You’re standing in the middle of a bookstore, or maybe you’re staring at a massive digital library, and you’re seeing about forty different books with "Percy Jackson" or "Trials of Apollo" or "Magnus Chase" plastered on the covers. It’s a lot. Honestly, trying to figure out the books by Rick Riordan in order is less like reading a series and more like piecing together a massive, mythological jigsaw puzzle. If you just grab the first thing you see, you’re going to get spoiled. Hard.
Riordan has built what fans call the "Riordanverse." It’s basically the MCU but with ancient gods and teenagers who have way too much trauma and snark. The biggest mistake people make? Thinking they can just finish one series and jump into another randomly. You can't. Well, you can, but you'll be incredibly confused when a character who was supposed to be in California suddenly shows up in a New York basement with a talking sword.
Why the Release Order is Usually Your Best Bet
If you want the cleanest experience, you follow the way Rick actually wrote them. He didn’t write these in a vacuum. He was building the world in real-time.
Start with The Lightning Thief. It’s the blueprint. If you don't start there, nothing else makes sense. You meet Percy, you learn about Camp Half-Blood, and you get the vibe. From there, you finish the original Percy Jackson & The Olympians pentalogy: The Sea of Monsters, The Titan’s Curse, The Battle of the Labyrinth, and The Last Olympian.
Now, here is where it gets tricky. Most people think they should go straight to the Roman stuff. Not necessarily. While the The Heroes of Olympus series is the direct sequel, Riordan actually started The Kane Chronicles (the Egyptian ones) right around the same time. If you’re a completionist, you’re alternating. If you’re a normal human who just wants a coherent story, you finish all of Heroes of Olympus first. That’s The Lost Hero, The Son of Neptune, The Mark of Athena, The House of Hades, and The Blood of Olympus.
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But wait. There’s a catch.
The Crossovers and the "Middle" Books
Somewhere between the Greek and Roman chaos, Rick dropped The Demigod Files and The Demigod Diaries. These aren't just "extra credit." They contain short stories that actually introduce characters or plot points that show up in the main novels later. For example, there’s a story about a bronze dragon that you absolutely need to read before you start The Lost Hero, or a certain character's return will feel like a total "deus ex machina" moment.
Then you have the Egyptian crossover stories. The Son of Sobek, The Staff of Serapis, and The Crown of Ptolemy. These are gathered in a collection called Demigods & Magicians. You should read these after you’ve finished both the original Percy series and the Kane Chronicles. Seeing Percy Jackson and Carter Kane try to figure out whose magic is "realer" is basically the peak of the Riordanverse.
The Chronological Nightmare
If you’re a glutton for punishment and want to read books by Rick Riordan in order of when they actually happen in the timeline, it looks a bit different. Most of the Egyptian stuff happens concurrently with the later Percy books. However, The Sun and the Star, which Rick co-wrote with Mark Oshiro, happens very late in the timeline—specifically after The Trials of Apollo. If you read that too early, you are getting the biggest spoilers imaginable for Nico di Angelo’s entire character arc.
Don't do that to yourself. Nico has been through enough.
Navigating the Norse and the Sun God's Midlife Crisis
After the giant war with the Giants (creative, I know) in Heroes of Olympus, the timeline splits again. You’ve got Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard and The Trials of Apollo.
Technically, these happen roughly at the same time. Magnus is Annabeth Chase’s cousin. You’ll see Annabeth pop up in the Norse books, and you’ll hear mentions of the Norse "problems" in the Apollo books.
- The Hidden Oracle (Apollo Book 1)
- The Sword of Summer (Magnus Book 1)
- The Dark Prophecy (Apollo Book 2)
- The Hammer of Thor (Magnus Book 2)
- The Burning Maze (Apollo Book 3)
- The Ship of the Dead (Magnus Book 3)
- The Tyrant’s Tomb (Apollo Book 4)
- The Tower of Nero (Apollo Book 5)
Honestly, it's a lot of hopping back and forth. If you find that annoying, just finish Magnus Chase first. It’s a tighter trilogy and doesn't rely as heavily on the Apollo plot, whereas the Apollo books definitely assume you know what’s going on in the wider world.
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The New Era: Standalones and "Senior Year"
Lately, Rick has gone back to the roots. He realized we all missed Percy. So we got The Chalice of the Gods and Wrath of the Triple Goddess. These are weirdly placed in the timeline. They actually happen before the Trials of Apollo but were written years after.
They follow Percy, Annabeth, and Grover trying to get Percy into college. It’s lower stakes—well, as low stakes as getting a letter of recommendation from a god can be—and it feels much more like the original series. If you’re a new reader, I’d still save these for after The Last Olympian, but maybe before you get into the heavy, world-ending drama of Heroes of Olympus. It’s a nice breather.
Then there is Daughter of the Deep. It’s a Jules Verne tribute. It has nothing to do with Percy. No gods. No camp. Just tech and submarines. You can read that whenever you want, but it’s cool to see Rick flex his muscles outside of mythology.
The Absolute Essential Reading List
If you just want the "Greatest Hits" without the fluff, here is the streamlined path. Forget the side stories for a second. Just do this:
- The OG Quintet: The Lightning Thief through The Last Olympian.
- The Epic Sequel Series: The Lost Hero through The Blood of Olympus.
- The Norse Break: The three Magnus Chase books.
- The Final Boss: All five Trials of Apollo books.
- The Epilogue: The Sun and the Star.
That is the core narrative. That is the spine of the Riordanverse.
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The most nuanced part of Riordan’s work is how he handles growth. In the first book, Percy is twelve. By the time we get to The Sun and the Star, he’s an adult helping his friends navigate literal hell. If you skip around, you lose that sense of aging with the characters. It’s why people who grew up with these books are so protective of them.
A Quick Note on the Rick Riordan Presents Imprint
Don't get confused by the "Rick Riordan Presents" logo on books like Aru Shah or Paola Santiago. Rick didn't write those. He’s the editor/curator. They are fantastic—often better written than some of the later Percy books, if we're being honest—but they aren't part of the Percy Jackson timeline. They are their own separate universes. If you try to find Percy in the Pandava Quintet, you’re going to be looking for a long time.
Actionable Steps for Your Reading Journey
- Check the Copyright Page: If you’re ever unsure, look at the publication date. Rick almost always writes in a way that assumes you’ve read everything published before that specific date.
- Grab the Companion Books Late: Don't buy Greek Gods or Greek Heroes first. They are narrated by Percy and contain tons of snarky spoilers about his own life. Read them after The Last Olympian.
- Mind the Crossovers: If you start seeing Egyptian magicians, make sure you've at least finished The Red Pyramid first.
- Listen to the Audiobooks: If the sheer volume of books by Rick Riordan in order feels overwhelming, the audiobooks (especially those narrated by Jesse Bernstein or Robbie Daymond) make the "grind" through 30+ books feel like a breeze.
- Start Now: With the Disney+ series and new books coming out, the "Senior Year" trilogy is currently expanding. Get through the original five books now so you’re ready for the next release.
The beauty of this world is that it’s lived-in. It’s messy. Just like the myths themselves, there are contradictions and weird side-quests. But if you stick to the order he wrote them, you get to see a middle-school teacher from Texas turn into one of the most influential fantasy authors of a generation, one sarcastic demigod at a time.