Happy Birthday Uncle Rick!

“Look, I didn’t want to be a half-blood.”

The day I read these words for the first time, I didn’t realise that I was entering one of the most magnificently crafted fictional universe. What started out as a bedtime story for his son, spanned across five book series. Percy Jackson and the Olympians, however, was only the tip of the iceberg.

So, what makes Uncle Rick, as he is fondly called, such a good author. Well, for starters, his style of narration is one of the best I have read. Most of his work is written from the protagonists’ point of view. Even if it is not, as in the case of the Heroes of Olympus series, the style is insanely funny. What strikes me the most is that he doesn’t go out of the way for making a situation humorous. Rather he states the obvious in a very deadpan/sit-com sort of way that will definitely make the reader laugh. Even now, when I re-read, I find myself chortling pretty often. No one can dare argue that the Hoover Dam scene isn’t the pinnacle of comedy.

The second point and probably the most relevant in today’s context is the diversity and representation in his work. For someone growing in a rather sheltered corner of the world, his work was instrumental in making me understand the nuances of the LGBTQ+ community. Though the first series focuses more on learning disabilities and making a strong statement about the fact that everybody is special and talented and not on representation, the other four have extremely diverse characters, in terms of race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexuality etc. It is simply a wonderful reinforcement of the fact that at the end of the day, we are all humans. Now, I am not saying everything he has written about is perfect but it’s a hundred steps in the right direction.

Moving on to the more informal points, most fans loved it when he claimed that nobody hated the Percy Jackson movies more than him. If you watched the movie after reading the books, you’d understand the sentiment. So, it is unsurprising that fans across the world are incredibly excited for the new TV Show on Disney+.

Apart from the above-mentioned points, his stories are simply gripping. I love the bonds built between characters though I do agree that there could have been more interaction between the members of the Argo II. I am a myth freak and introducing me to Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Norse mythology in such a fun way was definitely the route to a place in my good books (pun intended).

I first read these books six years ago. The fact that I am still in love with his stories and characters (like thousands of other fans) is hard, solid proof that Uncle Rick is simply a dam good author and that he will always have a special place in our bookshelves. I am simply jealous of the kids he taught in middle school because if the books are anything to go by, his classes surely would have been a riot.

Here’s wishing one of the best contemporary authors of our times a very happy birthday and here’s eagerly awaiting all of his future endeavors.