Percy Jackson and the Olympians is the perfect series for Harry Potter book fans

If you're a big fan of the Harry Potter book series by J.K. Rowling and need another book series in the same genre to read, we have the perfect book series for you: Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan.

Look, I know these are two of the most popular YA book series of the last two decades, so if you're already in the know, this isn't the post for you. This is for the people who maybe just finished reading the Harry Potter series for the first time and the people out of the loop.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians is a five-book series by Rick Riordan. Inspired by Greek mythology, the series tells the story of Percy Jackson, a 12-year-old who finds out he is a demigod (half-mortal, half-god) and is sent to Camp Half-Blood, the only safe place on Earth for demigod kids. Shortly after arriving, Percy is selected for a quest to return Zeus's missing lightning bolt and prevent Olympus from going to war. That's the story of The Lightning Thief.

That's where this story begins, though! Percy Jackson and the Olympians largely follows Percy and his friends, Annabeth Chase and Grover Underwood, to prevent the fall of Olympus and the world as we know it.

We shared the list of all of the books in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series:

• The Lightning Thief (2005)
• The Sea of Monsters (2006)
• The Titan's Curse (2007)
• The Battle of the Labyrinth (2008)
• The Last Olympian (2009)

Harry Potter fans will enjoy the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series for a few reasons. First, there's a magical world hiding in plain sight in both stories. In Harry Potter, Harry lives his whole life until his 11th birthday with muggles. Unknown to him, there's a magical world that he's already a very big part of just beyond his reach. His life gets turned upside down, literally, in one moment.

That's very similar to Percy Jackson, who finds out that he's the son of one of the Greek Gods, and that there's a whole world that only people like him can see. Because he's the son of a God, the older he gets, the more monsters want to kill him. Luckily, there's a haven of sorts, Camp Half-Blood, where demigods go to learn, hone their skills, and prepare for life as a demigod. It's very similar to Hogwarts in some ways.

On top of that, there are incredibly high stakes, as I just mentioned. Harry, obviously, has a lot going on with Lord Voldemort trying to kill him over and over. Percy is also dealing with some, big important stuff. The fate of the world as these characters know it is at risk, and they must act to save the day.

And, most importantly, Percy and Harry, as characters, are so similar. They need to save the world for the story, but it's really what's inside that makes them the perfect character to save the world for their friends, family, and random strangers. They do it because it's the right thing to do, and that's the stuff inside all of the classic heroes of fiction!

If you like those elements of the Harry Potter books, you'll love Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians is also a new TV series at Disney+. The first season premiered in December 2023, and it's currently in production on season 2. You can probably skip the two Percy Jackson movies starring Logan Lerman after you read the books, but Lerman is great in both of those movies, even though they aren't the best.