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Rick Riordan


“Ella, just stay here. Stay safe.""Safe," Ella repeated. "Ella likes being safe. Safety in numbers. Safety deposit boxes. Ella will go with Tyson.""What?" Percy said. "Oh... fine, whatever. Just don't get hurt. And Mrs. O'Leary—""ROOOF.""How do you feel about pulling a chariot?”
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“If a person cast no shadow at all, he couldn't be alive. His existence became meaningless.Execrating Apophis by destroying his shadow would cut his connection to the mortal world completely. He'd never be able to rise again. I finally understood why he'd been so anxious to burn Setne's scrolls, and he was afraid of this spell. (Carter Kane)”
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“Everyone hates clowns," Otis said. "Even other clowns hate clowns.”
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“Well," said Apollo with a brave smile. "You were right, my dear. You had everything under control! Let's go see if we boiled anyone important, shall we?”
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“No," I said. "I choose the prophecy. It will be about me.""Why are you saying that?" she cried. "You want to be responsible for the whole world?"It was the last thing I wanted, but I didn't say that. I knew I had to step up and claim it."I can't let Nico be in any more danger," I said. "I owe that much to his sister. I…let themboth down. I'm not going to let that poor kid suffer any more.”
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“Persamaan Maut dengan Cinta lebih banyak daripada yang mungkin kalian bayangkan.”
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“Piper bit her lip. The last thing she wanted to do was check Katopris for more terrifying images.'I've tried,'she said.'The dagger doesn't always show what I want to see. In fact,it hardly ever does''Please,'Percy said.'Try again.'He pleaded with those sea-green eyes, like a cute baby seal that needed help.Piper wondered how Annabeth ever won an argument with this guy.'Fine,'she sighed,and drew her dagger”
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“Sometimes the hardest power to master is the power of yielding. -Hestia”
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“Your lifeline...oh, the burning stick. Right." Leo resisted the urge to set his hand ablaze and yell: BWAH HA HA!”
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“If you'd sat there any longer,' Annabeth said, 'you would have spontaneously combusted. I hope the conversation was worth it?”
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“Hapi?" I asked."Why, yes, I am happy!" Hapi beamed. "I'm always happy because I'm Hapi! Are you happy?"Zia frowned up at the giant. "Does he have to be so big?"The god laughed. Immediately he shrank down to human size, though the crazy cheerful look on his face was still pretty unnerving."Oh, Setne!" Hapi chuckled and pushed the ghost playfully. "I hate this guy. Absolutely despise him!"Hapi's smile became painfully wide. "I'd love to rip off your arms and legs, Setne. That would be amazing!"Setne ... drifted a little farther away from the smiling god."Oh!" Hapi clapped excitedly. "The world is going to end tomorrow. I forgot!""You'd never get to Memphis without my help. You'd get torn into a million pieces!"He seemed genuinely pleased to share that news.”
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“CHEERS, CARTER. At least you have the sense to hand me the microphone for important things.Honestly, he drones on and on about his plans for the Apocalypse, but he makes no plans at all for the school dance. My brother's priorities are severely skewed.Sadie Kane”
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“Sounds like a plan worthy of Athena.”
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“I knew Dionysus must've filled it out, because he stubbornly insisted on getting my name wrong:Dear _______Peter Johnson__________,”
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“We'de have to get in and get out the hard way; and if we made a mistake, there was no telling what sort of curse we'de unleash: monster guardians, plagues, fires, exploding donkeys(don't laugh; they're bad news).”
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“Leo lowered his screwdriver. He looked at the ceiling and shook his head like, What am I gonna do with this guy? "I try very hard to be annoying," Leo said. "Don't insult my ability to annoy. And how am I supposed to resent you if you go apologizing? I'm a lowly mechanic. You're like the prince of the sky, son of the Lord of the Universe. I'm supposed to resent you." "Lord of the Universe?" (Jason) "Sure, you're all-bam! Lightning man. And 'Watch me fly. I am the eagle that soars-" (Leo) "Shut up, Valdez." (Jason) Leo managed a little smile. "Yeah, see. I do annoy you." "I apologize for apologizing." (Jason) "Thank you." He went back to work, but the tension had eased between them. Leo still looked sad and exhausted-just not quite so angry.”
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“Which meant his only assets were one whiny imprisoned goddess, one sort-of-girlfriend with a dagger, and Leo, who apparently thought he could defeat the armies of darkness with breath mints.”
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“Maybe people with special gifts show up when bad things are happening because that's when they're needed most.”
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“Leo had seen Tia Callida in action; she liked knives, snakes and putting babies in roaring fires. Yeah, definitely let's unleash her rage. Great idea.”
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“the answer to every problem involved penguins”
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“If you look at it from any other side, it looks like a pile of enormous deer droppings, but Chiron wouldn't let us call the place the Poop Pile, especially after it had been named for Zeus, who doesn't have much of a sense of humor.”
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“Hello Ra," he said in a kindly voice. "It's been a long time." A feeble voice from behind the chair said,"Can't play. Go away." "would you like a treat?" Apophis asked. "we used to play so nicely together. Every night, trying to kill each other. Don't you remember?"Ra poked his head above the throne. "Treat?""How about a stuffed date?" Apophis pulled one out of the air. "You used to love stuffed dates, didn't you? All you have to do is come out and let me devour— I mean entertain you."" Want a cookie," Ra said."What kind?""Weasel cookie."I'm here to tell you, that comment about weasel cookies probably saved the known universe.”
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“I turned to Thalia. ‘I’ll hold the flower while you beat up the thief?’She sighed. ‘Fine. Let’s go catch this jerk.”
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“Yours in demigodishness, and all that. Peace out!”
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“Stupid Sixteen year old kid falling from the sky! I'm late!”
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“We stepped back and looked at the king of the gods, slumped in his chair snoring, and cradling his crook like a teddy bear. I placed the war flail across his lap, hoping it might make a difference—maybe complete his powers or something. No such luck."Sick weasels," Ra muttered."Behold," Sadie said bitterly. "the glorious Ra.”
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“[Carter just asked when I became a ram whisperer. Do shut up, Carter]”
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“Her eyes were luminous gold. I wondered if that was the last color a bug saw when it was trapped in amber—and if the bug thought, wow, that's beautiful, right before it was frozen forever.”
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“Menshikov wants to see the old gold swallowed by Apophis. He wants to see the world plunged into darkness and chaos. He is quite insane."Oh."[great response, I know. But what do you say to a story like that?]”
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“Besides, you're a cat. It's your nature to think you're the center of the universe.”
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“All [Sadie’s] previous attempts [of making a shabti (an Egyptian avatar of one’s self)] had exploded or gone haywire, terrorizing Khufu and the initiates. Last week she’d created a magical Thermos with googly eyes that levitated around the room, yelling, “Exterminate! Exterminate!” until it smacked me in the head.”
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“Maybe—just maybe—Sadie had my best interests at heart. (I just caught her making faces at me, so maybe not.)”
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“How do I defeat Apophis?”“I’m so glad you asked!” Thoth beamed at me with his multicolored eyes. “Unfortunately, I can’t tell you.”I glanced at Walt. “Do you want to kill him, or should I?”
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“Suddenly his expression turned to alarm. He sprinted toward us. For a moment I had an absurd vision of myself on the cover of one of Gran’s old romance novels, where the damsel wilts into thearms of one half-dressed beefy guy while another stands by,casting her longing looks. Oh, the horrible choices a girl must make! I wished I’d had a moment to clean up. I was still covered in dried river muck, twine, and grass, like I’d been tarred and feathered. Then Anubis pushed past me and gripped Walt’s shoulders.Well…that was unexpected.”
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“Bloated!" he cried. The corresponding hieroglyph flew through the air, bursting against a demon's chest in a spray of light. Instantly, the demon swelled like a water balloon and rolled screaming down the pyramid."Flat!" Thoth blasted another demon, who collapsed and shriveled into a monster-shaped doormat."Intestinal problems!" Thoth yelled. The poor demon who got zapped with that one turned green and doubled over.”
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“You might not think a hippo could inspire terror. Screaming “Hippo!” doesn’t have the same impact as screaming “Shark!” But I’m telling you—as the Egyptian Queen careened to one side, its paddle wheel lifting completely out of the water, and I saw that monster emerge from the deep, I nearly discovered the hieroglyphs for accident in my pants.”
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“In the Duat, Anubis looked as he always had, with his tousled dark hair and lovely brown eyes, but I’d never seen him filled with such rage. I realized that anyone who dared to hurt me would suffer his full wrath, and Walt wasn’t going to hold him back.”
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“The truth is harsh." Anubis said. "Spirits come to the Hall of Judgement all the time, and they cannot let go of their lies. They deny their faults, their true feelings, their mistakes.......right up until Ammit devours their souls for eternity. It takes strength and courage to admit the truth.”
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“A weapon, I told Horus. I need a weapon.I reached into the Duat and pulled out an ostrich feather.“Really?” I yelled.Horus didn’t answer”
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“I lifted my wand, hoping she would see this as a dramatic move, not a threat. “Why once, in my bunker at Charing Cross Station, I stalked thedeadly prey known as Jelly Babies.”Neith’s eyes widened. “They are dangerous?”“Horrible,” I agreed. “Oh, they seem small alone, but they always appear in great numbers. Sticky, fattening—quite deadly. There I was, alonewith only two quid and a Tube pass, beset by Jelly Babies, when…Ah, but never mind. When the Jelly Babies come for you…you will find out onyour own.”She lowered her bow. “Tell me. I must know how to hunt Jelly Babies.”I looked at Walt gravely. “How many months have I trained you, Walt?”“Seven,” he said. “Almost eight.”“And have I ever deemed you worthy of hunting Jelly Babies with me?”“Uh…no.”
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“You never know!” Neith snapped. “The point is, I’ll survive the apocalypse. I can live off the land!” She jabbed a finger at me. “Did you know the palm tree has six different edible parts?”“Um—”“And I’ll never be bored,” Neith continued, “since I’m also the goddess of weaving. I have enough twine for a millennium of macramé!”I had no reply, as I wasn’t sure what macramé was.”
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“Do you think me cruel?” Neith asked. “Oh, yes, I collect the pockets of my enemies.”“Horrifying,” I said. “I didn’t know demons had pockets.”“Oh, yes.” Neith glanced in either direction, apparently to be sure no one was eavesdropping. “You just have to know where to look.”
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“She was so warm, her drenched clothes had almost dried. Her eyes were rolled back in her head. She started muttering, and I could’ve sworn she said, “Dung balls. Time to roll the dung balls.”It might’ve been funny—except for the fact that she was dying.“That’s Khepri talking,” Setne explained. “He’s the divine dung beetle, rolling the sun across the sky.”I didn’t want to process that—the idea that the girl I liked had been possessed by a dung beetle and was now having dreams about pushing a giant sphere of flaming poo across the sky.”
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“For an absurd moment, I wondered if Ammit devoured the hearts of wicked cows, and if he liked the beefy taste.- Carter Kane”
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“Before I could do anything rash, a familiar voice behind me said, "Hello, Sadie."The other girls let out a collective gasp. My pulse quickened from "slow walk" to "fifty-meter-dash." I turned and found that-yes, indeed-the god Anubis had crashed our dance.”
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“Hey, if you poop on my blankets...""Please. War gods do not poop on blankets..Well except for that one time..”
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“Um ,sorry. I cant read the last line.""Fish. Have you stolen any fish from the holy lakes?""I lived in Kansas..So ..no”
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“We speak with one voice,” Walt said. “Especially on this matter. No one hurts Sadie Kane.”
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“Yes, an actual full-sized camel. If you find that confusing, just think how the criosphinx must have felt.Where did the camel come from, you ask? I may have mentioned Walt’s collection of amulets. Two of them summoned disgusting camels. I’dmet them before, so I was less than excited when a ton of dromedary flesh flew across my line of sight, plowed into the sphinx, and collapsed on topof it. The sphinx growled in outrage as it tried to free itself. The camel grunted and farted.“Hindenburg,” I said. Only one camel could possibly fart that badly. “Walt, why in the world—?”“Sorry!” he yelled. “Wrong amulet!”The technique worked, at any rate. The camel wasn’t much of a fighter, but it was quite heavy and clumsy. The criosphinx snarled and clawedat the floor, trying unsuccessfully to push the camel off; but Hindenburg just splayed his legs, made alarmed honking sounds, and let loose gas.I moved to Walt’s side and tried to get my bearings.”
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“Our problems started in Dallas, when the fire-breathing sheep destroyed the King Tut exhibit.”
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