How to Read Rick Riordan’s Books

On By Jenny A

So in the wake of The Chalice of the Gods being published last week, I thought I would give my recommendation for what order is best to read Riordan’s novels. By this point, he has many series in the same universe, so I can imagine that for people just getting into the books, there might be questions of where to start.

UPDATE 11/8/25: Please note that this post is only about Rick Riordan’s full-length middle grade novel series. I did NOT include any short stories/companion books in my reading order, as I haven’t read most of them. I did, however, list the companion works at the bottom of the post for reference. For their reading order as related to the overall series, check out this post for more details!

BACKSTORY

So in the universe that Riordan (or Uncle Rick, as some of his fans call him) has created, various gods—like Zeus, Thor, Anubis, and so on—exist in the modern world and often interfere with the lives of us mortal humans. Sometimes, these gods have children with mortals. These children are known as demigods or half-bloods, and usually have difficult, danger-filled lives.

Percy Jackson is the first of these half-bloods we meet, and he serves as the narrator and protagonist of many of the books in this universe. He’s the son of the Greek god Poseidon, but soon learns that there are other mythologies at play too. Roman gods, mainly, but Percy also has brief encounters with other beings too. And Percy’s books have the most sequels and spinoffs, such as Apollo‘s and Nico‘s books.

Meanwhile, Sadie and Carter Kane are the sibling protagonists of the Kane Chronicles, the trilogy focusing on Egyptian mythology. And finally, Magnus Chase is the titular protagonist of his Norse trilogy (and he also happens to be the cousin of Annabeth, another main character in the Percy series).

However, since all these books exist in the same universe, and the characters even interact on occasion, I often encounter questions about how to read them. (Reminder that I work in a bookstore, so I probably hear these queries more often than most people.) Hence these lists!

ALL THE BOOKS

So first, let me list the main novels* (color-coded by series, which is hopefully helpful). ✨️I excluded short stories and related works, but please see the list of those at the end of the post.✨️

  • Greek and Roman mythology: The Camp Half-Blood Chronicles
    • Percy Jackson and the Olympians (PJO): 7 novels
      • Lightning Thief (2005)
      • Sea of Monsters (2006)
      • Titan’s Curse (2007)
      • Battle of the Labyrinth (2008)
      • Last Olympian (2009)
      • Senior Year Adventures
        • Chalice of the Gods (2023)
        • Wrath of the Triple Goddess (2024)
    • Heroes of Olympus (HOO): 5 novels
      • Lost Hero (2010)
      • Son of Neptune (2011)
      • Mark of Athena (2012)
      • House of Hades (2013)
      • Blood of Olympus (2014)
    • Trials of Apollo (TOA): 5 novels
      • Hidden Oracle (2015)
      • Dark Prophecy (2016)
      • Burning Maze (2017)
      • Tyrant’s Tomb (2018)
      • Tower of Nero (2019)
    • The Nico di Angelo Adventures (NdAA): co-written with Mark Oshiro
      • The Sun and the Star (2023)
      • The Court of the Dead (2025)
  • Egyptian mythology
    • The Kane Chronicles (KC): 3 novels
      • Red Pyramid (2010)
      • Throne of Fire (2011)
      • Serpent’s Shadow (2012)
  • Norse mythology
    • Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard (MCGA): 3 novels
      • Sword of Summer (2015)
      • Hammer of Thor (2016)
      • Ship of the Dead (2017)

PUBLICATION ORDER

Naturally, one could always read these in order of publication. That’s basically what I did growing up, with the exception of Magnus Chase and the Kane Chronicles.

Here are the books in order of publication:

  • Lightning Thief (PJO)
  • Sea of Monsters (PJO)
  • Titan’s Curse (PJO)
  • Battle of the Labyrinth (PJO)
  • Last Olympian (PJO)
  • Red Pyramid (KC)
  • Lost Hero (HOO)
  • Throne of Fire (KC)
  • Son of Neptune (HOO)
  • Serpent’s Shadow (KC)
  • Mark of Athena (HOO)
  • House of Hades (HOO)
  • Blood of Olympus (HOO)
  • Sword of Summer (MCGA)
  • Hidden Oracle (TOA)
  • Hammer of Thor (MCGA)
  • Dark Prophecy (TOA)
  • Ship of the Dead (MCGA)
  • Burning Maze (TOA)
  • Tyrant’s Tomb (TOA)
  • Tower of Nero (TOA)
  • Sun and the Star (NdAA)
  • Chalice of the Gods (PJO)
  • Wrath of the Triple Goddess (PJO)
  • The Court of the Dead (NdAA)

CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER

I’ve found that one of the things that makes these books complicated is that some of the series happen contemporaneously. The main example of this is the Magnus Chase trilogy and the Trials of Apollo series. From what I can tell/recall, both take place from January through June, and were all published alternately from 2015–2019.

So while that’s a little confusing, it’s also handy, as it means that the “Publication Order” and “Chronological Order” are nearly identical—with a couple notable exceptions: the new “Percy Senior Year Adventures” books, Chalice of the Gods and Wrath of the Triple Goddess.

Therefore, if you want to jump back and forth between series by reading these according to the in-universe timeline, here’s that list:

  • Lightning Thief (PJO)
  • Sea of Monsters (PJO)
  • Titan’s Curse (PJO)
  • Battle of the Labyrinth (PJO)
  • Last Olympian (PJO)
  • Red Pyramid (KC)
  • Lost Hero (HOO)
  • Throne of Fire (KC)
  • Son of Neptune (HOO)
  • Serpent’s Shadow (KC)
  • Mark of Athena (HOO)
  • House of Hades (HOO)
  • Blood of Olympus (HOO)
  • Chalice of the Gods (PJO)
  • Wrath of the Triple Goddess (PJO)
  • Sword of Summer (MCGA)
  • Hidden Oracle (TOA)
  • Hammer of Thor (MCGA)
  • Dark Prophecy (TOA)
  • Ship of the Dead (MCGA)
  • Burning Maze (TOA)
  • Tyrant’s Tomb (TOA)
  • Tower of Nero (TOA)
  • Sun and the Star (NdAA)
  • Court of the Dead (NdAA)

I’m sure someone out there has a much more detailed timeline published, broken down by month or even week. I’m not that person, though. Whoever you are, I admire you for your detail-oriented nature.

THE BEST ORDER

For me, the best way to read these books is partially chronological, but mainly by series. (With the exception of Chalice and Goddess, again.)

Anyway, here it is, the best order:

  • Percy Jackson and the Olympians books 1–5:
    • Lightning Thief
    • Sea of Monsters
    • Titan’s Curse
    • Battle of the Labyrinth
    • Last Olympian
  • The Kane Chronicles trilogy:
    • Red Pyramid
    • Throne of Fire
    • Serpent’s Shadow
  • The Heroes of Olympus series:
    • Lost Hero
    • Son of Neptune
    • Mark of Athena
    • House of Hades
    • Blood of Olympus
  • Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard trilogy:
    • Sword of Summer
    • Hammer of Thor
    • Ship of the Dead
  • Percy Jackson Senior Year Adventures
    • Chalice of the Gods**
    • Wrath of the Triple Goddess**
  • The Trials of Apollo series:
    • Hidden Oracle
    • Dark Prophecy
    • Burning Maze
    • Tyrant’s Tomb
    • Tower of Nero
  • Nico di Angelo Adventures:
    • Sun and the Star
    • Court of the Dead
  • Percy Jackson Senior Year Adventures
    • Chalice of the Gods**
    • Wrath of the Triple Goddess**

**Now, here’s where I’m indecisive. I can’t decide if Chalice and Goddess would be more rewarding to read at their proper point of the timeline (ie, before the Trials of Apollo series begins), or after reading everything else (like I did, a decision that left me emotional from nostalgia). Therefore, I listed them twice, and you get to choose!

CONCLUSION

Look, if nothing else, please read the Greco-Roman books in this order:

  • Percy Jackson and the Olympians (the original 5 books)
  • Heroes of Olympus series
  • Trials of Apollo series
  • Nico di Angelo Adventures

As for Chalice/Goddess just make sure you’ve read the first 5 Percy Jackson books AND the Heroes of Olympus series first.

You can really read the Magnus Chase and the Kane Chronicles trilogies whenever you want, though there are a few cameos that would make more sense if you’ve read at least some of the Greco-Roman stuff first. But you’ll still be able to enjoy the stories and characters either way.

Whew. This was a mess to organize; I hope it was helpful to someone! I know there are a lot of books, and it can appear overwhelming, but it’s so worth it. These series have such strong themes about friendship, bravery, kindness, and so on. There’s humor and heart, and the characters are delightful.

Also, if I have made any errors, please let me know.

*In these reading orders, I DID NOT include:

  • supplementary/companion works (but to be thorough, I’ll still list them here). And check out this person’s post for more information on their chronology! I have not read most of these, so I hesitate to speak authoritatively on when to read them, which is why I defer to my fellow book reviewer.
    • PJO supplementary work
      • Demigod Files
    • HOO supplementary work
      • Demigod Diaries
    • TOA supplementary works
      • Camp Half Blood Confidential
      • Camp Jupiter Declassified
    • MCGA supplementary works
      • Hotel Valhalla
      • 9 from the Nine Worlds
    • KC supplementary works
      • Demigods and Magicians (crossover stories with PJO characters)
      • Brooklyn House Magician’s Manual
  • e-book exclusives
  • short stories in anthologies
  • mythology retellings (Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods and Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes)
  • Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Ultimate Guide
  • graphic novel versions
  • The Daughter of the Deep, a novel that was published in 2022, but doesn’t exist in this universe, so it can be read at any time (speaking of which, I still need to read that one…)
  • Anything published under the Rick Riordan Presents imprint of Disney-Hyperion, which are all by different authors and do not exist in the same universe as Percy, as far as I am aware.

55 thoughts on “How to Read Rick Riordan’s Books”

  1. Barbara Coln's avatar Barbara Coln

    You didn’t include the companion books in your list. You have to read them so you know about Percy and the river Styx, and also that’s where Percy meets “Bob” the titan.

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      1. Patrick F's avatar Patrick F

        Thanks! They would be “The Demigod Files” which I think should come after “The Battle of the Labyrinth”, “The Son of Sobek”, “The Staff of Serapis”, and “The Crown of Ptolemy” (I believe these are all e-Books) which – imho – would come After the Kane Chronicles series, the “The Demigod Files” which would technically come after “The Son of Neptune”, although I have heard that it is okay to wait for after The Heroes of Olympus series. There is also the “9 From the Nine Worlds” which falls after the Magnus Chase series. 🙂

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        1. Thanks, Patrick! I actually have those listed at the very end of the post, because I primarily wanted to address reading order of the full novels, but this timeline is really helpful! I need to track down a couple of these myself. 🙂

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      2. Willow's avatar Willow

        Now that I know about the campion books I need to know when to read them because bob is mentioned in later books like The Sun and The Star can you please update this list so we can know when to read the champion books

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  3. Grace C Hall's avatar Grace C Hall

    This is a great list and was very helpful! However, I noticed you didn’t have “Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods” and “Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes”. Both are companion books and I believe Greek Heroes comes after PJO and Greek Gods comes after HOO. Again great list, just thought I’d add these!

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    1. Hi Grace! I listed those companion books at the end of the post, but I wanted to keep the reading orders to be just about the main novels. That’s good to know about when Greek Heroes and Gods are set, though; I didn’t know that. Thanks!

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    1. Hi Nicoline! Thanks for the comment! “The Sword of Hades” is a short story from the companion book The Demigod Files. I think chronologically it’s set between books 4 and 5 of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. As for if it’s worth reading, I don’t know 😅 I’ve read a couple of Riordan’s short stories but not all of them, which is why this post was just about the full length novels rather than the companion books. Hope this helps!

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  8. Lilah's avatar Lilah

    You missed a book:

    Percy Jackson & the Olympians

    • The Lightning Thief (2005)
    • The Sea of Monsters (2006)
    • The Titan’s Curse (2007)
    • The Battle of the Labyrinth (2008)
    • The Last Olympian (2009)
    • The Chalice of the Gods (2023)
    • Wrath of the Triple Goddess (2024)

    Wrath of the Triple Goddess, the seventh installment in the series, is scheduled to be released on September 24, 2024.

    It’s doesn’t exist yet, but I thought it might be handy.

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  9. Alyssia's avatar Alyssia

    I found this very helpful but I am confused on what to read after HOO should I read TOA first or KC or even MCGA. Also if I was to miss the sun and the star would I be confused with everything else.

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    1. Hi Alyssia! So KC and MCGA don’t really contain spoilers for the Greek-Roman centered stories, since they have totally different protagonists, so you can technically read them whenever. I believe I personally went in this order: HOO, then KC, then MCGA and TOA at around the same time. And the Sun and the Star takes place after everything else, so you can either save it for last or not read it at all. Up to you (though I do recommend it)!

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      1. Moe's avatar Moe

        I would read MCGA after HOO, before The Chalice of the gods (2023 because an event in TOA, and in MCGA they don’t know about it’s happenings. KC I would suggest to read whenever. (I haven’t read them yet, correct me if I am wrong)

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  10. WeetBix's avatar WeetBix

    does anyone happen to know when a good time to read the Greek gods and Greek hero’s would be? I bought them yesterday but after a lot of googling I’m genuinely unsure as they’re not common at all? If anyone knows please let me know!!

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    1. Greek Gods came out in 2014 (the same year as Blood of Olympus), and Greek Heroes came out in 2017 (the same year as Burning Maze). So if you wanted to wait until after finishing the Heroes of Olympus series at least, that might be best.

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  11. Connor's avatar Connor

    Magnus Chase and TOA are actually at the same time because During Magnus chase Annabeth says, “my boyfriends kinda busy rn fighting evil ancient roman emperors which is refering to TOA

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    1. Yes, those two series are at the same time! I’ve got it listed that way in the chronological timeline section. It was quite a busy spring/summer for demigods! 😄

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    1. I think that’s a sequel to Son of Sobek, another Kane Chronicles/Percy Jackson short story. Chronologically, it happens between PJO and HOO, I believe. Full disclosure, though, I haven’t read it, nor have I read most of the short stories/companion books. So it’s up to you if you want to read them! They’re probably fun bonuses, but skipping them won’t affect your enjoyment of the full novels. Hope this helps! 😄

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  13. aefa's avatar aefa

    Thank you so so SO much for this! I’m reading PJO for the first ever time ATM (currently on book three) and I got very confused with there being two more books (as I got the first five in a set), and I’ve briefly seen how many books there are and how there is an established timeline, and because of the gap of time between books two and three I thought there was something in the middle (turns out i firstly missed the context behind where Grover was because I read too fast and as for Thalia’s development into the group being cut by the time skip, I’m gonna keep that idea for when I need to advance a plot but can’t be asked to include development/j) and that led me down this confusing rabbit hole and I honestly couldn’t understand what the heck was going on. Your timeline was by far the easiest to understand so thank you so much! (The colours really helped too, maybe because I have ADHD lmao)

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  14. Bailey Hettenbach's avatar Bailey Hettenbach

    I was reading this to see where the demigod files went because I’m on the house of hades from the HOO because I got to the Bob part and didn’t remember that and turns out I didn’t read the book for that yet lol (the demigod files) anywaayyyss I got the set of PJO for Christmas and it’s the Disney hyper whatever one and are you saying they aren’t the same as the original books at all??? 😭😭 I thought they were the same just differently decorated! Please tell me I don’t need to read the original all over again!

    I think the HOO ones I have too are the Disney ones 😭

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    1. Hi Bailey, I’m sorry if I said anything confusing. I think the Demigod Files is a companion book for the PJO series, so you can read it after you finish that series. However, I didn’t include it in the reading order, since it’s just a bonus book and not a full novel. As for the PJO books, they have had a variety of new covers over the years, but the content should be the exact same. And as for the publisher, I googled it, and it appears that they were originally published by Miramax, then later editions by Disney Hyperion. But each version’s actual content is the same. No need to reread anything! You have the right novels; you probably just don’t have the original covers.

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      1. Bailey Hettenbach's avatar Bailey Hettenbach

        wheeewwww thank you so much that really helps! The whole bob the titan in the HOO series is in the diaries books but honestly they always kind of do a recap anyways in every book so it isn’t totally necessary to read those first it was just so confusing when I got to that part and I was like wait what when did this happen lol. Again thank you sooo much!

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  15. Saisusritha's avatar Saisusritha

    Thank you so much for this list! But in SS I believe there is a mention of Carter seeing Pegasi over Manhattan, which we know happened in TLO so chronologically the other KC books should be before TLO right?

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  16. Swiftie Demigod's avatar Swiftie Demigod

    Thank you so much for this list! But in SS I believe there is a mention of Carter seeing Pegasi over Manhattan, which we know happened in TLO so chronologically the other KC books should be before TLO right?

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  18. Mira's avatar Mira

    Hi!! This is so incredibly helpful!! I have a quick question though, if I read the first five PJO books then the HOO series right after, where do I go from there?
    tysm!!

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  19. Avery M.'s avatar Avery M.

    Thanks so much for the post! It was incredibly helpful. I do have one question: I started reading HoO right after PJO too, but would there be anything in between those series? You listed the Kane Chronicles- though I’m really just hooked on Camp Half-Blood’s story right now- so is there anything else I should know?

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    1. Hi Avery, you can definitely jump into HOO after PJO; that’s what I did. Kane Chronicles chronologically happens before HOO, but it’s totally fine to stick with the Greek/Roman stuff. There aren’t spoilers for Kane in HOO and vice versa. I hope that helps! 🙂

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  24. Zz's avatar Zz

    hey soooooo I kinda didn’t really realize there was other books you should read before the new Percy Jackson books and am already 1/4 through the second senior year books. Does it matter that I haven’t read any of the Magnus Chase or Trials of Apollo books? Like I’m not gonna miss smt important right? I’m just not sure if I should stop and go read those first before I finish

    Thanks:)

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  27. Liljana's avatar Liljana

    Thank you so much for this list! I am finishing HoO after reading PO and after hearing about all of the new books that Rick is publishing, I started to wonder what should I read next! I will be sure to try and follow these interesting lists! -Thanks!

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    1. Hi Tania, sorry if that was confusing. If you mean under my “Best Order” section, I have a note right underneath that list to clarify. Basically, you can read the Senior Year books either before or after Trials of Apollo; it’s up to you. Thanks for double checking! 😄

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