Since 2005, the Percy Jackson series has entertained readers with a fast-paced narrative that takes them on adventures with the demigod named Percy Jackson. The series introduced a new storyline acquainting the new age kids to mythology. If you have taken a fancy to reading the Percy Jackson series, Buzzle’s suggestion of similar books is the best source for such exciting escapades.
❝I stick closely to the structure of the myths. I may have some fun with the mythology by changing the environment to modern-day, but the structure of the myths, the monsters, the relationships of the gods – none of that is made up.❞
― Rick Riordan
In 2005, the first book from the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series was published. The series contains five books that narrate the tale of Percy Jackson, a demigod, who loves to go on adventurous trips with his friends. He is the son of the Greek god of the sea, Poseidon. The pentalogy of contemporary Greek myths interwoven with the fast-paced adventures mesmerized the reader until 2009, when the last book of the series was published.
The story starts when the twelve-year-old protagonist of the series, Percy, returns home from boarding school. After a horrid series of events, he discovers he is a demigod. His father is none other than Poseidon. Percy with his friends Thalia―daughter of Zeus―Annabeth―daughter of Athena―and Grover―a satyr friend―battle many evil mythological creatures to rescue each other.
This series opens a door to the mythological world and its fantasies, grabbing the attention of young readers, thus transporting them to a make-believe, supernatural world of impossibilities. A walk through this suggested list of books similar to the Percy Jackson series will make you a more voracious reader of fiction if you are not one already.
Suggested Reading :
Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling
Books in the series:
▶ Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (1997)
▶ Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998)
▶ Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999)
▶ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000)
▶ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003)
▶ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005)
▶ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007)
This mysterious, thrilling, coming-of-age adventure has gained immense popularity, commercial success, and critical acclaim, globally, in a short span of time. The very first book of the Harry Potter series was published in 1997, by Bloomsbury.
The story describes the miserable life of a eleven-year-old boy, Harry, who lives with his uncle and aunt. On his eleventh birthday, he discovers he is vested with magical powers. Soon he travels to Hogwarts―The School of Witchcraft and Wizardry―to learn magic. All the books in this series narrate his adventures and quests with his friends Ron and Hermione, and their victory over the villain Lord Voldemort. A wand is the icon in this series, which works the magic and glues the reader to the book.
Mythological references are hidden quite cleverly in the children’s book series, examples― Argus Filch, the squib caretaker of the school, Fluffy, the three-headed dog, Cerberus, the three-headed Greek mythology dog that guarded the gates to the hell, Harry’s scar that resembles Zeus’s lightning. Creatures like centaurs and giants are also a part of the series.
The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins
Books in the series:
▶ The Hunger Games (2008)
▶ Catching Fire (2009)
▶ Mockingjay (2010)
The first two books of the series The Hunger Games and Catching Fire were both New York Times bestsellers. The third book, Mockingjay, topped the U.S. bestsellers list upon release. Scholastic is the publisher for all the books in the trilogy.
The story takes place in an unknown time in future with the nation of Panem ruling over North America. The nation consists of Capitol, a wealthy district as compared to twelve poor districts. Capitol, which is the seat of Panem, organizes annual games called the Hunger Games as a punishment to the twelve districts. The game has two children from each district as tributes. Their victory earns food and other supplies for their district. Katniss Everdeen, the protagonist of the series, from District 12 is also one of the players in the game. The trilogy is the description of the game which eventually leads to Capitol being overthrown.
The game described in the novels mirrors Rome’s violent sport involving gladiators. The game is similar to the Greek myth of Theseus killing a Minotaur in a labyrinth. The image of Katniss with her bow and arrow evoke the image of the Roman goddess of hunt, Diana.
The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins
Books in the series:
▶ Gregor The Overlander (2004 )
▶ Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane (2005 )
▶ Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods (2006 )
▶ Gregor and the Marks of Secret (2007 )
▶ Gregor and the Code of Claw (2008 )
The Underland Chronicles was published between 2003 and 2007 by Scholastic Corporation.
The chronicles begin with an eleven-year-old boy, Gregor, falling through a vent in the basement of his house. He discovers a new and different world called Underland where he meets people and various creatures of that realm. The underlanders identify him and his two-year-old sister, Booty, as a warrior and a princess from a prophecy. Thus, begins Gregor’s journey in the Underland where Gregor fights with his nemesis Bane, as you read through the series. The prophecies that are fulfilled in the story add charm to it.
Several Greek mythological names are referred to, like the names of the bats―Hermes, Aurora, Thalia, Andromeda, etc., Hades Hall―the passageway named after the Greek god Hades. Though the five-book series ended in 2007, readers are still awaiting the sequel to the last book as they feel there is more to the story.
The Lord of the Rings series by J. R. R. Tolkien
Books in the series:
▶ The Fellowship of the Ring (1954)
▶ The Two Towers (1954)
▶ The Return of the King (1955)
The story in this series begins as a sequel to Tolkien’s The Hobbit (1937.) The Lord of the Rings, commonly known as LOTR, was written in stages from 1937 to 1949. It was published in three volumes over the course of a period from 1954 to 1955. It was published by George Allen & Unwin Ltd.
LOTR is the story of One Ring, and the battles fought over it. It is a narration of the journey of Frodo, the Hobbit, to Mount Doom in Mordor to destroy the ring which was forged by the Dark Lord Sauron, who lost his powers after losing the ring. The journey is full of adventures and mysteries with several characters like dwarfs, elves, hobbits, wizards, orcs, battles, humans, etc., in it.
Tolkien’s writing mainly depicts his interest in philology, religion, fairy tales, and Norse and Germanic mythology; however, the influence of Greek, Slavic, Persian, and Celtic mythologies can also be seen in his novel. Tolkien adopted conflicts presented in the Beowulf in his work. Gandalf, the wizard, closely resembles the Germanic deity Odin as well as Vainamoinen from Finnish poems who had a long beard and magical voice.
Skulduggery Pleasant series by Derek Landy
Books in the series:
▶ Skulduggery Pleasant (2007)
▶ Playing With Fire (2008)
▶ The Faceless Ones (2009)
▶ Dark Days (2010)
▶ Mortal Coil (2010)
▶ Death Bringer (2011)
▶ Kingdom of the Wicked (2012)
▶ Last Stand of Dead Men (2013)
▶ The Dying of the Light (2014)
Skulduggery Pleasant is a series of fantasy-adventure novels written by Irish writer Derek Landy. The series was published by HarperCollins. The series falls under the genre of fantasy, teenage fiction, horror.
Twelve-year-old Stephanie Edgley’s adventures start when she is nearly murdered by a man in her deceased uncle’s house. However, she is saved by a walking skeleton Skulduggery Pleasant, who is a proud, fireball throwing, 400-year-old detective. Stephanie takes on a new name Valkyrie Cain and teams up with Skulduggery to solve her uncle’s murder mystery. The adventurous journey continues as she helps Skulduggery prevent Nefarian Serpine from obtaining the Scepter of Ancients, a mystical weapon that can slay gods and assist in battling the Faceless Ones. Battles, vampires, cults, gods, mortals, dark forces, etc., make these novels even more interesting.
The reader gets a glimpse of Greek mythology in the form of a Chimera-like character, The Grotesquery, when he is introduced in the series.
The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud
Books in the series:
▶ The Amulet of Samarkand (2003)
▶ The Golem’s Eye (2004)
▶ Ptolemy’s Gate (2005)
The Bartimaeus Trilogy consists of three novels narrating the story of a teenage magician Nathaniel, aka John Mandrake, the commoner Kitty Jones, and a 5,000-year-old djinn Bartimaeus. The story is narrated mainly from Bartimaeus’s perspective with an occasional reference to Nathaniel and Kitty’s perspective. The series was published by Random House.
Several plot lines are intertwined in these novels. The over-encompassing plot is the rise and fall of London. The cyclic transformation of Nathaniel from a humble person to an arrogant and power hungry John Mandrake and the return to being the same humble and noble Nathaniel is quite intriguing. The fast-paced, thrilling narration witnesses Nathaniel’s summoning of Bartimaeus to save the city of London.
Stroud has used Biblical names for the characters in the series. For example, Bartimaeus was a man whom Jesus cured from blindness, names like Nathaniel, John, etc., are taken from the story of Bartholomew, the Apostle.
The Companions Quartet by Julia Golding
Books in the series:
▶ Secret of the Sirens (2006)
▶ The Gorgon’s Gaze (2006)
▶ Mines of the Minotaur (2007)
▶ The Chimera’s Curse (2007)
The Companions Quartet consists of four novels published by the Oxford University Press. The series describes the events in the life of an eleven-year-old, Connie Lionheart, who has a special ability to communicate with animals. Left in the care of her aunt by her parents, Connie lives in the southern regions of a fictional Great Britain. With her special ability, Connie and her friends save the mythical creatures from an evil dark force Kullervo.
The mythical creatures depicted in the series are: Sirens (beautiful yet dangerous creatures with combining features of a woman and a bird), Gorgons (female creatures- refers to any of three sisters who had hair made of living, venomous snakes, as well as a horrifying visage that turned anyone to stone if they cast their eyes on her), Minotaurs (creature with a head of a bull and body of a man), Chimera (monstrous fire-breathing hybrid creature), Pegasus (a winged, divine stallion of pure white color), etc.
Inkheart trilogy by Cornelia Funke
Books in the series:
▶ Inkheart (2003)
▶ Inkspell (2005)
▶ Inkdeath (2007)
According to the 2007 online poll, the National Education Association named the first book of the trilogy as one of Teacher’s Top 100 Books for children. The series was published by Cecilie Dressler Verlag (Germany), Chicken House Publishing (UK), and Scholastic Corporation (USA).
The series depicts the power of fiction and the importance of the family. The trilogy revolves around a twelve-year-old girl Meggie. Her father, a famous bookbinder, has a special power to read aloud the characters in a book into the real world. The trilogy narrates the journey of the characters to-and-fro from the real world and the book world, and the good versus evil fight.
Minotaurs from the Greek mythology figure in the series. The name of Orpheus is taken from a Greek myth which narrates how when a man praised Hades with beautiful songs was able to bring his wife back from the dead.
Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull
Books in the series:
▶ Fablehaven (2006)
▶ Fablehaven: Rise of the Evening Star (2007)
▶ Fablehaven: Grip of the Shadow Plague (2008)
▶ Fablehaven: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary (2009)
▶ Fablehaven: Keys to the Demon Prison (2010)
Fablehaven is a New York Times best-selling fantasy series published by Shadow Mountain (in hardcover) and Simon & Schuster (in paperback.) The series narrates the story of a brother and sister duo who discover a secret preserve for mythical creatures―Fablehaven― at their grandparents’ house. Thirteen-year-old Kendra and eleven-year-old Seth discover it after solving puzzles and drinking the magical milk. It becomes their mission to fight the dark forces and save the world by securing the Fablehaven and other such preserves around the world.
Fablehaven comprises several magical creatures that have roots in various mythologies. For example, Basilisk (a reptile with a power to kill anyone with a glance), Centaur (half human and half horse), Chimera (monstrous fire-breathing hybrid creature), Cyclops (a giant with a single eye in middle of its forehead), Elves (a group of beings with magical powers and supernatural beauty), Gargoyles (a dragon with a bat-like wings and long neck), Hydra (serpent with many heads), Minotaur (creature with a head of a bull and body of a man), Satyrs (man with horse-like features), etc.
Dusssie by Nancy Springer
The novel was published in the year of 2007 by Walker & Company. The author narrates the story of Dussie, a teenager, dealing with puberty. To add to her woes, one day her hair turns to real slithering serpents. Dussie, then, discovers her family lineage. It turns out that her mother is a gorgon, and Medusa is her long-lost aunt, after whom she is named. Dussie tries to keep her serpent-infested head a secret; however, she accidentally turns a boy into stone with her looks. The book describes how she tries to get rid of the snakes to find her true love, and finally accepts who she is, and the fact that looks do not matter in true love.
The novel, Dusssie, refers to one particular Greek mythological creature, Medusa. Medusa is stated as a Gorgon who can turn anyone into a stone with her look. She is described as a hideous woman with a head full of serpents. However, the legends describe her as a beautiful woman cursed by the goddess Athena to become a monstrous creature.
Hope these suggestions have helped you pick another adventurous book like the Percy Jackson series for your children.
