Another Drink from the Chalice: An Exclusive Guest Post from Rick Riordan, Author of The Chalice of the Gods

By Rick Riordan / September 26, 2023 at 1:50 am

Hardcover $15.99 ~~$19.99~~

The Chalice of the Gods (B&N Exclusive Edition) (Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series #6)

Hardcover $15.99 ~~$19.99~~

Everyone’s favorite demigod returns in the newest Percy Jackson adventure from Rick Riordan. Percy was hoping for a normal senior year, but the gods have other plans: he must complete three quests to get his letters of recommendation from them. Add our exclusive edition of The Chalice of the Gods to your shelves to read their (not so helpful) recommendation letters for Percy. Keep reading for a guest post from Rick Riordan about what inspired him to return to Percy Jackson’s point of view.

Some books you are compelled to write. Others are surprises, seeming to leap fully formed like Athena from the head of Zeus. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Chalice of the Gods was one of the latter.  

I had no intention of writing another novel from Percy Jackson’s point-of-view. I felt I had done a sufficient job telling his main story when I published The Last Olympian, the final Percy Jackson volume in 2009. True, I never really left his world. I continued to explore it from different points of view in The Heroes of Olympus series and later, The Trials of Apollo, but Percy Jackson was no longer center stage. I was fine with that. Percy was fine with that. He had done his bit saving the world, and while I still found various ways to torture him (er, bring him back into the stories) he was not required to narrate all the action.

Fast forward ten years. I found myself at a crossroads when 20^th Century Fox was acquired by Disney. Suddenly the film rights to Percy Jackson were owned by the same company that had long published my books. This seemed like an Opportunity with a capital O.M.G. Having had some less-than-stellar experiences with Hollywood, I was not anxious to re-engage with that world, well… ever, but I knew my readers wanted — and deserved — a good screen adaptation. My wife Becky and I decided it was worth the risk. We took a deep breath and went out to Los Angeles to start negotiations. 

As part of that process, I made a suggestion I thought Disney would find intriguing. If they would agree to reboot Percy Jackson as a live-action television show, I would be willing to write some new Percy Jackson adventures. I even sketched outlines for three new adventures that would follow Percy through the first semester of his senior year as he tries to apply to college.

Turns out I didn’t need to write those books. We were able to convince Disney to make the TV show without any extra incentives. But once I’d outlined the stories, the ideas stuck with me. I found that I was thirsty to write about Percy again. I wanted to drink from the chalice of the gods one more time and return to the narrator I knew best. I decided that the first new novel would be a great way to celebrate the TV show and to thank the fans for sticking with me all these years. 

What was it like writing from Percy’s point of view again? I hesitate to say it was effortless. Writing a book is always hard work. Nevertheless, it felt like a reunion with old friends in a place I knew well. The characters had grown and changed, but so had I. We settled in to get reacquainted and found that we could still finish each other’s thoughts. The conversation flowed easily. I knew these characters like members of my family. In short, it felt like coming home.

I hope you’ll feel the same way when you read the book. It’s always good to explore new things, but there’s nothing quite as comforting and satisfying as settling in with your best friends, sharing a drink, reminiscing about old times, and cooking up some new mischief together. That’s what is in store for you with The Chalice of the Gods — a crisp and refreshing beverage of adventure, magic, and Percy-branded snark. Cheers, demigods! Drink up!