Rick Riordan

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief (Book 1)
Rick Riordan

About Author

Rick Riordan spent 15 years as a teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Texas. In 1997 he began publishing mystery novels for adults. His popular Tres Nevarre series has won the top three national awards in the mystery genre - the Edgar, the Anthony and the Shamus.

Rick was inspired to write his leftfield comic fantasy novel, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, as a result of his son Haley's struggle with ADHD and dyslexia. Percy Jackson is a regular kid with not-so-regular problems

As Haley struggled through second grade, his saving grace was Greek mythology. He loved the old stories and would actually read them willingly in class.

He knew that his dad taught Greek myths for years when he was a teacher, and so every night he would ask his father to tell him a bedtime story about the Olympians.

One night, as Haley was waiting in bed for story time, Rick realized that he'd run out of myths, that he'd done all the gods, the heroes, the monsters and was fresh out of Minotaurs.

Rick says: "I thought about Haley's struggle with ADHD and dyslexia. I imagined the faces of all the students I'd taught who had these same conditions. I felt the need to honour them, to let them know that being different wasn't a bad thing.

"Intelligence wasn't always measurable with a piece of paper and a number two pencil. Talent didn't come in only one flavour. Then I thought about the heroes in the old myths - sons and daughters of gods and humans - and all the troubles they'd had to overcome because of their mixed heritage.

"Off the top of my head, I began a story about a 12-year-old boy named Percy Jackson, the modern-day son of the Greek god Poseidon, who among his many other problems has ADHD and dyslexia. He struggles in school. He's constantly being labelled a lazy troublemaker. Yet Percy finds that his learning disabilities are actually indicators of Olympian blood. He is a hero - a child of the gods!"

Rick lives in Texas (apart from his summers on Half Blood Hill) with his wife and two sons.

Author link

www.percyjackson.co.uk;www.rickriordan.com

Interview

MAGNUS CHASE: THE SWORD OF SUMMER

PUFFIN

OCTOBER 2015


Here, we speak to Percy Jackson author RICK RIORDAN about his thrilling new series, MAGNUS CHASE.

In the first book, MAGNUS CHASE AND THE SWORD OF SUMMER, we dive into a world of Norse gods, magic and sword fights - all of which takes place in contemporary Boston!

In the first book, we meet Magnus Chase, living rough on the streets of Boston following the death of his mum, who was killed in a wolf attack. But it is not until his 16th birthday that Magnus begins to realise that there is more to Boston than meets the eye. Boston, he discovers, is where the world of the Norse gods and modern humans meet, and however unwilling he is, Magnus has a role to play in the future of humans and the gods. It all begins the day he pulls the Sword of Summer from the river, battles a fire giant, and dies....

Riordan brings his trademark humour and dazzling plotting skills to the story as Magnus is swept from the world of humans, via his own death, to Valhalla to train as a Viking hero! There are many other intriguing worlds to visit, drawn from the Nine Worlds of Norse legends, many more fights to be had - and gods to be placated (or not...).


Rick Riordan tells us more about the first Magnus Chase book, The Sword of Summer, and his plans for future titles.


Q: How do you feel about leaving the world of Percy Jackson?

A: I haven't, really. I just got through with Percy Jackson and the Greek Heroes, so Percy's voice is still very much in my mind. Besides, all my writing projects exist parallel to one another, so characters from one series can always crop up in other books. People keep telling me I'm done with Percy's world, but that's not an announcement I have ever made.

Q: In Percy Jackson, you play with the Greek myths. Why have you decided to use the Norse myths as the backdrop for the Magnus Chase books?

A: Of course mythology is what I love! The Norse myths have fascinated me since I was a child. I've had the idea for Magnus Chase for almost ten years now. It's only now that I get the chance to write about it. I find these gods and adventure stories absolutely captivating.


Q: Did you need to go and re-read all the Norse myths before you could start to write your Magnus Chase books?

A: I was very familiar with the myths but I brushed up by reading the Prose Edda and the Poetic Edda, along with several other primary sources for the Nordic myths.

The only frustrating thing is how little we have for recorded sources. There are many holes in our knowledge about the Viking myths, so I had to take some educated guesses about the nature of the gods and the Nine Worlds.


Q: Are you keeping to what we know about the Norse myths in your stories, like the different worlds they have and the descriptions of the gods?

A: As with Percy Jackson, my goal is to be very faithful to the actual myths. I modernize the language and add 21st Century humor, but the information is accurate. If students took a test on Norse mythology after reading The Sword of Summer, they should be able to get top marks.


Q: Does the Sword of Summer exist in the original mythology?

A: Oh, absolutely. It's featured in one of the central myths, and is the reason one of the gods is fated to die during Ragnarok, the day of doom. I don't want to give away any more than that, however.


Q: Magnus is helped by an elf, a dwarf and a Valkyrie. How did his team of friends develop?

A: My supporting characters tend to develop as I write about them. I grew up on the Lord of the Rings, so I knew it would be difficult to write about dwarves and elves in a way that wasn't a carbon copy of Tolkien, but I think I found a way to subvert the stereotypes.

Blitzen is a dark-skinned svartalf who is rubbish at blacksmithing and wants to make designer clothes. Hearthstone the elf is a great magician, but in a world where magic depends on speaking runes, Hearthstone is deaf and mute. He communicates through sign language, which made him a challenging and wonderful character to write about.

The Valkyrie, Samirah al-Abbas, is a devout Muslim who wears a hijab, but also happens to have a Norse god for a father and works in Valhalla for Odin. She does not worship the gods or even believe they are proper gods, but she is stuck in the weirdness of the Norse Nine Worlds, and her struggle to deal with all that while trying to be true to her faith is central to her character.


Q: The friends confront many challenging places and creatures during the course of this book. Magnus fears the wolves the most, but which mythical creature would you really not like to bump into?

A: The World Serpent keeps me up at night. I have a fear of deep water anyway, probably from seeing Jaws as a child. The idea of a massive sea monster lurking at the bottom of the ocean terrifies me. I don't go fishing very often...


Q: What about Magnus's cousin, Annabeth Chase; we have met her before in your Olympus books. Why have you brought her into this series?

A: Annabeth is a bridge between the worlds of Magnus and Percy Jackson. You don't have to know anything about Percy to read The Sword of Summer, but if you have read Percy Jackson, Annabeth's presence makes the book all the more fun.


Q: If you could visit any one of the nine worlds you describe in these stories, which one would you choose?

A: I've always liked Jotunheim. It would be a dangerous place to visit, but the mountains are majestic, the kingdoms are full of magic, and the giants really know how to throw a wild party.


Q: How did you develop the characters of the Norse gods and bring them more in tune with the modern world? For example, we have a fashion-conscious dwarf and a god, Thor, who follows television series.

A: Ever since The Lightning Thief, one of my biggest delights is imagining how the ancient gods would adapt to the modern world. I totally think Thor would be a fan of action TV shows and Odin would be the world's greatest and most annoying motivational speaker.


Q: Do you have a favourite Norse god?

A: Loki, no contest. There is simply no better, more charming, more malicious villain in world literature.


Q: In Norse mythology, Loki has a starring role in the destructive battle of Ragnarok. So will he be guiding future events in the future Magnus Chase books?

A: I can only say that I'll be true to the prophecies surrounding Ragnarok, and the roles that the gods are fated to play. Any more than that would be telling....


Q: This book focused on the Sword of Summer. Will the focus be Thor's hammer in book 2?

A: Well, the title of the second book is THE HAMMER OF THOR. How's that for a massive hint?


Q: How does your writing day go - do you work nine to five? Where is your favourite writing place?

A: Nine to five? Gods of Asgard, no. I am a hit-and-run writer. I work for perhaps an hour at a time. Then I have to get up, walk around, refresh the brain, do something else. Usually I'll read or play my guitar or take my dog for a walk along the Charles River. I work best in the morning and evening. I have a nice office in my house in Boston where I'm most productive.

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