Percy Jackson's Next Adventure: An Exclusive First Look
By Shannon Maughan, Children's Bookshelf -- Publishers Weekly, 10/4/2007
Drum roll please! Bookshelf hereby reveals the title and jacket (by John Rocco) of the fourth book in Rick Riordan’s mythology-inspired Percy Jackson and the Olympians series (Hyperion). The Battle of the Labyrinth will have a one-day laydown on May 6, 2008, the same day that Riordan kicks off an extensive national tour. According to Jonathan Yaged, v-p and U.S. publisher of Disney Book Group, a first printing figure has not yet been finalized, though he says it will be “significantly larger” than the 150,000-copy run for the third book, The Titan’s Curse, which hit shelves this past May.
“We’ve nurtured it and built it book by book,” says Yaged of the series. “And now we’ve got a phenomenon on our hands. Book four will take Percy Jackson and the Olympians to the next level of awareness.”
This fourth installment “really raises the stakes,” according to author Riordan. “It’s the beginning of a big war between the titans and the gods, and Percy must come to terms with his role in this perplexing world. There’s an invasion in the works and Percy takes his crew into the most dangerous place known in mythology—the labyrinth. This was a fun one to write.”
The solid trajectory of the series got a bit of a rocket boost this past summer when the Today Show’s Al Roker selected The Lightning Thief, the first book about Percy, for his Book Club for Kids. To date, the Percy Jackson books have sold more than one million copies. “It’s doing well across the board—with independents, chains, libraries,” says Yaged. “That tells us we’re satisfying the needs of our consumers as well as retailers and institutions.”
Publicity and marketing go a long way in making a series a success, but a vote of approval from young readers is key, too. “Word of mouth on these books is tremendous,” Yaged says. “We’re retaining the older kids from the beginning, and younger kids are coming in as well. We reach more and more people with each book.”
Though Riordan has a great time penning adventures for Percy and his pals, this particular creative path is nearing its end. “I had always envisioned it as a five-book series, and book five will really wrap up Percy’s story,” the author says. “A good writer hopefully knows when to stop. Many of the series I’ve admired—Harry Potter, Jonathan Stroud’s Bartimaeus trilogy, Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy—had strong finishes. That’s what makes the series work—knowing when to stop and ending it well.”
But putting Percy’s tale to rest hardly means Riordan will be resting on his laurels. He remains a self-described multitasking writer, also crafting mystery novels for adults, including the recent Rebel Island (Bantam, Aug.). “I have no doubt that I will keep writing for young readers,” Riordan says, citing files brimming with ideas. “Whether I will revisit Camp Half-Blood, my lips have to be sealed on that,” he adds with a laugh.
While he admits that being a successful author is a great gig, Riordan says his everyday life hasn’t changed much in the wake of bestsellerdom. “I still feel like a middle school teacher trying to share some interesting stories with kids,” he says. “Only my classroom is now huge! I’m a lot busier now, and I travel a lot more. But my favorite thing is going out and meeting kids and seeing them get excited about reading.”
