Pope Benedict XVI, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

The Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book One: Lightning Thief Deluxe Edition (Percy Jackson & the Olympians)

• The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 2)
• The Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 3)
• The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 4)
• The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson & the Olympians, Book 5)
• The Lost Hero (Heroes of Olympus, Book 1)
• see more

A Note for Amazon Customers from Illustrator John Rocco







Dear Readers,

When I was about eight years old I had the great luck of stumbling upon my father’s collection of Classics Illustrated comic books. I instantly fell in love with the stories of Robert Louis Stevenson, Mark Twain, H.G. Wells, and James Fenimore Cooper. Many years later, when I became interested in illustration, I discovered the beautiful hardbound editions of these stories featuring the arresting artwork of incredible artists like N.C. Wyeth, Howard Pyle, and Maxfield Parrish. What I love about their paintings is not just the beautiful draftsmanship, color and composition, but their ability to capture a moment that held the promise of swashbuckling adventure. That promise let me know that if I read the words surrounding that picture, I could unlock the adventure.

That promise is what I tried to achieve when creating the pictures for this incredible series. My approach has never been just to describe a scene from the book, but to create an illustration that offers tension and mystery--an image that provides just enough information to leave the viewer wanting to know more.

When I was asked to create images for the Deluxe Edition of Rick Riordan’s The Lightning Thief it was a dream come true. It was my chance to illustrate what I consider to be a new classic. The Lightning Thief has so many wonderful moments it was difficult to choose what to paint, but I knew I wanted to create a balance of dramatic scenes and quiet moments and to capture the spirit of Rick’s unforgettable characters. It has been my own great adventure to help bring this book to life in a new way, in color, on the page.

I hope you enjoy this Deluxe Edition of The Lightning Thief.

Yours,

John

Percy and a Nereid	Percy and Annabelle on their way to Las Vegas	Percy at the Entrance to Mount Olympus