Percy Jackson Book Club discussion

I'd like to start off by saying that I'm not a professional!!!!!!!!!!

I'M BAAAAACK!!!

Okay, so we all love Percy Jackson, but can it be considered a classic?
Short answer: yes.
Long answer: it depends.

'Why does it depend?'
Well, one thing that the lack of social life brings as a positive, is being absolutely obsessed with media trends. And I have no friends, so...
Percy Jackson can absolutely be considered a neoclassic because, although filled with pop culture references (which tend to put an expiration date on a book), it was released in 2005, and 2 decades later, he sells about hundreds of thousands of books.
So, yes, it stands tall with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and The Hunger Games as a neoclassic. Ask 10 random teenagers on the street, at least one has read Percy.
However, will it be an actual classic?
Only time can tell. So far, things are looking in Percy's way.

a short deep dive, but sometimes we ought to get straight to the point

I personally love this topic—it’s so fun !!

I love the idea of popular books becoming classics in the future. Something that I’ve noticed is a pattern in classics—usually books that are popular dont mean that they will be classics. Classics usually (and surprisingly) have a reflection in ongoing politics, and Percy Jackson does reflect debates in this generation. For example, normalizing LGBTQ+

And the staples—like Nirvana and coke mentioned, which is crazy to think that in the future people will have to look up what they are 😭

Yea that’s kinda scary that our generation’s “classics”, cool stuff, and norms will need to be researched and taught in history classes one day!!

Yes!!! This is an amazing point, Percy really challenged so many social norms. I think it will stand the test of time, because it is the embodiment of gen-zers and maybe millennials, too.

I think that normalising LGBTQ+, having different ethnicities and races is our generation's version of having female protagonists that have feelings and are not one-dimensional (quite like Little Women was one of the first books for girls)

@steffy that’s a great point !! Strong female characters used to be a bold move, and now it’s a popular trope in books. I hope that I’m the future diverse characters will be in every book now

also, thank you for your suggestion inge, the next deep dive will be about poseidon and athena, their relationship and why percabeth is so important!!

ray (ia) wrote: "@steffy that’s a great point !! Strong female characters used to be a bold move, and now it’s a popular trope in books. I hope that I’m the future diverse characters will be in every book now"

Me too!!!

Man, on top of everything I love how Percy Jackson handles ADHD. Like as a kid, that was so important to me because it got me out of that “there’s something fundamentally wrong with me and everyone hates me for it” mentality by framing it in a more…normal way? Like not “oh it’s a superpower and you should be happy you have it” but more just “this is a thing that exists and sometimes it’s really hard to live with but it doesn’t mean you should be exiled from society” lol. It’s cool to think that one day something like that would be a classic. The characters are all so diverse, too which is super cool, and it doesn’t pick a certain archetype to demonize like some series’. The girls are allowed to be cool and strong, but they’re also allowed to be girly and care about their appearance without either being condemned in any way. Tldr if it dos become a classic in the future I think that would do a lot of good for kids. I know it did for me at least, so I’m biased but I think my point still stands

No, you are not biased! Neurodivergence has often been misportrayed in media, and though I am not on the spectrum, I'm glad it was handled as normal because one of my (ex) friends (we lost touch after we went to different high schools) has both ADHD and dyslexia and it made her feel seen and it was not overdramatised. It was handled as a normality because that's what it is, normal.

Yeah it was huge for me, personally. I was kinda never taught it was normal so having a book series with cool funny protagonists running around saving the world who had the same struggles really helped, especially as a younger kid (and honestly even now lol). It’s one of the many reasons I love this series so much

And they don’t blow it out of proportion. Like you said, it was just…normal. A thing that existed and was a part of the character, but it wasn’t ALL they were. Which I think is some of the most important kind of representation for ANYTHING, really

I am so glad it made you feel happy<333
representation matters because people come in all shapes and sizes. in the book I'm writing, I kind of struggled to add representation (at least in the first book, it's a duology) because it's in a different realm, but as I was rereading the first draft, I realised that without representation, I, as a writer, failed. So I sprinkled other human races but not the ones we already know, we are on another planet, new species and I must confess I am very pleased with what's coming to be.
I can't wait for the second book to add actual people as characters (as it takes place on Earth)

That’s so exciting! But yeah, as I was writing my own project, I had to take a step back and realize that I was failing both myself and my future audience with the lack of representation. Especially since I usually deal in visual mediums, which adds another layer in which it’s so important for the world to feel complete and interesting. If everyone was exactly the same, that’d be boring. Everyone looks different, acts different, has different life experiences and thoughts and feelings and backgrounds and it’s a waste not to explore more than one or two when there are so many stories to tell, you know? (Sorry if I’m not making sense lol)

And also, sci-fi/fantasy world-building is SO cool and if/when you publish your books I am absolutely going to get them /positive /gen

No, you're absolutely right!!!
If you publish what you write, you've got a reader!!
I'm writing a ya fantasy that I've been working on since I was 12 (I'm 17 now), and I'm halfway through my second draft, by the way things are going, I think I'll be looking for an agent next year! I'm also writing children's books (these are in Romanian) and I am in talks with some publishers about them, so wish me luck!!!

Ștefania wrote: "No, you're absolutely right!!!
If you publish what you write, you've got a reader!!
I'm writing a ya fantasy that I've been working on since I was 12 (I'm 17 now), and I'm halfway through my second..."

OMG. I always wanted to write and publish books! I've been struggling on continuing them though and not giving up on them so I haven't made the most progress. I'm so glad to hear that your doing well though!

you may want to plan more beforehand!! it was an absolute gamechanger for me!!

That is seriously so awesome! I wish you all the luck in the whole world! /gen as soon as you’re published you’ve got a reader :3

And thank you~ my little passion project (a comic and game) I started four or five years ago I believe? I would have been 12 or 13 (I’m 17 now lol). Thanks for the encouragement /gen

Okay, so my school reads TLT, and discusses deeper meanings and stuff, which I pretty much think makes it a classic...