Rick Riordan · 2005 · road

Rick Riordan's five-book series that relocates the Greek gods to modern America, where Olympus sits atop the Empire State Building and the Underworld opens in Los Angeles. Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, discovers he is a demigod and is sent from Camp Half-Blood on a cross-country quest to recover Zeus's stolen master bolt, travelling by bus, train and taxi from New York to the gates of the Underworld in the West. Later books carry him from the Sea of Monsters to the Titans' stronghold in California and back to a final battle for Manhattan. Traced here is the signature journey: the coast-to-coast run of the first book, with the western reach of the later quests.

1. 1
   Camp Half-Blood

   On the North Shore of Long Island lies the camp for demigods, Percy's summer home and the starting point of every quest.

2. 2
   New York City

   Mount Olympus now floats above the 600th floor of the Empire State Building, the seat of the gods in the great power of the West.

3. 3
   St. Louis

   On the westward train, atop the Gateway Arch, Percy is cornered by Echidna and the Chimera and leaps into the Mississippi far below.

4. 4
   Denver

   In a Denver diner the war god Ares sets the demigods a task, sending them to a water park booby-trapped by Hephaestus.

5. 5
   Las Vegas

   The Lotus Hotel and Casino nearly swallows them for good, its endless games devouring days while the quest's clock runs down.

6. 6
   Los Angeles

   Behind a Los Angeles storefront they find the entrance to the Underworld, cross the Styx, and confront Hades himself.

7. 7
   San Francisco

   In the later books the danger shifts to the Bay, where on Mount Tamalpais the Titans' power stirs again on the ruins of Mount Othrys.