The Mythmaker's Notebook

I recently watched both currently available seasons of Percy Jackson on Disney plus. It has been years since I read the series and, given that I am also in the process of writing a YA book, I thought it would be nice to read the first two books in the series for two reasons. First, to get a feel for YA writing again because I have mostly been reading Sanderson, Abercrombie, Gwynne, and Brian McClellan over the past year.

I was pleased to find that Riordan had also written these in first person, which is a detail I had forgotten in the years since I last read them. My upcoming YA sci-fi book is also in first-person, so this is a great way to learn some tips and tricks in that regard.

The show does a fantastic job of adapting the books. It’s not a page to screen copy/paste. As you would expect, some changes are made to better suit the tone and style of a live-action show. Most of the changes in the show, I enjoy. The one I wish had been added that was not was the explicit mention that Percy has ADHD. In the books, this is mentioned early in The Lightning Thief, reiterated a few times throughout the book, and our memories are refreshed again in The Sea of Monsters. If I recall correctly, there was no explicit dialogue used to say that Percy has ADHD in the show. They did do a good job of bringing some of the ADHD traits into the show, however, I got the feel that they tried to say he was different just because he was a demigod. Maybe that’s just me.

Being ADHD myself, I’d have loved to have seen the ADHD label given to Percy, since his source material calls for it. This is the biggest change I’d like to have seen. Still, the lack of this label does not takeaway from my enjoyment of the show, nor do I feel the need to give it a negative review.

The books are a great and accessible introduction to Greek mythology for kiddos. Mine are currently only 5 years old, so not quite old enough to dive into these, but I am excited that they are learning to read.

Differences from the first season and The Lightning Thief:

There may be more, but these are the ones I personally picked up on.

In the show, Percy figures out that it’s Medusa hiding under the veil pretty quickly. In the book, they don’t realize it for a while.

In the Lotus casino, the book has them stay much longer than the show, and they take longer to realize it is a trap.

Crusty’s Waterbed Palace is significantly altered and shortened for the show… not a bad change, in my opinion.

Ares, in the book, is much more antagonistic. His portrayal in the show is much more nuanced.

Gabe is more abusive, by a long shot, in the books. He is toned down in the show to mostly just being a douchebag stepdad.

In the book, Chiron sends the head of Medusa back to Percy at the end. Percy’s mom ends up using the head to turn Gabe to stone and sells her “poker player” statue for enough money to buy her own apartment. This is not mentioned at all in the show.

I also feel overall, that the show ages the kids up slightly and allows for the themes to be slightly more mature.

For Season 2 and The Sea of Monsters, there are also some changes. We are introduced to Tyson having already been brought in by Percy’s mom. Tyson is also attending Percy’s school.

In the book, Tyson is a homeless kid who Percy’s mom allows to visit and feeds every now and then, and he goes to school with Percy because the school is allowing him as part of a program with the local shelter. Percy is also aware that he is a cyclops from the start in the show, but this is not the case in the book.

The books represent Tyson and Polyphemus as much less well-spoken than the show. Tyson is still smart in the books, building and fixing things, but Polyphemus, in the book, is not aware that Grover isn’t a female Cyclops until Clarisse spills the beans to him. There is never any reveal that he’s smarter than he’s been letting on or anything like that.

Tantalus is killed by a fireball during the Siege of Camp in the show, but this is not the case in the book. Tantalus is simply “dismissed” by Mr. D at the end of the book after Percy proved Chiron’s innocence. It is assumed that Tantalus is returned to the underworld.

The show expands upon Clarisse’s relationship with her father, Ares, including showing the scene where he gives her The Iron Dragon ship.

Speaking of ships, did you know Percy can control them? In the book, when Percy is turned into a guinea pig by Circe and Annabeth rescues him, Blackbeard and his crew are also rescued. In the book, Blackbeard is a son of Ares. Percy and Annabeth commandeer the Queen Anne’s Revenge to cross the Sea of Monsters and Percy can control it effortlessly.

Thalia is revealed at the end of both, but the show hints at a darker, more signifcant backstory that will be added in the next season.

Overall, I enjoyed both the books and the show. I’ll be doing more comparisons like this on my blog moving forward, as well as hopefully getting back to some short stories.

Dalton