Percy Jackson books, ranked
The rest of 2023 is looking up for fans of Percy Jackson! On Sept. 26, Rick Riordan’s new standalone Percy Jackson novel, The Chalice of the Gods, will be released. And, on Dec. 20, Percy Jackson and the Olympians TV series premieres on Disney. It’s going to be a great rest of the year, Half-Bloods! With all the new Percy Jackson content on the way, we wanted to celebrate with a ranking of the Percy Jackson books.
For the purpose of this ranking, we’re going to be focusing exclusively on the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. We’ll do another ranking for The Heroes of Olympus series, and if our readers want it, a full ranking of Rick Riordan’s works. We’re big fans of Camp Half-Blood at Bam Smack Pow.
I also should preface with this: none of the Percy Jackson books are bad! I love every single one of them in their own way, but it’s obvious that some are just better than others.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians books in order
- The Lightning Thief
- The Sea of Monsters
- The Titan’s Curse
- The Battle of the Labyrinth
- The Last Olympian
- The Chalice of the Gods (Sept. 26, 2023)
Let’s get the ranking started with The Sea of Monsters.
5. The Sea of Monsters
The Sea of Monsters is the second book of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. It was published in 2006, about a year after The Lightning Thief. Unfortunately, this is my least favorite of the Percy Jackson books, and it’s also the worst of the Percy Jackson books. Again, it doesn’t mean that it’s bad! It’s just not quite as good as the others.
In the book, Percy and Annabeth set out on a quest of their own to find the Golden Fleece and save Camp Half-Blood. Thalia’s tree is dying, and the Fleece is the only thing that can save it. Unfortunately, their quest leads them into the Sea of Monsters while they also try to save their best friend, Grover, who was captured by a Cyclops, Polythemus. Percy and Annabeth race against the clock to save their friend and the camp.
Overall, there’s nothing wrong with The Sea of Monsters. It’s a classic adventure story with lots of twists, turns, and high stakes, but compared to the rest of Riordan’s series, it falls a little bit flat, especially after the epic beginning of this story in The Lightning Thief.
4. The Titan’s Curse
The Titan’s Curse is the third Percy Jackson and the Olympians book. It was published in 2007. Following the events of The Sea of Monsters, Annabeth goes missing on a mission to save two Half-Bloods, Nico and Bianca di Angelo. A team is assembled to help rescue Annabeth, consisting of Thalia, Bianca, Zoe Nightshade, and Grover. Percy joins in on their mission across America to find Annabeth and Artemis.
Despite losses, Percy and the gang come out victorious, but this is the first book where things start to get real. Luke’s army and master plan come into focus, and this is the story that paves the way to the Battle of Manhattan in The Last Olympian.
It’s so tough to rank a book as good as The Titan’s Curse fourth on the list, but it’s just a tier below the top three books of this series. And, my main qualm with The Titan’s Curse is merely that Annabeth isn’t involved in the story enough. Yes, we get to meet a whole new batch of characters with Nico di Angelo, Bianca di Angelo, Thalia, Zoe and the Hunters, Artemis, and so many more. It leaves a little to be desired when the whole story revolves around such a great character who is largely absent.
3. The Battle of the Labyrinth
The Battle of the Labyrinth is the fourth of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians book. After the events of The Titan’s Curse, the gods are finally understanding the threat that Luke and Kronos pose to Olympus. The lines are finally being drawn as Olympus prepares for war with the Titan. Elsewhere, Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Tyson embark on another quest to find Daedalus’s workshop, which leads them into the labyrinth, and that’s where things get real. The goal is to stop Luke and his army Ariadne’s string, which would allow the army to navigate the labyrinth and attack anywhere, including at Camp Half-Blood.
Luckily, Percy stop Luke and his army from taking Camp Half-Blood, but the damage is done, lives are lost, and Kronos has returned. The Battle of the Labyrinth sets up the epic conclusion in The Last Olympian.
Overall, The Battle of the Labyrinth is in the top tier of the Percy Jackson books. It’s definitely better than The Sea of Monsters and The Titan’s Curse, and it’s right there with The Lightning Thief and The Last Olympian. This story has few flaws, and the plot propels everything forward to a satisfying conclusion.
2. The Lightning Thief
We’re going back to the beginning for the second-best Percy Jackson and the Olympians book. The Lightning Thief is the first book of the series. It’s largely where most fans fell in love with Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Grover Underwood, the rest of these great characters, and the world created by Rick Riordan using stories from Greek mythology as its guide.
In the book, Percy Jackson discovers that he’s a demigod, but not just any demigod. He’s the son of Poseidon, and he’s picked for a quest to find Zeus’s missing lightning bolt and prevent civil war in Olympus. There are so many great moments as Riordan sets up the larger story, the one that last five books to be resolved and also continues in The Heroes of Olympus book series.
It doesn’t get much better than The Lightning Thief when it comes to Percy Jackson. There’s something special about the first quest with Annabeth and Grover, the friendship forming, and exploring this world in such a short amount of time.
The Lightning Thief is so nostalgic for me, and that’s why is the second best of the Percy Jackson books. Only one book left!
1. The Last Olympian
The Last Olympian is the fifth and final book of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. It was published in 2009. After the events of The Battle of the Labyrinth, Kronos is fully back and the rest of the Titans are rising. The Gods are tied up fighting the Titans and slowing them down as they make their way toward Olympus. Kronos, using Luke’s army, attacks Manhattan, but Percy Jackson and the rest of the Camp Half-Blood crew is ready. They try to hold off Kronos and his forces until the rest of the Gods arrive.
The Last Olympian is such an epic book for so many reasons. The story is flawless. It’s almost all action, but we also get these pockets of unmatched emotion that we’d never seen in the series to this point. Riordan delivers a lesson in setting up the story and allowing audiences to feel the emotional weight of Percy, Annabeth, Luke, their pasts, and their decisions.
The Last Olympian is the perfect resolution to an incredible series, and that’s why it ranks No. 1 on the ranking of the Percy Jackson books.
We’ll update this ranking after we read Chalice of the Gods!