Book Reviews, Popular but problematic

Percy Jackson pushes homosexuality too

My first involved interaction with the Greek myths was in university, as a required classics course. But the professor wasn't all that interested in the classic part - he was a pervert, and the Greek gods gave him plenty of material to wallow in. Adultery, rape, incest, pedophilia, bestiality, homosexuality, and transsexuality too – there wasn't much of anything that the Greek gods didn't get up to. I don't think he even had time to get into the  demonic side of things, with Hades, harpies, Furies, and the underworld's countless ghosts. So when I first ran across Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson books, their Greek myth source material left me with low expectations. The appeal But it was the "classical" connection that got some parents enthused. Percy and his friends are mostly all "halfbloods" – the demi-god offspring of a Greek god/mortal woman coupling – but with the twist that this is all taking place today. In the first novel, The Lightning Thief, Percy doesn't initially know he is a demi-god, or that the Greek myths and the gods in them are all real. So there is an educational aspect, as we are alongside Percy as he learns more about his own family – turns out his dad is Poseidon, god of the sea – and as he gets himself educated about Apollo, the Minotaur, satyrs, Medusa, Cyclops, centaurs, and so many more. The Greek myths are a part of Western civilization, so that's a reason to know about Zeus and his gang, just to be educated. If you hadn't ever heard about Hercules and his labors, or the flying horse Pegasus, you're not going to get some cultural references – in articles, songs, movies – that many others will understand. Another reason for Christians to study these myths is to learn about the Greco-Roman world that the Apostle Paul was speaking to in his missionary journeys. While the Greeks and Romans had different names for their gods, they shared the same pantheon. Their gods stand in stark contrast to the one true God. Whereas He is holy, merciful, and just, Olympus was populated by the petty – super-powered, sure, but morally no better, and often much worse, than the humans who worshipped them. So there are good reasons to get educated about the Greek gods. But that's different than looking to them for entertainment. There is a reason to study the Greek myths... but steering our kids towards them for fun? That strikes me as akin to pointing our littles to the 90s Friends TV series, telling them its good binge-watching material because there are laughs to be had. There are indeed – and in the Greek myths too – but in both instances the sexual perversion should be putting us off. Aren't they sanitized? The Percy Jackson books are aimed at middle school readers, so maybe parents would expect author Riordan to skip over the Greek myth's most lurid and depraved aspects? That all depends on your definition of depraved, doesn't it? Our secular world still opposes rape, so it's not a surprise that Riordan recasts the gods' many rapes into romances instead. He's not trying to normalize rape. But our culture has been celebrating homosexuality for a decade or three now, and in the last five years it's also jumped on the transgender train. So unless an author is explicitly swimming against the cultural stream – unless they are overtly Christian (or maybe Catholic or Mormon) – then we should expect them to go with the flow. We should expect them to go after the accolades available to any author who'll add in a "brave" gay, transgendered, or maybe genderfluid character into their books. That's how it's played out with Riordan. Laying it on thick To this point, I've only peeked at the series, reading through the first book, and maybe watching a couple episodes of the TV show (or was it the first movie?). When the series first came out, two decades ago, its popularity got my attention, but the first book didn't seem worth recommending so it dropped off my radar. But recently one of my daughters got interested, and that got me looking at them again. I figured, why not pick up one of the most controversial titles and start looking there? So I got a copy of The House of Hades – how's that for a creepy title? – which was book 4 from the second series. It was published back in 2013, and already then, Riordan was really pushing homosexuality. Nico di Angelo has a significant role here, and while he first appeared as a seemingly heterosexual character in 2007's The Titan's Curse, here he is forced to out himself. And it isn't just an announcement. Nico doesn't want to let anyone know, and we learn that because he's hidden that part of himself, he's never been able to have close friends. So a ferocious, vicious version of Cupid (this is no cherubic baby with a bow) makes Nico admit that, while everyone thought he had a crush on Percy Jackson's girlfriend, his crush was actually on Percy himself. Then, after Nico outs himself, his friend Jason tells him that it is possibly the bravest thing he's ever seen anyone do. So Riordan is laying it on thick here. Any kid wrestling with homosexual temptation has now been told that it is brave to embrace your sin, and it is a sin to deny your true self. Looking at it series by series There are more than 30 books in the Percy Jackson universe, and by all accounts, as the series has progressed since the  first novel was published in 2005, it's gotten queerer. While I've only read a couple or so, I have been researching more titles, and checking some of the titles out that were supposed to be the most LGBTQ friendly, so I can find out what that actually means. So here is a very incomplete account of LGBTQ content, series by series, that I'll expand on as I learn more. Percy Jackson and the Olympians (7 books) The first 5 books in this series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, are the ones that many of today's young parents grew up with. Lots of monsters, but I don't think there was anything LGBTQ-related in these 5. Not sure about the more recent couple though. The Lightning Thief (2005) The Sea of Monsters (2006) The Titan’s Curse (2007) The Battle of the Labyrinth (2008) The Last Olympian (2009) Chalice of the Gods (2023) Wrath of the Triple Goddess (2024) The Heroes of Olympus (5 books) I've only checked out book 4 so far and discovered Riordan using a sledgehammer to push homosexuality. The Lost Hero (2010) The Son of Neptune (2011) The Mark of Athena (2012) The House of Hades (2013) - Nico di Angelo is forced to out himself as gay, and that's celebrated by a friend as the bravest thing he's seen. The Blood of Olympus (2014) - Nico has a developing relationship with Will Solace The Trials of Apollo (5 books) Apollo is a key character, and his bisexuality is said to feature prominently in the series. There are also at least a couple of lesbian relationships. The Hidden Oracle: (2016) The Dark Prophecy: (2017) The Burning Maze: (2018) The Tyrant's Tomb: (2019) The Tower of Nero: (2020)  - Piper and Shel are in a lesbian relationship The Nico di Angelo Adventures (2 books) The whole series is focused on the relationship between Nico and his gay love interest. There's a lesbian couple too. The Sun and the Star (2023) - first to focus on a queer couple - also Piper and Shel are a couple here too The Court of the Dead (2025) Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard This involves Norse gods,  but takes place in the Percy Jackson universe, so it's a spin-off of sorts. Here we meet the shapeshifting, genderfluid Alex Fierro, who gets involved with a pansexual Magnus Chase. The Sword of Summer  The Hammer of Thor  The Ship of the Dead  The Kane Chronicles Riordan has also written a series on the Egyptian gods. I don't know much else about these so far. The Red Pyramid The Throne of Fire The Serpents Shadow