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It wasn’t Harry Potter that spurs my interest in fiction other than comic books. It was this series. Back when I first came in contact with it, the series was already at its halfway point. The series begin with 12 year old Percy Jackson, a kid with various problems in his life. Whether it is his mother working to make a living for her son and her lazy and abusive husband (Percy’s step-father), his step-father pushing him around, and his condition impeding his academic progress. This is because Percy is diagnosed as having ADHD and dyslexia.

The series itself was made after the writer, Rick Riordan, was encouraged by his son (who has autism) to publish his work. This is because the series was inspired by his son’s condition and showing that all children can achieve something special. It also showcases a sarcastic and witty narration which helped readers digest a (simplified) version of Greco-Roman mythology. The novel can be a way to teach history (with a helping of guidance by browsing on verified cultural history) to the reader so they know the actual context of the myth and the condition causing those legends to be made.

However, the series does suffer somewhat from the trend set down by Harry Potter. Not only was it seen as another teenager or young adult novel riding the wizarding series’ fantastical coattails or its positioning of teenagers as always being the heroes. Riordan does manage to balance it out with his responsible adult characters (with strange quirks like all of his other’s) but it still play by some of the genre’s tropes.