Riordanverse Reading Schedule

As we got near the end of reading Animorphs together, it didn't take long for Russell and I to decide on another franchise to read and discuss. If you're a fan of the books by Rick Riordan, that's where we're headed next. We didn’t get any followers chiming in for Animorphs, but if the world of Percy Jackson intrigues you, we’d love to have you reading along with us. 

I wasn’t going to post this list until September, but Russell and I are well under way with our reading (I finished “Sea of Monsters” this week). Send any comments to our email, social media accounts, or Discord. Check back here for any changes to the reading schedule, especially since the new Camp Half-Blood books will released in the middle of this series  

Part 1 - Release in October 2026

The Diary of Luke Castellan (The Demigod Diaries)

The Lightning Thief

The Sea of Monsters

The Stolen Chariot (The Demigod Files)

Part 2 - Release in November 2026

The Titan's Curse

The Battle of the Labyrinth 

The Sword of Hades (The Demigod Files)

Part 3 - Release in December 2026

The Red Pyramid

The Throne of Fire

Part 4 - Release in January 2027

The Bronze Dragon (The Demigod Files)

The Last Olympian

Percy Jackson's Greek Gods

Part 5 - Release in February 2027

The Staff of Hermes (The Demigod Diaries)

The Singer of Apollo (Short Story)

The Lost Hero

The Quest for Buford (The Demigod Diaries)

The Son of Magic (The Demigod Diaries)

Part 6 - Release in March 2027

The Serpent's Shadow

The Son of Neptune

Part 7 - Release in April 2027

The Mark of Athena

The House of Hades

Part 8 - Release in May 2027

The Blood of Olympus 

Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes

Part 9 - Release in June 2027

Demigods and Magicians

The Chalice of the Gods

Wrath of the Triple Goddess
Brooklyn House Magician's Manual

Part 10 - Release in July 2027

The Sword of Summer

The Hidden Oracle

Part 11 - Release August 2027

Camp Jupiter Classified

Camp Half-Blood Confidential

Hotel Valhalla: Guide to the Norse Worlds

The Hammer of Thor 

The Dark Prophecy             

Part 12 - Release September 2027

The Burning Maze

The Tyrant's Tomb

Part 13 - Release October 2027

The Ship of the Dead

9 From the Nine Worlds

The Tower of Nero

Part 14 - Release November 2027

The Sun and the Star

The Court of the Dead

3 Versions of The Sea of Monsters

I’ve nearly finished re-watching the second season of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, which having already completed a re-read of The Sea of Monsters and a re-watch of the movie adaptation. With how poorly the movies were received, I expect I may get some flack for any positive review of the film. Regardless, I’ve undertaken to compare the three versions of this story, like I did with the first portion of this heroic story. So trigger warning l for anyone who detests the movie, but here we go!

Aboard the Princess Andromeda

Movie Adaptation - While Luke’s yacht wouldn’t have worked in later movie adaptations, since the later books were adapted, I liked the simplicity of boarding the enemy ship. Because Luke’s forces were smaller at this point, a smaller ship was sufficient and made for a straightforward encounter on the boat. 

Encountering Hermes

Original Book Material - Though I love that both on-screen portrayals of Hermes were big names (Nathan Fillian in the movie and Lin-Manuel Miranda in the Disney Plus series) perhaps the actors took away from the serious nature of that scene. However, the book (particularly the audiobook) does a great job portraying the sadness Hermes felt over his son’s allegiance to Kronos. 

The Grey Sisters

Movie Adaptation - For the record, I didn’t love the movie shuffling the scenes and plot points around. However, taking as a movie inspired by the book and not a direct adaptation, this scene works well. The chemistry of the Grey Sisters was perfect. Though I believe Yvette Nicole Brown would have chemistry with just about anyone (see also Community, Endgame, Disenchanted, etc).

Clarisse’s Ship

Disney Plus Show - This is one part where I felt the television adaptation soared. The book showed Ares chastising Clarisse, so we knew there was some insecurity and drive to prove herself. However, by the nature of a first-person perspective, we only got to see so much. On Disney Plus, they gave scenes to Clarisse the book couldn't have shown. Yes, Ares gave her the ship and soldier. But in the show, she earned their respect as a commander, not just because she was a daughter of Ares. That bit of backstory gave Clarisse more depth than the other iterations.

Polyphemus

Original Book Material - I can’t quite place why I didn’t care for the movie version (no one will judge me for that) but the Disney Plus version bugged me. The whole point of “Nobody” stealing the fleece was tricking the cyclops into thinking Annabeth was Odysseus. The television adaptation made him too clever. I’m not sure how smart he was in the original myth, but it was an abrupt and unnecessary change for the show. We also missed the exchange between Percy/Tyson and Polythemes during the escape. Percy began to feel sympathetic towards the cyclops, as a brother of Poseidon. That touching moment (while quickly ruined) expanded Percy’s view of family and monsters, which come back into play in The Battle of the Labyrinth. 

Overall, I was kind of underwhelmed by Disney's adaptation of The Sea of Monsters. To be fair, it wasn't my favorite book of the series to begin with. I'm looking forward to The Titan's Curse though. It was one of my favorites so I hope it's done justice this winter.

LDS Geeks Podcast #46: Disney Songs (5)

It's still hot outside, but as the weather starts to cool down, some people will try to get into running (again). If you need some recommendations to get you moving, check out our discussion about Disney songs for your running playlist! And check out our ongoing Disney running playlist here.

--Spencer

Listen to Episode 46 on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube

Check out Spencer's recent blog posts: click here

Check out Russell's recent blog posts: click here

Show notes:

00:12 - Introductions
03:02 - Spencer's Recommendation: "The Demigod Diaries" by Rick Riordan
05:54 - Russell's Recommendation: Frozen Junior Stage Play
09:08 - Honorable Mentions:
            "How Far I'll Go" (Moana)
            "Go the Distance" (Hercules)
            "Let It Go" (Frozen)
10:29 - "Oo-De-Lally" (Robin Hood)
13:51 - "Beyond" (Moana 2)
            LDS Geeks Podcast #30: Animorphs Overview
                Show Notes: click here
                Spotify: click here
                Apple Podcasts: click here
19:32 - "On My Way" (Brother Bear)
23:28 - "One Jump Ahead" (Aladdin)
25:42 - The Power of Music + Exercise
30:55 - Conclusion

Pokemon Nicknames: Percy Jackson

I just finished The Demigod Diaries, while also working my way through Trials of Apollo. Add to that the first images of the new season of Percy Jackson, it's as good a time as any to share some Riordanverse-themed Pokemon nicknames. Check some of them out for your next Pokemon game.

Ekans as Martha (or George)

Dragonite as Peleus

Galarian Zapdos as Ares

Crobat as Dodds

Houndoom as Mrs. O'Leary

Kingdra as Rainbow

Kyogre as Poseidon

Zekrom as Zeus

Skiddo as Grover

Honedge as Riptide

Mudsdale as Blackjack

6 Historical Figures Who Were Demigods

I'm working my way through the original five Percy Jackson books again before the second season comes out on Disney Plus (and before I start Heroes of Olympus). Rick Riordan did a great job remixing Greek mythology in a way that makes me want to know more about the original stories. As I've mentioned before with Doctor Who, that's a hallmark that the story was done well. On the flip side, the Riordanverse seems to love little Easter eggs of turning real world people into Greek mythology. At times we got a snippet of their stories and sometimes just a passing name drop. I'm not sure how many mentions we got in the first five books, but I'll start with six of my favorites and maybe some head-canons.

William Shakespeare, Son of Apollo

Annabeth noted Shakespeare’s demigod status alongside his role as an Underworld judge. How his work as a playwright qualifies him to judge the dead, I have no idea. For hundreds of years, he’s been praised as one of the greatest writers (even if high school students can’t see it). As a son of Apollo, it makes sense that his works would be so well known and widely praised… even if Apollo can’t write a half-decent haiku to save his immortal life. Still, how does writing Hamlet qualify him to judge the dead?

Amelia Earthart, Daughter of Zeus

The famous pilot who flew solo across the ocean and disappeared. A feminist icon. She was mentioned by Annabeth during "Sea of Monsters" in defending herself to Circe. Apparently, she was mentioned again in "The Lost Hero" but since I haven't read that book yet, I'll say no more. As a daughter of Zeus, it makes says that she was a flying phenom. Despite being lost, her story was well known enough among half-bloods that Annabeth didn't feel the need to expand on her mention. I can only imagine that being daughter of the sky and thunder god helped her navigate as a pilot. Makes me wonder how she could have ever gotten lost, but that might be coming in "The Lost Hero". 

Harry Houdini, Son of Hecate(?)

Talking to Percy in "The Lightning Thief", a Nereid casually mentions Orpheus, Hercules, and Houdini as half-bloods who managed to escape the Underworld. Acting like Houdini's demigod-ness should be common knowledge, our ocean friend didn't mention whose son he was. Perhaps he was an unclaimed demigod who resided in Hermes cabin. But since Hecate is the goddess of magic and witchcraft, I'm going to guess he's a son of Hecate. But since he was famous for his dramatic escapes (that could have killed him) he could be a son of Hades--He was born long before the Big Three's oath after all. But I'm still going to go with the Hecate head-canon. 

Edward Teach, Son of Ares

AKA Blackbeard. Of course the most famous pirate in history is a son of Ares. It’s almost understandable that Circe trapped him, when you think of how Ares and Clarisse love to bully the main characters. That being said, when Annabeth and Percy saves him and the other guinea pigs, Blackbeard and the other pirates made for a good distraction, enabling the escape. And now he can roam the ocean pillaging again. 

Harriet Tubman, Daugther of Hermes

With Luke Castellan being the main Hermes demigod in the original five books, his half-siblings can be easily forgotten. His half-sister Harriet Tubman is famous among mortals for saving former slaves. In "Battle of the Labyrinth" she gets a mention by Chiron (hinting that maybe she was at Camp Half-Blood as a youth). It was said she used clear-sighted mortals to assist in her rescue. Chiron hinted that her Underground Railroad may have even utilized the Labyrinth. 

George Washington, Son of Athena

The primary historical figure of the American Revolution. Of course Washington was a son of Athena. I’m sure the connection to the goddess of wisdom came in handy during the war and his presidency. His mention in “The Lightning Thief” was another passing reference, alluding to crossing the Delaware. But I would love to learn more about out the Riordanverse side of Annabeth’s half-brother. 

3 Versions of The Lightning Thief

Fair warning for anyone who absolutely hates the movie adaptations of Percy Jackson.

While the movie adaptations of “The Lightning Thief” and “Sea of Monsters” don’t get the same hate as Avatar (there is no movie in Ba Sing Se) they are almost universally disliked by diehard fans of the Percy Jackson fandom. Now that I’ve read the first book (working on “Sea of Monsters”) and watched the Disney Plus and movie adaptations, I wanted to compare and contrast the three versions of “The Lightning Thief”.

After recently rewatching the series and the movie and rereading the book, I picked seven scenes that take place in all three versions and picked my favorite presentation of each. Make sure you let me know your favorites too.

Percy Jackson vs. the Fury

Disney Plus Show - The book and the movie both had build-up towards Mrs. Dodds attacking Percy that kind of distracted me from the intensity of the moment. However, in the Disney Plus series, there was no need for taking Percy away from the group. The fury simply attacked Percy and let the mist obscure things for the rest of the group, throwing us quickly into the action.

Capture the Flag

Movie Adaptation - This is where I get controversial. Like many things in the movie, this scene had some major modifications from the source material. I like that Percy was opposed to Annabeth at first. It gave some solid grounding to their rivalry and makes the change in their relationship even more of a contrast. Although, I will say that the lack of Clarise made things confusing for me in the sequel.

Auntie Em's Garden Gnome Emporium

Original Book Material - I feel like the movie and the show both took away the mystery and intrigue of Medusa. The show gave away her identity so quickly and the movie made her a mindless monster. The book kept her a mystery until right before it was almost too late. We still got her tragic backstory and we still got an awesome fight scene, but she remained a mystery right through the end.

The Lotus Casino

Movie Adaptation - First off, this whole scene is set to Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” so for years I always think fondly of this scene when I hear the song play on Spotify. I also liked that everyone had their weakness. In the show and book, they mostly stayed alert and together, while losing track of time, but in the movie adaptation our trio got individually tempted and not just distracted. Plus, I don’t know how you can hate on their epic escape.

The Underworld and Hades

Original Book Material - I loved the mystique of dropping below the shop, the detail of the underworld groups, Tartarus, and confronting Hades. Because the movie chose not to include Kronos (probably in case a sequel wasn’t ordered) we didn’t get any mention of Tartarus or the pit. And there was a lot of talking and exposition in this scene that wouldn’t have been interesting in the show. 

Percy Ascending to Olympus 

Original Book Material - Definitely didn’t care for the movie bringing Percy’s mom to Olympus. Nor did I care for the deadline passing in the show, so I preferred the original material bringing Percy to Olympus alone and talking to Zeus. I loved the internal dialogue Percy had, deliberating about how his father felt about him and vice versa. It hit on a very central theme: Family and family dysfunction. The show has done a great job expanding on this, but for this scene the book did it best.

Luke's Betrayal

Original Book Material - Again I’m going to default to the original source material. In the movie, we honestly didn’t even get a great explanation as to why and how Luke framed Percy (I’ll get to that another time). In the Disney Plus series, Annabeth’s saving Percy kind of took away from the dramatic betrayal. Another close encounter with death made the drama of Percy Jackson’s life more exciting again.

As announced at D23, season two of Percy Jackson and the Olympians is supposed to come out in 2025. While we wait, I plan to finish off “Sea of Monsters” and see how far I get through the books. But I think it’s safe to say you’ll see more Riordan content from me in the next several months. 

LDS Geeks Podcast #11: First Doctor Villains

We thought we were done talking about the First Doctor era, but decided we needed one more. Join us as we discuss five notable First Doctor villains!

--Spencer

Listen to Episode 11 on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube

Check out Spencer's recent content: click here

Check out TJ's recent content: click here

Show Notes:

00:26 - Introductions
01:08 - Spencer's Recommendation: Percy Jackson (book and series)
02:27 - TJ's Recommendation: Death in Paradise
04:22 - The First Doctor
06:38 - The Daleks
13:54 - Nero
17:52 - The Monk
        "Who is the Monk?" by Spencer
23:12 - The Toymaker
        "5 Things to Know About the Celestial Toymaker" by Spencer
30:22 - The Cybermen
41:35 - Conclusion

Reading was Boring, Now It's Fun!

If you could send one message to your past, what would you like to tell your younger self? Would you want to tell yourself that you’re beautiful; put more time into playing the piano; or start playing a sport? The one thing I would want to tell my immature self is to “read books, I promise you will enjoy it.”

I am honestly so grateful for my wife who encouraged me and challenged me to read books. It was in 2019 and a local bookstore set a yearly challenge that if you read a variety of 50 books of different categories than they would reward you with a $50 voucher. My wife started at the beginning of the year and finished quickly. I wasn’t planning on doing it but then during the summer my wife challenged me to do it. Like a true competitor I accepted and worked hard to read those 50 books and I rushed by the end of the year to finish and claim my reward. Besides the in-store credit and the pride of finishing the challenge I gained the best reward possible; the appreciation for reading books.

Growing up I was a slow reader and I spent so much time reading every work of every line of every paragraph of every page that I didn’t enjoy it. I did everything possible to get out of reading and I was jealous of my friends that could read. I never liked the books that were required in school. I will still challenge most of them to this day: why were there never any modern authors and why are most of the endings depressing? How I got out of reading those assignments was by reading Sparknotes or texting ChaCha, A search engine that would help would answer homework questions (phones in my time couldn’t access the internet). With this distaste of reading in my youth I really missed out on great books. I am still missing out on them because I am trying to catch up while reading books that are currently being released. I remember my mom wanting me to learn to read so she bought Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time to help me learn how to read. Instead of reading I played video games. 

 

When I was young I remember Narnia coming to Theaters. My family liked the books and I wanted to understand why so I took our copies of them so I wanted to read them but I was also lazy so instead I watch the movie, then the second came out and again I watched it without reading the book, but then I thought they wouldn’t make a third movie so I spent so much time reading The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and then the movie came out. When I watched the movie, I learned that my imagination is more powerful than film, but what did I do with that knowledge; nothing. I didn’t finish the series as a youth and I regret it. I wish I did because when I finally read the last book The Final Battle I thought the simile was profound and is something that I still think about to this day. I felt so many different emotions while reading the last book. I felt sad about Susan then happy everyone coming back and sadder because of the ending. If you haven’t read the books, read them enjoy the masterpiece of C.S. Lewis ending to this brilliant series.

Currently I have started reading the Percy Jackson series that I wished I read in my youth. I just finished the first book a couple of weeks ago and it was surprisingly better than I expected. I remember I saw the first movie, but I remember nothing that happened in it. I recently decided to read the book because other readers highly praised it and after reading the first book, I can confidently say it deserves that praise. It is better than the movie. The main character is from a broken home and deals with dyslexia. I think if I read this book I would want to be tested for dyslexia so I could be as cool as Percy, but now since I am older I know that I am not dyslexic I was just a lazy reader. The story is about Percy being accused of stealing Zeus' Thunderbolt and he sets out on a mission to return it before he gets captured. 

I have not yet committed to reading Harry Potter, but I am planning on it! My sister loved the series, and she would read it to me and at the end of the chapter she would quiz me about what happened; No wonder she became a teacher. I still don’t know what I am missing out from not reading the books. It is on my to read list and I am planning on reading them there is just other books that get me distracted. I appreciate what Harry Potter has brought to the community and I see that many people started reading because of this series. As a chemist I should want to read the books and be on team Snap. I have seen all the movies and liked them and like every reader says about every adaptation "The book is better than the movie". That is not always true if you want proof read and watch The Prestige. 

So, you might be like me and have a hard time reading books and you may be wondering how I have overcome this barrier. My last year in college, 2018, I took a class about speed reading, and I learned the technique of reading faster, but it only works if you work at it and read. Then when my wife challenged me in 2019, I started off reading slow but as I kept reading, I kept practicing those techniques and became more comfortable with reading faster tempo. After that challenge I kept reading because I enjoy reading books and I don’t want to lose what I worked so hard to obtain. I can change the velocity of how fast I read, and I figured out a good pace for me where I will be interested in what I am reading without getting bored. Each person is different and the more you read the sooner you will find your comfortable speed.

Here are some books that I have been recently enjoying in categories short, medium, and long depending on the length of the book. Side note most of these are fantasies because I enjoy reading fantasy the most. Some of them maybe Sci-Fi.

What books do you enjoy reading? What book(s) should I put on my to reading list above Harry Potter? Would you like more content about books, leave a comment! 

Short:

• Narnia – C.S. Lewis
  
• Alcatraz vs. The Evil Librarians – Brandon Sanderson
• The Seventh Tower – Garth Nix
• Beyonders – Brandon Mull
• A Series of Unfortunate Events – Lemony Snicket
• The Squire Tales – Gerald Morris
• Howl’s Moving Castle – Diana Jones
• The League of Princes – Christopher Healy
• The Chronicles of Prydain – Lloyd Alexander (Movie didn’t do it justice)

Medium:

• Percy Jackson – Rick Riordan
• The Boys in the Boat – James Brown
• Ender’s Saga – Orson Scott Card
• Discworld -Terry Prachett
• Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
• Abhorsen – Garth Nix
• Skyward – Brandon Sanderson
• Ransom trilogy – C.S. Lewis
• Project Hail Mary – Andy Weir

Hard:

• Lord of the Rings – J.R.R Tolkien 
  
• Cosmere – Brandon Sanderson
• The wheel of Time – Robert Jorden