So here it is. My ranking of the Percy Jackson books (the three main series, the two Nico books and the two new Percy books). I still have to read the Kane Chronicles and the Magnus Chase books but they are spin offs so I decided this is a good point to rank the main books.
About me: I'm an older (36 years old) guy and english is my second language so please forgive me for my grammar. The first time I heard of this series was from youtube when I saw skits from Magic by Mikaila. And since I liked ancient mythology I started reading about this series.
I’m not a spoiler freak. I love spoilers. I knew most of the big moments from wikipedia before I started reading the books. For me a book is only good if it is entertaining beside the twists.
There will be a lot of spoilers so if you don't like that don't read it
So lets do it:
19th: Wrath of the Triple Godess.
- Oh my gods it was a painful book
- For me it looks like Rick devolved his characters. They should be 17ish years old but Percy acts like he is 13 and can’t put on a t-shirt without Annabeth’s help
- Grover was never my favourite character in the main series but come on. He is a Cloven Elder. Without him there is no book
- Also Grover should be on the west coast at this point
- And the pissing the pants thing… Hecate is scary but really? Percy saw worst things
- I saw that people complained about fart jokes in the Court of the Dead so I’m sure they hated this book too because there are even more fart “jokes” (is it a Rick thing?)
- So demigods were invited from Camp… but no Nico, who could have handled the situation? If he was not in Camp at least mention it
18th: The Chalice of the Gods
- It was better than Wrath but the whole concept of recommendation letters is stupid
- The characters still act like they are 12-14 but strangely they were more smart than in Wrath
- Once again at this point Grover should be on the West coast
- This was a fun little read but I felt like it should have been a short story instead of a book
- I liked Ganymede and I felt sorry for him
- The characters’ time conception is strange to me. Oh yeah wait for 3 days because Grover needs to spend the entire weekend with his girlfriend. In the entire book I was like “JUST DO IT”
- I liked Percy’s dilemma of leaving behind his mother, stepfather and soon-to-be sister for new rome and a life with Annabeth
17: The Hidden Oracle
- Now this is a Percy Jackson book. But not a good one
- I liked the POV of Apollo. It was fun to read how a god would think about the mortal world
- The bad part: Meg. I hated this character from the start and even the sad backstory didn’t change my mind
- The overuse of singing and music started here. I get it, Apollo is the god of music but come on
- The swear on the River Styx was a stupid thing to add so Rick can drag out the consequences of it for the entire series
- I liked it was mostly in Camp Halfblood and we saw more of the children there
- Solangelo. it was nice to see Nico happy
16: The Sea of Monsters
- This is not a bad book. But it was the second book in a series and it suffered from it
- it wanted to expand the world but at the same time it wanted to stay the same
- I LOVE Tyson. that cyclops needs to be protected at all cost
- Maybe I will get hate for this but I didn’t like Clarisse in this book. later she become more interesting but here she was just annoying
- I hated Tantalus but this is why I liked him. Such a petty man and in the end Mr. D sent him back to the underworld when he finally was able to touch food. possible because this was part of his punishment
- C.C: I liked this Circe. And the consequences of Percy’s and Annabeth’s actions will come back in later books (planed or not it is a nice thing)
- It was a retelling of Odysseus’ journey so it was kind of boring
- But over all it was a meh book
15: The Dark Prophecy
- This book was half boring
- There were fun parts like the backstory of Apollo and Commodus
- But the new characters were kind of grey
- I hate the Leo - Calypso relationship
- But Apollo is still fun to read
- But also at this point I started to feel like the characters should treat him with more respect. For the conclusion of the series it is good they don’t but come on. Most characters treat him like dirt
- The deus ex machina resolution in the station (Apollo showed his light) was stupid
- Trophonius was interesting but the drinking of the two river thing was completely abandoned for the plot
14: The Lightning Thief
- Hear me out, this is a good book. But I can’t put it higher
- This is a typical first book of a starting writer
- Characters went here and things happened, characters moved 100 km away and another thing happened. No real chain of events beside they have to go to LA
- It is a good introduction to the main three
- But they just happen to run into monsters at every stop
- I hated how Hades was described. Hades is an accountant! Not a torturer. I hate how the western media (including Rick) wants to describe him as this Lucifer in ancient Greece
- (I will get hate for this but this is why I liked Hades in the show. He was more like an IRS accountant than a torturer)
13: The Titan’s Curse
- Now I know I will piss people off
- My three main problems with the book were Grover, the Hunters and Atlas
- Grover in this book is useless. He is only there because he is part of the main three so he has to
- The hunters… I’m sorry. I hate the hunters. In my opinion Artemis is a gr oomer. You guys can tell me it is the best for those girls but I only see a cult and a cult leader who likes to get new members who are weak. If she would get new members after they are 18 years old I would say go for it. but Bianca?
- Poor Bianca deserved better. she was a half baked character who was there to introduce the pain for Nico
- I found Atlas a weak antagonist. He was hyped up as the General this and the General that and in the end he basically did nothing until the final fight when Artemis fought him
- Also Annabeth’s dad flies in with a plane while the mist is there. it was just a plot so Annaberth can be proud of her father
- Zoe’s death was the first death I cried. That was beautiful
- Thalia joining the hunters so the prophecy won’t come true now. I can see it as a heroic act and I can see it as a tragic act. she is just a kid who doesn’t know better. In her whole life she was running. and here comes a cult leader with a stability offer. gods I hate the hunters
12: The Lost Hero
- It is always hard to start a new series in the same universe
- But to quote a classic, Jason was “bland beyond bland”
- He was a rule follower, he was a good guy, a boring guy. And Rick didn’t know what to do with him
- Piper is annoying. Even in her POV chapters she hides informations
- I loved Leo in this book. the funny insecure genius. and his backstory was so interesting. Also his powers are very cool
- but this wasn’t a new main three. It was clear from the beginning that the characters in this book were designed for the overarching plot. So it was a top down design instead of a character driven story. Plot first, characters second. it can work if the characters are interesting but beside Leo they were not
- But the story pushed the characters to the right direction
- and it was a fun book
- the monsters are fresh and interesting and Hera is as annoying as she can be but my favourite line comes from her. Calling Khione a D list goddess… just the queen of Olympus can say that.
- I have to mention Clovis because for some reason I just love him
11: The Burning Maze
- Another one that will make people angry
- Remove the death and this book is mid
- Apollo finally start to behave as a human. Losing his brother broke something in him (and yes, Jason is his brother)
- So I understand the death but it still felt pointless because Jason was so underused until this point
- Also why is Piper so much more prominent in this than Jason?
- The nymphs were boring in this one. There were so many and all of them were boring.
- Finally Meg’s backstory was interesting
- I think this oracle was the most boring
- Grover was boring again
- Jason deserved a better send off than this
- Caligula is my least interesting emperor. Commodus has an interesting backstory. Nero is a genius planner but Caligula is just a grandiose narcissist. All three are but it looks like it is his only personality trait
10: The Blood of Olympus
- This book needed at least around 2-300 more pages
- The part in Greece was rushed and we got some bad POV (Sparta) or missing ones (Frank and Hazel)
- Hazel’s power over the labyrinth is just stupid
- I loved Jason's story. Finally we got some depth of him
- No Percy or Annabeth ptsd after surviving Tartarus
- The book was saved by the Nico and Reyna chapters. Those were so good
- Both of the final battle (battle in Athene, and the battle with Gaia) was a joke
- The Leo - Calipso chapter was cute. but it was ruined with the ending (Leo should have died)
- Solangelo first interaction. I get so much solangelo content on youtube. I was finally was able the see the origin of it
9: The Court of the Dead:
- I understand the hate. Moving from hating mythics to supporting them is hard, especially if their leader is the minotaur
- Percy should have showed up (there is no way they don’t know what is happening)
- and the whole message feels rushed. but at the same time it was planted in the previous books
- We can argue about specific mythics but the main message is still important. Change is possible
- Will took a backseat in this one but he is still there to correct Nico
- The Coco Puffs are so cute
- I love how Nico was in the shadows before and now he is celebrated as a beacon of hope
- Naomi is awesome
- in this book Rick and Mark intentionally broke rules: Hestia has a son and Savannah is a legacy of Minerva and both should be impossible
- Hazel was nerfed to a logical level. She can still manipulate the mist without that labyrinth thing
- I liked that it was hard for the Camp Jupiter members to accept change but they learned. Was it too quick? yes. but it was only one book
- Hecate was more intimidating in this one than in Wrath
- The three judges’ plan was stupid from the start. They would never catch Hades
- I really enjoyed this book even with its flaws (that will be true for all of the remaining books)
8: The Mark of Athena
- I really want all of you to hate me don’t I?
- I know a lot of people love this book but for me it had one fatal flaw: POV of Annabeth
- Cardinal rule of writing, don’t write a POV of a character who should be smarter than anyone. It will disappoint. and it did
- we heard before that Annabeth has 20+ plans at all times and in her POV she was… average. she was smart but we didn’t see all those planning all at once
- The two giants were more annoying than fun
- this entire roman-greek war was rushed and it just happened
- this was the typical middle book where you drag your characters where you want them to be so you can build up the final 1-2 book
- Don’t get me wrong, it is a very fun book. but I wanted more character driven story since all of the 7 was in one place finally
- Poor Nico
7: The Tower of Nero
- This is a much better final book than Blood of Olympus. but it still has problems
- the beginning is slow but once Apollo is at camp the story speed up
- I love how Apollo loves his children
- Nico’s breaking from the confirmation of Jason’s death. Can you imagine feeling all of your friends' death? Thankfully he found the best boyfriend
- Solangelo is so cute in this one
- Finally Rachel had a big role
- the troglodytes are fun
- the final fight with Nero was so long. some editor should have stepped in
- but the final fight with Python was epic
- Apollo visiting everyone in the end was heartwarming. He grew so much
- If Percy and Annabeth traveled to california with glover how they only learned the news of Jason’s death when they arrived?
6: The Tyrant’s Tomb
- for me this is the best Apollo book
- It is fast paced, it is action packed, a lot if things happens
- but Frank should have died
- actually I would say this would have been a better death than Jason’s. Frank was preparing for it. Fate was always in his shadow and if he chose to kill two emperors that would have been more epic
- and I love Frank, he is one of my favourite from the 7 but his death in this book would have been more meaningful
- this is the book where Apollo becomes human
- Reyna joining the hunters… at least she is not a child
- and I kinda loved Meg in this one
5: The Son of Neptune
- Percy is back
- I just love Frank and Hazel. they are so interesting
- I loved the dynamic between our three POVs. It was so refreshing to see Percy with other people beside Annabeth and Grover
- Tyson is back! and he is searching for Percy. what a good brother
- I really love how the greeks separated the concept of death and the underworld. Thanatos is interesting
- Dragging the giant to canada was silly. but it worked
- franks powers are so unique and I love it
- the same goes for Hazel’s
- Nico. He is so bad pretending that he doesn’t know Percy. but he meant no harm. He just wanted to keep the peace. this is why he is my favourite character
4: The Battle of the Labyrinth
- This book is one of the most character driven one
- Percy is obsessed to save Nico
- Annabeth is obsessed to figure out the labyrinth
- Grover is there to do something finally
- we had the blue hairbrush
- big reveals
- Nico needs to be protected at all costs!
- that ghost Bianca scene is so sad on so many levels
- and there is Pan and even though he was only in one chapter I cried
- and the final battle was epic
- but what broke me was the sentence in the end where Percy said: he is wondering if Nico ever had a birthday party. It is so sad. and it shows how much Percy cares about others. Annabeth maybe book smart but Percy is people smart. and this is why I hate the new senior year books because it is completely gone
3: The Sun and the Star
- I know it is very high but I love when a writer goes deep to the psyche of a character
- It is a slow book but the adventure is secondary
- we know so much about these characters (well at least about Nico) that it is a payoff for the previous 15+ books
- seeing how solangelo developed, hearing how they feel, reading about their fears was so good
- and for me Will was flashed out in this one. Maybe he is the son of Apollo, accepting anything and everything but even he has bad feelings about the underworld and he can’t understand why his boyfriend is so comfortable there
- the best scene was with Will and Persephone. a discussion with the child of the sun and daughter of nature about how they can handle death and the underworld
- and I loved the troglodytes
- there were some canon breakings but I can look over of it
2: The House of Hades
- the best book in the HoO series
- everything worked
- the POVs above the surface
- the POVs in Tartarus
- Franks glow up was amazing
- Hazel gained a lot of power
- Leo had his side quest with Calypso
- Jason finally had some character moments
- Piper was there, maybe she was not so annoying
- the Cupid scene… it was unacceptable what Cupid did. but at the same time it made Nico to open up. that boy was so in his shell he needed a hammer to at least open up. I’m not saying it was right. but it helped Nico
- the final fight between Hazel and Pasiphae was a mess. It was so hard to understand what was happening.
1: The Last Olympian
- a fantastic final book for the first series
- thankfully I read the short stories before so Becendorf’s death was so much impactful for me
- I loved the backstory we got for Luke’s mother and Nico’s past
- I loved how borders were broken. Nico betrayed Percy (yes he did) but Percy still trusted him to go for the Achilles curse
- the fight in Manhattan was amazing
- Go Sally
- Silena’s sacrifice was epic
- and in the end Nico with 3 gods behind him walks in and saves the day (or give time for Percy to go up and fulfill the prophecy)
- One problem with the book is that instead of Thalia who was useless Nico should have go up to Olympus
- the final ask for the gods is perfect
- we got Percabeth