Books Like Percy Jackson

Why Each Pick

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

The obvious next read: a boy with a hard home life learns he belongs to a hidden magical world, goes to a special school and forms a trio with two friends. Hogwarts fills the same role as Camp Half-Blood. Harry Potter is British, its magic is invented rather than borrowed from myth, and its humor is gentler than Percy's wisecracking narration. It is the first of seven books.

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

A quest across a dangerous map, with monsters at every stop and a hero who doesn't think he's hero material. Bilbo Baggins is pulled out of his comfortable home by a wizard and thirteen dwarves to face a dragon. Tolkien's 1937 classic is slower and more old-fashioned than Riordan, with a storyteller narrator in place of Percy's voice, and has no modern settings or gods.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

For readers who liked a kid hero on a rescue mission. Meg Murry, her little brother and a friend travel across space and time to find her missing scientist father. Like Percy, Meg is an outsider at school who turns out to matter more than anyone guessed. It is a short 1962 classic, with science fiction and Christian themes in place of Greek myth, and much less action.

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin

Another young person with a rare gift who goes to a school for magic and learns that power has a cost. Ged, a goatherd on a small island, unleashes a shadow through his own pride and has to chase it across a world of islands. It is quieter and more serious than Percy Jackson, with no jokes, and suits strong readers ready for a classic. It is short, at 183 pages.

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Mythology-powered adventure for older readers. In a land inspired by West African myth, Zelie sets out to bring magic back to her people, joined by a runaway princess and hunted by a prince. Like Percy's quest, it is a journey with gods, powers and a deadline. It is longer, at 544 pages, and more violent, so it suits teens rather than younger Percy fans.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

For the Percy fan ready for something more intense. Sixteen-year-old Katniss volunteers to take her sister's place in a televised fight to the death and has to outthink the powerful adults running it. Both books pit a young hero against a ruling power, but there are no gods or monsters here, and the violence is real and serious. It is best for ages 12 and up.

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

The same Greek myths, retold for adult readers. Patroclus tells the story of his friendship and love with Achilles, from their training with the centaur Chiron to the Trojan War. Percy fans will recognize Chiron, who also teaches at Camp Half-Blood. Madeline Miller's novel is literary and slow-burning rather than funny, with some sexual content and war violence, and suits older teens and adults.

Circe by Madeline Miller

Another Greek-myth retelling for grown-up Percy fans. Circe, a daughter of the sun god Helios, discovers witchcraft and is exiled to an island, where Odysseus, Daedalus and other famous figures pass through. It shares Riordan's idea of seeing the gods up close, with all their pettiness, but it is a reflective adult novel spanning centuries. Content note: it includes a scene of sexual violence.