Rick Riordan
Riordan signing copies of The Battle of the Labyrinth on November 3, 2008
Born	(1964-06-05) June 5, 1964 (age 48) San Antonio, Texas
Occupation	Author
Nationality	United States
Genres	Fantasy, Detective fiction, Mythology
Notable work(s)	Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, The Kane Chronicles, Heroes of Olympus, The Maze of Bones, Tres Navarre Series
Influences Greek mythology, Roman Mythology, and Egyptian mythology
www.rickriordan.com

Richard Russell "Rick" Riordan (/ˈraɪərˌdɛn/), Jr. (born June 5, 1964)^[1] is an American author best known for writing the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. He also wrote the adult mystery series Tres Navarre^[2] and helped edit Demigods and Monsters, a collection of essays on his Percy Jackson series. He helped develop the ten books of The 39 Clues series and wrote the first book in the series, The Maze of Bones.^[3] In 2012, he completed a trilogy focusing on Egyptian mythology, The Kane Chronicles, and has published three out of five planned books of The Heroes of Olympus series, the sequel to the Percy Jackson series that focuses on Roman and Greek mythology.

Biography [edit]

Rick Riordan was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. He graduated from Alamo Heights High School. He then graduated from University of Texas at Austin. He taught English and Social Studies for eight years at Presidio High School in San Francisco.

Riordan has created many successful book series. The multi-award-winning^[4] Tres Navarre mystery series for adults follows the fast-paced adventures of an erudite Texan private eye. His Percy Jackson and the Olympians series features a twelve-year-old who discovers he is the modern-day son of the ancient Greek god, Poseidon. Twentieth Century Fox purchased the film rights and released a feature film February 12, 2010. Following the success of Percy Jackson, Rick Riordan created The Kane Chronicles, which features a modern-day Egyptian pantheon and two new sibling protagonists. Its first book, The Red Pyramid, was released May 4, 2010; the sequel, The Throne Of Fire, was released May 3, 2011.^[5] The third and final book in the Kane Chronicles, The Serpent's Shadow, was released May 1, 2012. Riordan also created a sequel series to the Percy Jackson books, The Heroes of Olympus. Its first book, The Lost Hero, was released in the U.S. October 12, 2010; the sequel, The Son of Neptune, was released October 4, 2011, and the third book in the series, The Mark of Athena, was released October 2, 2012. Riordan expanded both series simultaneously; while he has completed The Kane Chronicles trilogy, he continues to write The Heroes of Olympus, a pentalogy. Riordan also helped create the children's book series The 39 Clues; he authored several of its books, including The Maze of Bones, which topped the New York Times Best Seller list on September 28, 2008.^[6] Riordan plans to publish another series based on Norse mythology in 2015.^[7]

The San Diego Comic-Con International 2010 featured Riordan as a guest.^[8] Rick Riordan lives in San Antonio with his wife and their two sons Patrick and Haley, who inspired his Percy Jackson series by telling stories of their dreams.

Published books [edit]

Camp Half-Blood series [edit]

Series One: Percy Jackson and the Olympians [edit]

• The Lightning Thief (June 28, 2005)
• The Sea of Monsters (March 21, 2006)
• The Titan's Curse (May 1, 2007)
• The Battle of the Labyrinth (May 6, 2008)
• The Demigod Files (February 10, 2009)^[9]
• The Last Olympian (May 5, 2009)
• The Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel (October 12, 2010)

Series Two: The Heroes of Olympus [edit]

• The Lost Hero (October 12, 2010)
• The Son of Neptune (October 4, 2011)
• The Demigod Diaries (August 14, 2012)^[10]
• The Mark of Athena (October 2, 2012)
• The House of Hades (October 8, 2013)^[11]
• Book five (Fall 2014)

The Kane Chronicles [edit]

• The Red Pyramid (May 4, 2010)^[12]
• The Throne of Fire (May 9, 2011)^[13]
• The Serpent's Shadow (May 1, 2012)^[14]
• The Kane Chronicles Survival Guide (March 20, 2012)^[15]
• The Red Pyramid: The Graphic Novel (October 2, 2012)

The 39 Clues series [edit]

• The Maze of Bones (2008)^[16]
• Introduction to The Black Book of Buried Secrets (2010)
• Vespers Rising (2011)

Tres Navarre series [edit]

• Big Red Tequila (1997)
• Widower's Two-Step (1998)
• The Last King of Texas (2000)
• The Devil Went Down to Austin (2001)
• Southtown (2004)
• Mission Road (2005)
• Rebel Island (2007)

Stand alone novels [edit]

• Cold Springs (2004)^[17]
• The Son of Sobek (2013): crossover e-book between Percy Jackson series and the Kane Chronicles^[18]

Untitled Norse series [edit]

• Book 1 (2015)^[7][19]

Awards [edit]

• 1998 Shamus Award and Anthony Award for Big Red Tequila^[4]
• 1999 Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original for The Widower's Two-Step^[20]
• 2008 Mark Twain Award for The Lightning Thief^[21]
• 2009 Mark Twain Award for The Sea of Monsters^[21]
• 2009 Rebecca Caudill Award for The Lightning Thief^[22]
• 2010 School Library Journal's Best Book for The Red Pyramid ^[23]
• 2011 Children's Choice Book Awards: Author of the Year^[24]
• 2011 Children's Choice Book Awards: Fifth Grade to Sixth Grade Book of the Year for The Red Pyramid^[24]
• 2011 Wyoming Soaring Eagle Book Award for The Last Olympian^[25]
• 2011 Milner Award for Percy Jackson and the Olympians series^[26]
• 2012 Indian Paintbrush Award for The Red Pyramid^[27]

Further reading [edit]

• Art at Our Doorstep: San Antonio Writers and Artists featuring Rick Riordan. Edited by Nan Cuba and Riley Robinson (Trinity University Press, 2008).

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Official Rick Riordan Site
• Official Percy Jackson UK Site
• Miss Erin interview
• Starred Review of The Last Olympian
• Works by or about Rick Riordan in libraries (WorldCat catalog)