThe 39 Clues. He authored several of its books, includingThe Maze of Bones, which toppedThe New York Times Best Seller list on September 28, 2008.[16] He also wrote the introduction to thePuffin Classics edition ofRoger Lancelyn Green'sTales of the Greek Heroes, in which he states that the book influenced him to write his Greek mythology series.[17]
Riordan's works of children's literature center around an adaptation ofmythology for modern readers and for children. He has usedGreek,Roman,Egyptian, andNorse and combinations thereof in a total of five separate novel series. The mythology used in his works possesses elements unique to his series, but has a largely historical basis. Some of its characteristics include an emphasis on human-divine interaction and a preference for anglicized names. Examples include:
Riordan's sources for the mythology used in his books are surmised from isolated comments on the subject during various interviews, as he has never released a list of any kind. These sources begin with the myths and the derivations thereof that he was exposed to as a child. Unnamed "novels onNorse mythology", suggested to him by a teacher who noticed his interest inThe Lord of the Rings, were his first introduction to mythology and continue to influence his writing today.[21][22] The author also claims to have read such notable classics asThe Iliad andThe Odyssey, and to use his "general knowledge" of a given mythology as a basis for his stories.[23] As far asGreek mythology is concerned, Riordan has stated thatTales of the Greek Heroes byRoger Lancelyn Green—called by its author a "retelling of the Greek myths... based on multitudinous sources"—was one of his first introductions to that type of myth, and is in part responsible for his decision to interpret myths in his own books.[24] Finally, Riordan has stated that he uses modern sources such asThe Theoi Project forfact-checking purposes, as needed.[23]
In September 2016,Disney-Hyperion announced a new Rick Riordan imprint. The imprint is called "Rick Riordan Presents" and was launched in March 2018. It is headed by Riordan's editor, Stephanie Owens Lurie.[58]
Lurie said that Riordan had been approached about an imprint several years ago but initially dismissed the idea because of his heavy workload. Later, he reported back that he had been "toying with the idea" and was "willing to go forward with a publishing line that was not a brand extension for his own work but a platform for Riordan to bring other great writers to the attention of his vast and loyal audience."[58] She also said that the imprint planned to launch with two then-undetermined books. "The point of making this announcement now is to get the word out about what we're looking for."[58]
The imprint does not publish books written by Riordan, "whose role [is] closer to curator."[58] In an interview with theIowa Gazette, Riordan said, "Instead ofme writing all of the mythologies we are going to look for authors who already are writing about that stuff. If I feel like I can recommend them [to my readers] ... we're going to have them out here in the spotlight."[59] A focus will be placed on "diverse, mythology-based fiction by new, emerging, and under-represented authors". Lurie expressed hopes that the imprint would help satisfy Riordan fans without asking the author to write more than his usual two books a year.[58]
^Lodge, Sally (August 18, 2011)."First Printing of Three Million for New Percy Jackson Book".Publishers Weekly.Archived from the original on December 4, 2013. RetrievedAugust 18, 2015.There are 30 million copies in print in the U.S. of the novels in the author's three series for Disney-Hyperion: Percy Jackson & the Olympians, The Kane Chronicles, and The Heroes of Olympus—and the books have been translated into thirty-seven languages.
^Springen, Karen (May 31, 2012)."Rick Riordan Makes His 'Mark'".Publishers Weekly.Archived from the original on October 11, 2012. RetrievedJune 3, 2012.a cruise to the Baltic and Scandinavian countries last summer provided fodder for Riordan's upcoming Norse series
^ab"Update from Athena House"Archived June 25, 2013, at theWayback Machine. June 12, 2013.Myth & Mystery: The official blog for author Rick Riordan (rickriordan.blogspot.com). Retrieved November 14, 2015.
^Riordan, Rick (January 26, 2014)."Mystery man". Boston Globe Magazine. The Boston Globe (bostonglobe.com).Archived from the original on November 17, 2015. RetrievedFebruary 21, 2014.
^Riordan, Rick; Collar, Orpheus (October 3, 2017).The Kane Chronicles, Book Three, The Serpent's Shadow: The Graphic Novel. Disney-Hyperion.ISBN9781484782347.
^Riordan, Rick; Venditti, Robert (February 21, 2017).The Heroes of Olympus, Book Two, The Son of Neptune: The Graphic Novel. Disney-Hyperion.ISBN9781484716212.
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