By Isaac Hamlet
Rick Riordan, most famous for the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, will appear as part of this year’s Iowa City Book Festival on Friday at the Englert, 221 E. Washington St. Riordan will read from his new book, Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard Book 2: The Hammer of Thor, at 7 p.m.
Over the course of 11 years and five interconnected series, Riordan has not only brought a slew of old gods back into the cultural consciousness, he has also pulled in a readership that is somewhat eclectic. A large portion of Riordan’s appeal is that people from all generations and walks of life — not just the reading-prone young adults most of his books were intended for — can find something worth noting.
“Part of what I like about his work isn’t directly on the page,” said Jennifer Burek Pierce, a University of Iowa associate professor of library and information sciences who researches publishing trends.
Burek Pierce said she takes particular interest in children’s books.
“In interviews and on his blog, he talks about being a reluctant reader, about having kids who are reluctant readers,” she said. “It’s clear that he wants to connect with those kids who are on the outs with school systems, who don’t see themselves as bookworms.”
She pointed out that many of his characters exhibit traits “often characterized as weaknesses or problems in contemporary American culture.”
“[Riordan] offers a powerful identity and explanation for [his characters’] traits and behaviors,” Burek Pierce said. “Like dyslexia or the homeless and parentless Magnus. [His narratives are] clever and irreverent without being disrespectful or belittling anyone.”
This respect isn’t interrupted, even by Riordan’s seemingly never-ending supply of humor. All of his young-adult books contain plays on both the modern and the mythical with details such as the door to the underworld being located in a Los Angeles recording studio or the three Fates being a group of women highly skilled at knitting.
It’s these interpretations that have helped Riordan become the phenomenon he is today, and he hasn’t yet shown signs of slowing down. With at least one more book to conclude the Magnus Chase trilogy and four more volumes in The Trials of Apollo, Riordan has promised readers a pile of books fit for a god.