They've closed the final Percy Jackson book. Now what?
What do you hand a reader who feels like they've already finished the best fast-paced fantasy on the shelf?
It's a question we hear often. The next step after the Percy Jackson series can feel uncertain. This list offers strong options to bridge that gap with accessible, fast-moving stories that hold attention and build reading momentum.
Ranger's Apprentice 1 John Flanagan
Genre: Viking/Fantasy
Age Recommendation: 12-15
Summary: Will has always dreamed of becoming a great knight like the father he never knew, so he is devastated when he is rejected from Castle Redmont's Battleschool. Instead, he is apprenticed to Halt, the mysterious Ranger whose uncanny ability to move unseen is thought to be the result of black magic. Reluctantly, Will learns to use a Ranger's secret weapons: a bow and arrow, a mottled cloak and a stubborn little pony. When Will and Halt set out on a desperate mission to prevent the assassination of the King, Will finds that a Ranger's weapons are not so useless after all . . .
The Inheritance Games Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Genre: Mystery/Adventure
Age: 13+
Summary: Avery has a plan: keep her head down, work hard for a better future. Then an eccentric billionaire dies, leaving her almost his entire fortune. And no one, least of all Avery, knows why. Now she must move into the mansion she's inherited. It's filled with secrets and codes, and the old man's surviving relatives - a family hell-bent on discovering why Avery got 'their' money. Now there's only one rule: winner takes all.
Vampire Academy (book 1): TV Tie-in Richelle Mead
Genre: Paranormal/Adventure
Age: 14+
Summary: St Vladimir's Academy isn't just any boarding school - it's a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They've been on the run, but now they're being dragged back to St Vladimir's - the very place where they're most in danger…
Indigo Moon Eileen Merriman
Genre: Sci-Fi/Adventure
Age: 15+
Summary: Both Rigel and Indigo are Offspring, born to virally optimised parents. With dire warnings about the possible consequences of time travel, they have been forbidden from even thinking about it. But Indigo is bored — what could really go wrong? She longs for excitement, which she might just find with the mysterious stranger Billy Raven.
Ready Player One Ernest Cline
Genre: Sci-Fi/Dystopian
Age Recommendation: 13-16+
Summary: It's the year 2044, and the real world has become an ugly place. Famine, poverty, and disease are widespread. Wade Watts escapes this depressing reality by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia where you can be anything you want to be. OASIS founder James Halliday has promised that control of the OASIS - and his massive fortune - will go to the person who can solve the riddles he has left scattered throughout his creation. For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, and then Wade stumbles onto the key to the first puzzle.
Dungeon Crawler Carl Matt Dinniman
Genre: Sci-Fi/LitRPG
Age Recommendation: 15+
Summary: Aliens destroy Earth and turn it into a massive, televised dungeon crawl. Survivors must battle through deadly levels filled with traps and monsters to entertain a galactic audience. Carl and his cat Princess Donut fight their way through increasingly insane challenges in a brutal, game-like world where survival equals fame — and possibly revenge.
One of Us Is Lying Karen M. McManus
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Age Recommendation: 14-16+
Summary: Five students go to detention. Only four leave alive. Simon, creator of the notorious gossip app at Bayview High, dies 24 hours before he could post his classmates’ deepest secrets online. Investigators conclude it's no accident. All of them are suspects.
Into the River Ted Dawe
Genre: Coming of Age
Age Recommendation: 16+
Summary: When Te Arepa Santos is dragged into the river by a giant eel, something happens that will change the course of his whole life. The boy who struggles to the bank is not the same one who plunged in, moments earlier. He has brushed against the spirit world, and there is a price to be paid; an utu (revenge) to be exacted.
Thunder Road Ted Dawe
Genre: Coming of Age/Crime
Age: 16+
Summary: Trace is 19 and has hungry for more than his small town can give. In Auckland he meets Devon, a guy with the Midas touch, who introduces Trace to burn-offs, big city style. Soon everything is smoking. When Trace falls for a girl even Devon says is out of his league, loyalties are stretched. Then Devon hits on a scheme for hauling in cash. Soon enough he and Trace find out who really controls the strip. As the underworld closes in, it looks like their friendship is heading for burn-out.
The Martian Andy Weir
Genre: Sci-Fi
Age Recommendation: 12+
Summary: Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone, his supplies quickly dwindling. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?
Project Hail Mary Andy Weir
Genre: Sci-Fi
Age Recommendation: 14+
Summary: Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn't know that. He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that he's been asleep for a very, very long time. And he's just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.
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