percy jackson + the rest of the riordanverse are better than the harry potter books, i'm not sorry. fight me, let's go.
it's just that with hp, i felt like i had to slog through the books to get to the next scene- like something interesting and fun/important would happen, then a bunch of plot-hole filler would fill up pages before the next impactful scene, but with pjo i was hooked the whole way through. i honest to the holy mother mary do not think that i will EVER find a series that got me so deeply invested again after pjo.
i feel like what makes these books so great to compare is the fact that they're so similar. you have a black haired, green eyed "chosen one" mc ( tho pjo is more subtle abt it ), his intelligent bad bitch best friend and the goofy tall one who has a heart of gold. this trio goes on unauthorised adventures in what seem to be futile attempts to save their world and the series leads up to a fight against the main antagonistic figure as we reach the series' end.
what also makes pjo and hp so fantastic to compare, is the fact that they are so wildly different.
percy and harry, for starters, are...well, not polar opposites, but aside from looks they aren't too similar. percy grew up in a loving home with his mother ( despite g*be ), before later meeting his new stepfather and having a sister. He spent his summers at CHB and while often life threatening, he had another family there. Percy was someone who recieved a lot of love and support- not to say that Harry didn't, but the only people who really love him and give him the care the turdsleys couldnt, were his besties, his future wife and her family. their upbringing clearly impacted the both of them greatly.
next, their morals. now, percy's fatal flaw is personal loyalty, which doesn't sound too bad, but its actually something really twisted when you think of hit; percy's flaw means that he would choose to save those close to him over those he doesn't know, smthn along the lines. now harry may have his moments where he prioritises friendship, but i feel like if he had to give ronnie boi the chop to save everyone, then he would.
now, side characters.
jk rowlings background characters are the most bland, one dimensional stereotypes ive ever-
cho chang was just a whiny asian girl. thats it. thats her character. nothing more. padma and parvati? just some annoying girls that harry and ron treated awfully at the ball. all those girls were, were just their races smh. the ones who werent just their races were white !!!!! dean was written okay, we BARELY saw lee jordan, and if there are any other poc then bitch i dont remember bc they were just that forgettable. its like jk picked a couple of races after realising how white hp was and just spritzed it up and hoped it would solve the problem.
jk's side characters were so forgettable, that's why if u look for ff for them, you wont find too many!! THERE ARE ONLY TWO GOOD LEE JORDAN FICS YALL I JUST-
*breathes*
*composes herself*
sorry, got heated.
now, rick had a little bit more inclusivity in the og pjo series ( beckendorf was my king and lowkey i was crushing on him man- ), and silena and drew, ethan etc. i was so glad he didnt make them just be their races like someone we know. they were actually characters who impacted the series- people we got attached too even though they weren't around for long. We were sad when Charlena died, when Bianca sacrificed herself, when Ethan-
do yall see the better quality characters UGH
but then rick upped the ante and added more pocs YES LADS. Hazel, Frank, Reyna, Piper, Leo and so many more i was just so happy to see a girl of my race be such a big character in a book like MA'AM
side note but can u just imagine hazel with the cutest little braids or smthn i just ajdjskfjsj
anyway, the point is, rick had better characters.
to conclude my haphazard, evidently biased essay, stan pjo for clear skin lol bye.