Want to watch Zaria’s narrator in action? Take a look! Michele Carpenter went to Bobby Ray Elementary and performed a reading from Zaria Fierce and the Enchanted Drakeland Sword. How cool is that? I loved watching it and you will, too.
Conquering Stage Fright at an Open Mic
As my name was closer to being called, butterflies erupted in my tummy, dancing and fluttering and twisting round and round. Why was I nervous? I’d read my book in front of strangers before, hadn’t I? What makes this any different?
The difference I believe is the situation. At a book reading, the audience had come to listen to me specifically. They wanted to learn more about me and my work. At this semi-informal stand-up mic event held in a friend-of-a-friend’s home it was different. I really only knew three people there and the event was a gathering of other friends sharing their poetry and songs. Would they really want to hear me, an interloper on the scene?
Then my name was called. I got up. I brought my book to the front. I said hello. I introduced the book and I started reading. I was reading aloud a scene I hadn’t practiced having realized in the middle of the event that my fifteen minute selection was too long for the program. So here I was, sitting on a chair, in front of a mic, holding a flashlight over my book and reading.
Luckily for me it was a scene I’d heard many times over as this was the scene I’d given as an audition piece for prospective narrators. I knew what I needed to do when – laugh, pant, shout. My shaking hands steadied, my heart rate returned to normal, and the story flowed. My friend recorded me at this event, and although I look a bit like a floating head that would fit right in at Hogwarts, I assure you I was fully present.
Lessons I Learned:
- Nerves come from thinking you’re unprepared. When you realize that the words you’re sharing are your own and that you do know them, everything falls into place as easily as breathing.
- Strangers are patient and interested. There’s no need to be nervous, because whether they’re at your book reading or open mic event, everyone is there to hear something they hadn’t heard before.
- These strangers are also amazingly talented and you’ll hear things you hadn’t before, too! There were singers, poets, and even another author at the event. Mingle and talk to everyone and you’ll make new friends and have a good time.
Overall, it was exhilarating and it was fun. I look forward to the next coffee house and poetry night where I may find myself.
Blog Tour: Folklore and World Building of the Zaria Fierce Trilogy
Raise your hand if you would like to learn more about the ellefolken race in the Zaria Fierce books. (Raises both hands!) I’m over at Brenda’s fabulous Log Cabin Library blog discussing world building and Norwegian mythology. Join me to learn more about Hector, his father, and his son, plus check out some artwork from the series and other artwork that inspired scenes in the books.
Brenda has also reviewed the first book in the Zaria Fierce Trilogy, and she had this to say:
Very quickly I was able to relate to Zaria, having been an Army brat and moving just about every four years growing up. I’m sure most people would’ve thought I was shy back then too. Like Zaria, I spent lots of time reading and dreaming up adventures. I especially enjoy that Zaria doesn’t stay this shy and quiet girl, and begins to develop confidence in herself, offering her opinion, fighting off wolf attacks and develops stronger friendships with Geirr, Filip and Aleks.
Update – Brenda now has her review for book two live!
I like how the action begins quickly and Gillett brings the reader up to speed on the plot, no time is wasted in getting these friends off on another adventure through the Norwegian countryside. Oh and that setting, it’s one of the most enjoyable things in reading Gillett’s stories. All the lovely rich details of each of the magical kingdoms, each place is unique and highlights the depth of her imagination.
Blog Tour Stop: Author Interview at Mom Read It
Hi everyone! I’m over at Mom Read It with Rosemary doing a fun author interview. We talk about fantasy books, Norwegian mythology, and folklore. Please join us!
Rosemary also had a chance to review the first two Zaria Fierce books. Here’s a sneak peek of what she said:
The stories are written and illustrated in a manner that recalls fantasy and adventure stories I read as a kid. The black and white fantasy sketches are beautiful and creepy – I love the white stag and the deliciously creepy Olaf – and brings a lot of imagination to the page.
Interview with Eoghan Kerrigan about Zaria Fierce’s Drakeland Sword Adventures
Welcome everyone! This is part two of a four part interview series with Eoghan Kerrigan, the illustrator of my Zaria Fierce Trilogy as we discuss his work for the second book. He’s marvelously talented (just scroll down and you can see some of his illustrations). You can read the first part of the interview series with him here.
Keira: Eoghan, were there any new characters to the trilogy that you loved reading about and/or drawing?
Eoghan Kerrigan: Bjarke, the benevolent troll, was a nice surprise after all the baddie trolls in the first book.
I also liked reading about minor characters like Granny dwarf. It’s a shame I didn’t get to draw her!
Keira: I’m glad you like Bjarke. I enjoyed meeting him too. He’s a fine scallywag pirate. It was important to me to not make all trolls be the bad guys. As for Granny, you never know who might make an appearance in the third installment of the trilogy. Which character from the trilogy (that you’ve met so far) are you most like and why?
Eoghan: Probably Zaria. She has a love of fantasy and a revered appreciation for the strange denizens she meets. She can be self-conscious and has a tendency to overthink, but is brave when she needs to be.
Keira: It’s so fun to see that you relate to her. She loves maps and uses them as artwork on her walls, but if she saw your art and how you’ve depicted her adventures around Norway, you’d get prime real estate. What do you most want to happen next in the next book? Where do you hope book three takes us?
Eoghan: It’s going to sound horrible, but I hope all the dragons are released so I can draw them!
Keira: That would certainly be something! I’d enjoy getting those illustrations as I loved, LOVED, your Koll. If you could be a magical being from the book, which would you be and why?
Eoghan: I’d be a troll, no question. I’ve always identified with them. Not particularly pleasant looking, a little grumpy, a little misunderstood, but not all bad.
Keira: I thought you might say that! When I saw your illustrator head shot with you talking to a troll, it made me smile, because it felt so you. And no, trolls aren’t all bad as we’ll find out in Zaria’s second adventure. Were you surprised, scared, disappointed, etc. with any part of the second book?
Eoghan: The finale where Zaria enters the Under Realm felt very uneasy. You can tell something really bad is going to happen and just like Zaria I was not expecting what happened next to happen. I always worry for Zaria and the consequences of her actions.
Keira: Oh, that’s good to hear! I hope it will surprise readers, too. Thanks everyone for joining us today! Eoghan, it’s been a pleasure. Be sure to follow along with the blog tour for upcoming information on the next segment with Eoghan about Zaria and her adventures to find the Drakeland Sword.
Available in E-book | Print | Audio Book formats.
See if you’re eligible to get a free copy of the audio book here.
Illustrator Bio: Eoghan Kerrigan is an illustrator from Kildare, Ireland who draws primarily fantasy characters and creatures. He studied illustration in Ballyfermot College of Further Education and has produced work for various independent projects. He has two cats and a soft spot for trolls.
Website: http://eoghankerrigan.blogspot.ie/
Social Media: Twitter (eoghankerrigan), Facebook (eoghankart)
Interview with Michele Carpenter about Zaria Fierce Book Two
This is part one of four for a new interview series with Michele Carpenter, the narrator of the Zaria Fierce Trilogy as we discuss the making of Zaria Fierce and the Enchanted Drakeland Sword.
Keira: When we chatted about the first book we discussed some of your favorite and most fun voices. Are there any new characters in the trilogy that you loved performing?
Michele Carpenter: I loved voicing Bjarke. As Olaf’s cousin, I wanted the two of them to sound reminiscent of one another, but Olaf is evil and Bjarke is kind, so I wanted him to sound trollish and lovable. The results was Yoda-esque. LOL!
I also enjoyed the snooty Fey family. They weren’t completely evil. They were just self-centered and needed to sound like the privileged royalty they believed themselves to be. I felt like I was having dinner on a yacht, with the offspring of the Howells from Gilligan’s Island. Isak was fun.
Keira: I loved how you voiced Lukas and Nori. Those were some snooty sniffs. And of course, Bjarke is just perfect. So, I’ve been terribly curious and I’ll just be nosy about it now – Would you share a picture of your work space? Or work partners/partners in crime?
Michele: My studio, my kids, and some artwork I’m painting on the studio door.
Keira: Oh that’s fun and what adorable kids! Your middle one could play Aleks with his beautiful red hair and dark eyes (at least they look dark in the photo). What do you most want to happen next in the trilogy? Where do you hope book three takes us?
Michele: I really felt–or maybe imagined–a spark of connection between Hart and Zaria. They had a mutual hero/savior experience, in which, both have rescued the other. And probably doubly so, by the time the story ends. I’d love to see something develop between them. I’d like to at least see them become really great friends. On one hand, I hate the idea of losing such an awesome character as Hector in order to gain Hart as a character, but that’s how you set up the mythology of the ellefolken. On the other, I’m really curious how that’s going to play out. Imagining Hector as a tree king is just so hard. So Hart is really going to have some huge shoes to fill! He better be planning something amazing to win us over to him. 😉
Keira: I do love both Hart and Hector. What’s in store for them though will have to wait to book three. Ask me no questions, I tell you no lies. LOL If you could be a character from the books who would you be and why?
Michele: I would want to be Queen Helena…except that I’m not entirely clear on what her life must be like. She seems to have amazing powers and beauty. But is she a prisoner of her own making to the Under Realm? It seems like she’s sacrificed her freedom to guard over the dragons down there. That’s very noble and honorable, but I can’t imagine not having freedom. Madam Brown is another interesting character. She can do pretty cool things, but I’d never be content to live in someone’s backpack until they needed me, LOL! No way.
Keira: Ooo, some very interesting choices. I agree with you about Madam Brown all the way. Unless the backpack was very special I just couldn’t see living in it. What has been your favorite part about collaborating with me on Zaria Fierce?
Michele: The books have definitely been a delight! But I have to say, it’s truly all the little explosions of creativity you and I have together in our conversations that are my favorite. Over the course of this year you have become a very good friend to me. Discussing plans and ideas with you feels like being a part of a fun and artistic ‘think tank’. It’s truly inspiring and your such an uplifting person.
Keira: The feeling is mutual!!! I couldn’t ask for a better friend or collaborator. You’re a great listener! I’ve had a blast bouncing ideas with you. Readers, before you head off, take a few minutes and listen to Michele read from the second book in the Zaria Fierce Trilogy. You’ll have a chance to hear her Bjarke!
If you liked the sample from Zaria Fierce and the Enchanted Drakeland Sword, be sure to check it out and to tell others about it.
Available in E-book | Print | Audio Book formats.
See if you’re eligible to get a free copy of the audio book here.
Narrator Bio: Michele Carpenter is an artist at heart, with a passion for acting. She and her husband (also a voice actor) often work on projects together and help one another through the journey. Together, they have three kids. Michele’s children love to hear her read stories and beg her to edit her narrations in the same room with them so they can listen too. It’s partially for this reason that Michele has come to feel a personal responsibility to only record books that aren’t inappropriate for children or young adults–at their respective age levels and according to the maturity levels of the books they’re able to read. “We never know how long we have on this earth and I’d rather leave behind a legacy of books that I’m not ashamed to have my friends, family and even future grandchildren, listen to forever.”
Website: http://www.michele-carpenter.com/
Social Media: Twitter (michelecvoice), Facebook (michelecarpentervoice), YouTube (micheleyoutube)
Blog Tour Stop: Author Q&A at The Booklandia
Join me at Danissa’s blog, The Booklandia, for an author Q&A with yours truly. We talk about reading, writing, and Zaria Fierce – three of my favorite subjects! 🙂
Recap: Video, Audio, and Pictures from the Book Signing at the Suntree Viera Public Library
Thanks everyone who came and joined me at the Suntree Viera Public Library last Saturday! What a blast it was to read for you from the second Zaria Fierce book. I had a lot of fun sharing my book and talking to you all.
Here are the highlights from the author talk:
Watch Again
Below is the video of the reading:
Here’s a video of the Q&A portion of the event. You had so many good questions!
Listen Again
Below is the audio (includes Q&A) from the reading:
If you loved hearing the book read, you should check out Michele Carpenter’s narration of theZaria Fierce books on Audible. She does an amazing job. She even gave me some tips for my reading today. I love her voices and you will too!
Transcript of the the Q&A Session
Q: What is the game called?
A: The game is called kettupeli. It’s a Finnish word that combines two Finnish words actually. They combine the words fox and game, where kettu is fox and peli is game, and when you write a Finnish word it gets smooshed together. The reason I know that is because growing up, just before I really remember, my mom and dad had some exchange students come from Finland. I’m friends with them now as they’re all grown up and myself, too, on Facebook. I would posed questions here and there as I was trying to come up with words for things. So they were able to help me out with that. That was pretty cool.
Q: Why did you pick Norway?
A: I picked Norway as the setting for Zaria Fierce because everywhere else that I tried in the north just wasn’t working. Russia seemed too harsh, and Canada seemed too friendly. (Laughter) And I didn’t really want to do it on an off-world version like Game of Thrones or something where it’s a made-up world. I wanted it to feel like it could happen here and now, with anybody being able to walk into Norway. They have such a rich folklore that goes hand-in-hand with their mythology. The same with just Europe in general. They have a very big fantasy, folklore environment that you can take things from and use, so that’s what I did. I really liked it once I set it in Norway. It worked out really well. That’s when Olaf came to me, too, the bad guy. He showed up and appeared fully formed out from underneath his bridge the minute Zaria had to go to school in Norway, which was perfect, because until then I didn’t have a bad guy. No story without a bad guy.
Q: Have you visited Scandinavia?
A: I have gone to Finland. I haven’t been to Norway, yet, or Sweden. Both are places that I would love to visit. I’m hopeful to get there in the next year or two. I guess, I’ve also been to Russia and St. Petersburg so that kinda counts – it’s in the same general area.
Q: Are you working on the third book or are you already finished with it?
A: I’m working on the third book. If I meet my word count I’ll be done by the end of the year in time to start prepping it with Eoghan and Michele, so they can do their narration and illustration. If I don’t meet the word count it’ll be just after the new year starts. Right now I’m about halfway to two-thirds done.
Q: Are you keeping it a trilogy or are you going to be like Lucy Jordan and instead of a trilogy, I’ll make 14 books, or however many?
A: Currently the plans are to keep it a trilogy, but there are different scenarios that could open up with either Zaria still being the main character or another character taking over as the main character for the narrative. So, we’ll see how that goes.
Q: Why did you want to create the books? Did you just want to create it or did you want to create it for a reason?
A: I’m going to go with a bit of both. I grew up reading lots and lots and lots of books. I fell in love with Harry Potter, and Percy Jackson, and Artemis Fowl, and my mom would come to school and would read Half Magic to me and my fellow classmates. It’s the magic of falling into a world. I knew I had one in me, and so did Zaria. She kept coming to me for about a year, but like I said, until Olaf came on the page the story didn’t really start happening, because I didn’t have the bad guy. So sometimes you need both the hero and the villain in order to know where you’re going. Good question. Are there any more?
Q: It’s available on Kindle?
A: Yes, the books are available on Amazon, Audible, and iTunes. I also brought a couple of physical books with me if anybody would like to pick up a set and get them autographed while I’m here. They make great Christmas presents, there’s my plug. (Laughter)
Q: The illustrations are fantastic. (They’re Caldecott quality.) Yes. Has he illustrated other books?
A: No, this is the first book and book series that [Eoghan Kerrigan’s] illustrated as far as I know.
I found him on Deviant Art. I was searching the internet for John Bauer’s work. He’s a famous Swedish illustrator. He did a whole bunch of illustrations of trolls and things for different folklore books and collections. He has a very specific style. When you see them, it’s otherworldly and you can’t help but fall in love with them.
As I was searching for his work to get a feel of things, a copycat had appeared in the search from Deviant Art. By the time I went back to see the copycat I couldn’t find it, so I started searching Deviant Art people who did troll art, because I thought where there’s one there’s probably others and that’s when I found Eoghan.
His profile there said he wasn’t doing commissions, so I followed him to his website where he said he wasn’t doing commissions, and I followed him to Facebook with he posted that he was doing commissions. So I was like, we should get together I have an idea, and it worked out really well.
Q: Have you met him?
A: I have not met him, but that would be fun to do. And, I haven’t met Michele either, she’s the narrator. She lives in Tennessee.
Q: How did you come up with the name of the heroine? It sounds Middle-Eastern.
A: It does come from that area of the world, and Africa. It means Princess, actually. And because Zaria is in fact a princess I thought it was quite fitting. (A fierce princess.) Yes! In terms of her last name, she’s an adopted little girl, and her father’s name – her adoptive parents names are Mr. and Mrs. – Colonel and Meredith Fierce.
Q: You keep mentioning a narrator, and I haven’t read the books yet, so this probably shows in this question, but does that mean there is a narrator in the book or do you have a narrated or voice version of the books?
A: I do have a voice version – audio book version – of the books. Michele Carpenter does a brilliant job. She’s quite entertaining and has a huge range of voices. You haven’t really fallen in love with Olaf as a bad guy till you’ve heard her as Olaf, he’s pretty scary.
Q: You can hear a sample on Amazon?
A: Yes. You can hear a sample online, and you can also go to my website where I have the samples a little bit closer together, so you don’t have to do as much searching.
Q: So presumably, you taught her how to say all the names correctly?
A: Yes. We worked together on that. Kettupeli is just one of those words because it’s Finnish. So I started by asking my Finnish friends, and they gave me a written pronunciation of it. She read it one way and I read it another way, and we’re like okay this where we go from here. We have a list of how the names break down and we just add to it.
Q: We should have that list too. You should publish that as a little side work or something.
A: If you go to my blog, which is part of my website, so if you go to keiragillett.com, the website has a blog section and I did a blog tour online where I gave that list for the first book. It’s not a phonetic breakdown by any means. I put an “E” down when I wanted you to make the “E” sound and “er” when I wanted you to say “er”. It’s American sounds, here’s how I broke it down. Go!
Q: We got Zaria and Olaf okay, but the rest of them… I wasn’t sure if it was Christopher, but it’s spelled differently. (And for Geirr we said, Gerrr.) Daddy said, Geh-rr.
A: Geirr is one of those funny ones. There was six different ways to pronounce it. So we just picked one be both liked. I’m just glad you guys didn’t go with Gear, because sometimes people were doing that, like clockwork gears. But it would’ve worked. When you read you read it to yourself it’s however you pronounce it.
Q: When did you start your first book?
A: I started my first book last year, sometime around January. Then I put it down around May because I wasn’t making any progress. I had started and stopped, and trashed different plot lines. Some of the original ones, were where Zaria went to a school with other kids with magical talents. It sounded a little bit too much like Harry Potter to me so I kind of (makes a sweeping gesture) went with that. Then there was a Beauty and the Beast remake, but then I thought Zaria was too old and she was kind of fighting that story too. I fully believe Zaria helped form her story. She was like Goldilocks and the Three Bears. This isn’t quite right, and this isn’t quite right, but here we go! This is just right. Let’s go! As soon as Olaf came the book started writing itself. That was about late September of last year and I finished it just before Thanksgiving and I got it published March of this year. So it was whirlwind, fun times!
Q: How did you manage to get it published?
A: I self-published. I’ve been in the book blogging community for several years now, so I’ve known that self-publishing a little less sneered at and a little bit more lifted up. There was people who just went from being nothing but self-published to getting huge deals with publishers, and people who went from huge publishers wanting to do self-publishing. And I thought, I can do that. I can read up on how to format and do all that stuff. I taught myself what to do and where to do it and how to do it. Little by little the books came together. That was what I was doing while Eoghan was illustrating and Michele was narrating. I was teaching myself how to get the book up on the different websites for sale.
Q: What company did you use?
A: I used Amazon’s Kindle Publishing, Create Space for physical book format, and ACX for audio book, where you can upload an audition script and choose a narrator.
Q: What does self-publishing mean? Does that mean you published it yourself?
A: That’s exactly what it means. I wanted to ensure that the story got out as fast as possible to the people who would be interested in it.
Q: Did you use Scrivener?
A: I did not. I used Word.
Q: Have you had a good response?
A: I have. It’s been pretty good. There’s hasn’t been a negative review yet, which is nice. Although I’ve heard from some authors you’re not really published and you don’t feel published until you get a really nasty one. I feel published getting the really nice ones. I love hearing that kids love the books, and that it’s their favorite story. A certain grandma has come back and bought three different sets because her grandkids are talking to each other about the books and say, we want a set too! That’s really great. That makes me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside. It’s why I wrote the books, I wanted to share my love of reading with everybody because it was such a huge part of my life growing up. Even now I’ve read like seventy something books this year. It always hurts me when a kid says they don’t like to read. I say it’s just because you haven’t found the books for you yet.
Q: What’s nice is that it crosses over to adults. Adults like it too. You can’t read a book that bores you.
A: Yes.
Q: Well, your language, too, it isn’t just as simple as possible. I think it’s important that children see hard words and have to look it up to see what they mean. For this group of kids that’s appropriate for them, for these little group of adventurers.
A: I’m glad you feel that way. I think the same too. You don’t learn the new words until you see them for the first time. I figured with Amazon being my main source that if people bought it as an e-book then you just tap the word on the screen and it tells you what it means right there as you’re reading. It’s different obviously with a print book and an audio book. With an audio book you hear the words pronounced correctly so that also helps with vocab.
SPOILERS…below
Q: One of the downsides with an audio book when you’re listening to it, is that when you read the first book the differences in the spelling of the words is huge, like with heart. If you don’t have that visual then you’re not going to grasp that you’re not talking about that. Oops. Sorry, daddy. (I listen to a lot of audio books, that sort of thing actually resolves itself pretty well. You’d be surprised by how that works out. You’d be amazed what you can pick up on because you’re listening.)
A: One of my favorite things someone said to me as they were reading it (and they didn’t leave this in a review)… Keira, I think you’re spelling heart wrong half the time. You need to fix that. I said, you just need to keep reading. What chapter are you in? They said I’m here, and I said you got two more chapters to go, just keep reading. Then the next response from them was, Oh, I get it.
Q: I listened to Harry Potter, and when it got to the chapter title of Mirror of Erised. I said, oh, let me have that and I could tell it was the line backwards. When you listen to it as well you get things, too.
A: That, I hope is the result of a good writer. I would love to be in J.K. Rowling’s shoes someday. That would be wonderful.
End Spoilers…
Q: Is that your goal to be with a big publisher someday or do you like self-publishing?
A: I like self-publishing because I really get to control everything. It’d be nice if one of them wanted to seek me out, that would be great. It would make me feel like I was going in the right direction with things, but I really get that from the readers. I feel that if Zaria Fierce had been with a publisher then Eoghan wouldn’t have been the illustrator. They might never have found him, and Michele might never have been the narrator. There’s nobody else who I would’ve picked to be either one of the people to help make this story what it is.
Q: Is it expensive to self-publish?
A: It depends. It depends on who you hire, it depends how many rounds of edits you go through, and it depends what you feel you’re not able to do. Because I’m comfortable with computers and Word, I saved a lot of money by not hiring interior formatters or people who I didn’t need to hire because I was able to do it. I was able to do the cover design myself. I took Eoghan’s illustration, I found the fonts I wanted and purchased them so I had commercial rights to them, and laid everything out and kept working on it. This particular cover (book two’s) took quite a bit of time because of these two elements right here (ISBN and QCR code) at the bottom did not want to play well with each other. If I designed it on Create Space looking at it, constantly uploading, and would say okay it looks perfect, and print out a copy to send to me. Then when it came they would be off from each other by quarter of an inch and it was just bad. So I had to take everything that Create Space would do for you for free and take it all off and tell them not to do it. I had to do it myself and put everything in place. If you don’t have the patience to figure that stuff out then there’s people to hire which changes the costs.
Your Pictures – Thanks for sharing with me!
Book Trailer for Zaria Fierce and the Enchanted Drakeland Sword
Michele did such a wonderful job putting this together! All the illustrations used are from the Zaria books and by Eoghan Kerrigan. Enjoy.
82 Books to Read If You Love Percy Jackson
Do you love Percy Jackson? Are you looking for more books that are just like it to take you on new adventures? You’re in luck! Here’s a handy list of books and series to check out for any Camp Halfblood fan.
Of course you’ll want to check out the whole collection of works by Rick Riordan. So we’ll start with the low-hanging fruit.
Percy Jackson Series:
- Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief
- Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters
- Percy Jackson and the Titan’s Curse
- Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth
- Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian
- Companion novel: The Demigod Files.
- Companion novel: Percy Jackson’s Greek gods
- Companion novel: Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes
Heroes of Olympus:
This is a sequel series by Rick Riordan based on the Percy Jackson series which introduces their Roman demigod counterparts and the Roman Legion.
- The Lost Hero
- The Son of Neptune
- The Mark of Athena
- The House of Hades
- The Blood of Olympus
- Companion novel: The Demigod Diaries
- Companion novel: The Demigods of Olympus: An Interactive Adventure
The Kane Chronicles:
This trilogy by Rick Riordan is about the Egyptian gods and the Kane children battling to save the world.
- The Red Pyramid
- The Throne of Fire
- The Serpent’s Shadow
- Companion novel: The Kane Chronicles Survival Guide
The Gods of Asgard Series:
Then there’s the new kid in town Magnus Chase, which focuses on the Norse gods. Also by Rick Riordan.
Kane Chronicles and Heroes of Olympus Cross-Over:
Next, we have some fun short stories by Rick Riordan with characters from both the Kane Chronicles and the Percy Jackson Series.
The Trials of Apollo:
This series about Apollo, who is stripped of his godly status and must survive in New York.
Rick Riordan is prolific, which is fantastic because there’ll always be something new from him, but let’s move on and meet some other authors, heroes, and adventures.
The Blackwell Pages by K.L. Armstrong and M.A. Marr:
Why it will remind you of Percy Jackson: Norse demigods set in America are trying to stop Ragnarok.
Mither Mages by Orson Scott Card
Why it will remind you of Percy Jackson: Norse demigods set in America, with lost magic being found.
Cronus Chronicles by Anne Ursu
Why it will remind you of Percy Jackson: Greek mythology, set in America, a new bad guy in town to overthrow Hades.
Heroes in Training by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams
Why it will remind you of Percy Jackson: This one is for younger readers, where young Greek gods discover their powers.
- Zeus and the Thunderbolt of Doom
- Poseidon and the Sea of Fury
- Hades and the Helm of Darkness
- Hyperion and the Great Balls of Fire
- Typhon and the Winds of Destruction
- Apollo and the Battle of the Birds
- Ares and the Spear of Fear
- Cronus and the Threads of Dread
- Crius and the Night of Fright
- Hephaestus and the Island of Terror
- Uranus and the Bubbles of Trouble
- Perseus and the Monstrous Medusa
The Theodosia Series by R.L. LaFevers
Why it will remind you of Percy Jackson: Cursed Egyptian objects, secret societies, magic, and an 11-yo to save the world.
- Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos
- Theodosia and the Staff of Osiris
- Theodosia and the Eyes of Horus
- Theodosia and the Last Pharaoh
Pegasus Series by Kate O’Hearn
Why it will remind you of Percy Jackson: A flying horse, Romance mythology, Roman gods, set in New York.
Oh My Gods by Tera Lynn Childs
Why it will remind you of Percy Jackson: Greek god descendants attend a fancy high school in Greece. Which one are you?
- Oh. My. Gods.
- Goddess Boot Camp
- Companion Novel: Goddess in Time
Mythos Academy by Jennifer Estep
Why it will remind you of Percy Jackson: Kids in America with fighting powers and magic based on a bunch of different mythologies go to school at a special academy to keep the world safe from Loki.
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- Companion Novel: First Frost
- Touch of Frost
- Kiss of Frost
- Dark Frost
- Crimson Frost
- Companion Novel: Spartan Frost
- Midnight Frost
- Killer Frost
Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond by Sayantani DasGupta
Why it will remind you of Percy Jackson: This fantasy adventure features Indian myths, folklore, and fairytales.
Pandava Series by Roshani Chokshi
Why it will remind you of Percy Jackson: From the Rick Riordan Presents line comes a fantasy adventure based on Hindu mythology.
The Zaria Fierce Series by Keira Gillett:
Disclaimer: This series is written by yours truly.
Why it will remind you of Percy Jackson: Travel to magical Norway and dive into myths and folklore as friends take on dragons to save the world.
- Zaria Fierce and the Secret of Gloomwood Forest
- Zaria Fierce and the Enchanted Drakeland Sword
- Zaria Fierce and the Dragon Keeper’s Golden Shoes
- Aleks Mickelsen and the Twice-Lost Fairy Well
- Aleks Mickelsen and the Call of the White Raven
- Aleks Mickelsen and the Eighth Fox Throne War
- Christoffer Johansen and the Return to Jötunheim (Coming 2020)
And that’s just a start! There’s plenty more out there! Share your favorites in the comments!
Author Reading and Book Signing at the Suntree Viera Library
Join me at the Suntree Viera Library for an author reading from Zaria Fierce and the Enchanted Drakeland Sword on December 19, 2015. The event starts on 2:30 PM. Following the reading there will be a Q&A session and book signing. It’s a perfect gift for young readers!
Zaria Fierce is amazing! My mom finished in one day I finished in two days. It was so good we couldn’t stop reading it! – Katie, age 9
Oskar the Elevated
Our new puppy is named Oskar after a certain giant.
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