Disney Publishing celebrated the 20th birthday of Percy Jackson at an event on Monday in New York, the press announced in a news release.
Percy, the hero of Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians series of children’s fantasy novels, was first introduced to readers in 2005 with The Lightning Thief, which told the story of the 12-year-old boy discovering that he is a demigod. Four more novels in the series followed, and Riordan brought Percy back for two additional books, The Chalice of the Gods and Wrath of the Triple Goddess.
Two films based on the books were released in 2010 and 2013, respectively; Riordan has disowned the adaptations. He is markedly more enthusiastic about the Disney+ series adaptation of the novels, which premiered in 2023 to positive reviews. The second season of the series is scheduled for release in December.
Riordan appeared in conversation at the Hudson Theater with podcaster Lisa Cabello to discuss the first book’s anniversary. She asked Riordan how it feels to be celebrating 20 years of his young hero.
“Hearing the phrase ‘20 years,’ I need to take a nap, basically,” he said. “I can’t believe it’s been that long.”
Cabello asked Riordan how Percy had originated.
“You really have to go back to 2002 when my oldest son, Haley, was struggling in school, because he had just been diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia,” Riordan said. “To get him feeling better about where he was as a person and as a student, I made up a Greek myth….I told him, ‘You know, in my world, if you have ADHD and dyslexia, that might be a sign that you’re really special indeed. You might be a demigod.’ And he said, ‘That explains it!’”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
