As far as book to film adaptations go, there isn’t necessarily a good rep with them. However the latest T.V. show based on the “Percy Jackson” books by Rick Riordan has absolutely raised the bar. 

Now, if you are a fan of the series, you know very well that the original movies sucked. Not because they weren’t good or anything, but because they were nothing like the book, which was very sad for all of the people out there who love the books.

The movies came out in 2010 and 2013, while Riordan was still publishing books. Not the original “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” (PJO) series, but a sequel series in the same universe, “The Heroes of Olympus”. The new and much improved T.V. show came out in 2023, a solid decade after the movies.

And if you don’t believe me when I say that it is 100 times better than the movies, believe the fact that Riordan himself is an executive producer and is making sure that the books and show are parallel to each other. 

I haven’t personally read the books in about five years, but when I pressed play on the first episode, I was jolted back to my early teens – reading the first line for the first of many times. The monsters match what I pictured in my head as I read the series the first time, the title on each episode matches that of the chapter it correlates to, and the actors are spot on despite not having the same physical attributes as the books. 

If I were to be so bold – which I will be – I enjoy the representation of the characters much more in the show than the books (sorry, not sorry). I do not care that Percy doesn’t have dark hair, I do not care that Luke isn’t blonde, and I certainly do not care that Annabeth, Chiron, and Zeus aren’t white. I will say that if any of that matters to you, you should not call yourself a fan of the series.

The only criticism I have about the show is that it’s fast paced, and the next season isn’t out for me to binge yet. As someone who has found the PJO books as a child and found them again when I was going through the worst time of my life so far – this series has made me so happy.

To see the characters I found comfort in, being brought to life in such an accurate way, I’m sure I’m not the only person to say that PJO will always have a place in my top five books of all time.