Fantasy fiction writer comes to Miami

Collin Simpson // Staff writer

With the Miami International Book Fair set in November, the promotional events for the Book Fair are still going strong.

The latest author event starred no other than Rick Riordan. For those who are unaware, Rick Riordan is best known for writing the Percy Jackson series, a five book series telling the story of a boy who discovered that he is the son of Poseidon. The series received critical acclaim and the first two books were adapted into films in 2010 and 2013.

Riordan is also acclaimed for writing the companion series “The Kane Chronicles” and “The Heroes of Olympus.”

Riordan’s specialty is the modernization of ancient mythology. So far, he has covered Greek, Egyptian and Roman mythology.

Books & Books hosted this latest author event in collaboration with The Center for Literature & Writing at Miami Dade College. It took place on Saturday, Oct. 10, in the Building Three auditorium of the MDC’s Chapman Conference Center. To get into the event, attendees had to buy a voucher either online or at the door. The voucher also entitled the attendee to one pre-signed copy of the book and a foam shield.

Riordan was there to promote his new novel, “Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgrad: The Sword of Summer.” This latest novel focuses on Norse mythology, which Riordan revealed he has always been interested in writing. This new series reveals the story of Magnus Chase, who is the son of the Norse God, Thor.

The event was an incredible success, the seating in the auditorium packed and standing room only in the rear. A live feed of the event was also provided on outside monitors throughout the entire building, as well as large screen projections inside the auditorium.

Riordan discussed his life, covering his career before and after Percy Jackson. He spoke about his love and usage of mythology, which reared from his years as an English and Social Studies teacher. He then realized the interest in mythology held by his students and decided to pursue that avenue in his writing.

His son, Haley, was the true inspiration for the character of Percy Jackson. Riordan explained that Haley had ADHD and was dyslexic and loved listening to his father’s mythology stories. When he had heard them all, he asked his father if there were anymore. That led Riordan to come up with a character that had ADHD and was dyslexic as well. That character would then learn that those disabilities actually made him special, because he was a demigod. And thus, Percy Jackson was born.

He also talked about the process of launching his books and the struggles he experienced. To the cheers of his audience, he displayed an array of artwork from his book covers and discussed the difficulty of creating the proper artistic image. In many of the books’ covers, the character’s face was turned away so that the reader could imagine what Percy’s face looked like.

Riordan answered questions on index cards from the audience about character names and the contrast of the movies to the books. He confessed that many of the character names were those of his former students and some of the teachers who he worked with. Other names, like Annabeth, were chosen because he liked them.

As for the films, Riordan revealed that he had actually had very little involvement and was quite surprised when he received the screenplay, which had changes from the novel. Although Fox made several modifications to the screenplay based on his edits and recommendations, the films were still vastly different from the novels. He confided that he hasn’t even seen the films, which really surprised the audience.
Riordan, a powerhouse writer, has no intention of slowing down. He announced not one, but three new future titles, including “Demigods and Magicians,” which is a collection of crossovers between Percy Jackson and Carter Kane. The second book of “Magnus Chase: The Hammer of Thor” will be released on October 4, 2016.

But what got the crowd roaring was Riordan’s announcement of returning to the world of Percy Jackson with his new series: “The Trials of Apollo,” which will be a five book series that features characters from both the Percy Jackson and The Heroes of Olympus series. As an exclusive treat to the audience, Riordan read the summary from the first book, “The Hidden Oracle,” which has not even been released online yet:

“How do you punish an immortal? By making him human. After angering his father Zeus, the god Apollo is cast down from Olympus. Weak and disoriented, he lands in New York City as a regular teenage boy. Now, without his godly powers, the four-thousand-year-old deity must learn to survive in the modern world until he can somehow find a way to regain Zeus’s favor. But Apollo has many enemies—gods, monsters, mortals who would love to see the former Olympian permanently destroyed. Apollo needs help and he can think of only one place to go . . . an enclave of modern demigods known as Camp Half-Blood.”

Riordan also announced that the book will be told through a first person perspective from the view of Apollo. Also, each chapter title will start with a bad haiku and the first book will be released on May 3, 2016. The first peek at this new book will be featured in “Demigods and Magicians,” which will be released on April 5, 2016. He then left the stage with a standing ovation from the massive audience.

Riordan was not able to do a book signing at this event, although those with vouchers were able to get pre-signed books. Still, the event was a smashing success and left many attendees more than anxious to return to Camp Half-Blood.

In the meantime, Books and Books has no intention of slowing down, with many more guests in October, including Ray Lewis, Elizabeth Gilbert and Chelsea Clinton.

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