Fox 2000 is hard at work on PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS: THE SEA OF MONSTERS, according to Collider.

Word is that the film (a sequel to last year’s Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief) could start shooting as early as next summer with Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (1408) on board to adapt the second novel in Rick Riordan’s fantasy series. However, Lightning Thief director Chris Columbus probably won’t be stepping behind the camera again, though he will reportedly remain on board as producer.

Logan Lerman is set return as Percy Jackson and it looks like the other leads will as well. In the first film Lerman was supported by Brandon T. Jackson, Alexandra Daddario, Sean Bean, Pierce Brosnan, Steve Coogan, and Rosario Dawson.

Here is a synopsis for The Sea of Monsters:

Percy Jackson’s seventh-grade year has been surprisingly quiet. Not a single monster has set foot on his New York prep-school campus. But when an innocent game of dodgeball among Percy and his classmates turns into a death match against an ugly gang of cannibal giants, things get. well, ugly. And the unexpected arrival of Percy’s friend Annabeth brings more bad news: the magical borders that protect Camp Half-Blood have been poisoned by a mysterious enemy, and unless a cure is found, the only safe haven for demigods will be destroyed.

In this fresh, funny, and hugely anticipated follow up to The Lightning Thief, Percy and his friends must journey into the Sea of Monsters to save their beloved camp. But first, Percy will discover a stunning new secret about his family – one that makes him question whether being claimed as Poseidon’s son is an honor or simply a cruel joke.

Follow me on Twitter @mokibobolink

It’s been quite a week for Rick Riordan, as he launched two new entries in the Percy Jackson universe on Tuesday—the Percy Jackson spinoff novel The Lost Hero and The Lightning Thief graphic novel. Check out a free preview of the graphic novel at www.percyjacksonbooks.com/graphicnovel

The graphic novel is an adaptation of Riordan’s The Lightning Thief, the first novel in the Percy Jackson series. It’s 125 pages (the original is 375) and is written by Robert Venditti. Atilla Futaki illustrated the book and Jose Villarrubia is the colorist.

Look for The Sea of Monsters and The Titan’s Curse graphic novels to be released sometime in 2012.

Follow me on Twitter @kristendaemons

What if the gods and monsters of Greek Mythology were not myth but reality? The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan creates a world where this question is answered and the consequences of the Gods’ actions on the mortal world are explored. The novel’s main character, Percy Jackson, finds out that he is a demigod, son of one of the Greek gods. Unfortunately, it also marks him as a target for the different monsters of mythology to come after him. When he makes it to Camp Half-Blood, a haven for other demigods, Percy learns that he has to take on a vital quest and succeed or the entire world will be at danger from an all out war of the gods. As Percy and his friends face monsters, gods, and a national manhunt, they try to solve the question of who is the Lightning Thief?

The Lightning Thief is a great story with good character development and dialogue. At no time does the story feel forced, and the pace works well enough that the reader never feels bogged down in the details. I especially liked the way Riordan wrote Percy, with a good sense of humor about the events around him and even breaking the fourth wall a little to have him directly address the reader. Riordan also does a great job of fitting Greek mythology into the world of today, not an easy task to do without making it seem cheesy or trite. Although some have accused Riordan of copying J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter storylines (see Daemon’s Books take on it here) the story comes off as fresh and I don’t notice it while reading The Lightning Thief.

The book is age appropriate for readers from ages 10 and up because the story is easy to get into and Riordan uses plain, easy to understand language. Even though it’s readily accessible to children, adults will also enjoy the book, particularly the mythology side of the story. This book is the first in five-part series following the adventures of Percy and his friends, so you can jump right into to the next book in the series, The Sea of Monsters. There are also two audiobook versions available, an unabridged version narrated by Jesse Bernstein and an abridged one narrated by Walter Lewis. I would recommend the unabridged version, partly because I really don’t like abridged versions of novels and Bernstein’s voice is a little easier to listen to for extended periods of time.

As has been covered by our sister site Daemon’s Movies, The Lightning Thief is coming out as a major motion picture on February 12, 2010, you can see their coverage here. Daemon’s Books recently attended an event with the cast from the movie, see our write up here. You can follow Rick Riordan on Twitter (@camphalfblood). He also has a website (www.rickriordan.com) where he has announced that he is going to be starting a second separate Camp Half-Blood book series sometime in 2010.

Quotes from Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief: (don’t worry they’re spoiler free!)

“What if it lines up like it did in the Trojan War…Athena versus Poseidon?”
“I don’t know. But I just know that I’ll be fighting next to you.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re my friend, Seaweed Brain. Any more stupid questions?”"

— Percy talking with Annabeth

She glanced at the minotaur horn in my hands, then back at me. I imagined she was going to say, You killed a minotaur! or Wow, you’re so awesome! or something like that.

Instead she said, “You drool when you sleep.”

- Percy and Annabeth

“In a way, it’s nice to know there are Greek gods out there, because you have somebody to blame when things go wrong. For instance, when you’re walking away from a bus that’s just been attacked by monster hags and blown up by lightning, and it’s raining on top of everything else, most people might think that’s just really bad luck; when you’re a half-blood, you understand that some divine force really is trying to mess up your day.”

— Percy

“Safety from what? Who’s after me?”

“Oh, nobody much,” Grover said, obviously still miffed about the donkey comment. “Just the Lord of the Dead and a few of his blood-thirstiest minions.”

— Percy talking with Grover

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars | Publisher: Miramax Books / Hyperion Books for Children | Pages: 400 | Source: Purchased | Buy on Amazon

Thanks to recent movies and TV appearances, a few books have been getting a lot of attention recently. Check out this list of books that have people buzzing:

Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual by Michael Pollan

The documentary film Food, Inc. has been getting a lot a buzz recently thanks to its nomination for an Academy Award and thanks to a recent feature on Oprah. Author Michael Pollan appears in the film and talked to Oprah about his new book, Food Rules. In it, Pollan gives advice about eating through common sense principles like “Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food” and “Don’t eat anything that won’t eventually rot.” I’m currently reading one of his previous books, In Defense of Food, and it’s been an eye opening experience (my review is coming soon). Food Rules is currently the #1 bestselling book on Amazon.

The Politician by Andrew Young

From entertainment shows to news programs—everybody’s talking about all the drama surrounding John and Elizabeth Edwards. As you probably know, Andrew Young was John Edward’s longtime assistant and even pretended to be the father of Rielle Hunter’s child to cover for Edwards. In The Politician, he spills lots of unflattering details about the Edwards and it isn’t pretty. The Los Angeles Times has a great review of the book and calls the Young/Edwards relationship a “bromance gone bad.” With Elizabeth finally kicking John to the curb and rumors of a John Edwards/Rielle Hunter sex tape swirling, it looks like this story isn’t going away anytime soon.

Dear John by Nicholas Sparks

The Dear John movie is currently in theaters and stars Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried (for more coverage go to Daemon’s Movies). It’s based on the bestselling book by Nicholas Sparks, who is known for writing romantic tearjerkers (I once made the mistake of watching a movie based one of his books on a plane and let me tell you that sobbing in public is embarrassing). But if you saw the movie over the weekend and enjoyed it, be sure to check the book out too.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Walk into a bookstore this week and you will probably see a large display of Percy Jackson books. That’s because the highly anticipated movie opens on February 12, 2010. I recently attended a Q&A with the young cast members, which you can read here.

The Cure: How a Father Raised $100 Million–and Bucked the Medical Establishment–in a Quest to Save His Children by Geeta Anand

Have you seen Harrison Ford’s new movie, Extraordinary Measures? It’s based on the true story of John Crowley detailed by Geeta Anand in the book The Cure. Crowley, a biotech CEO, developed a treatment for Pompe disease when two of his children were diagnosed with the rare genetic disorder. Crowley has also written his own book called Chasing Miracles: The Crowley Family Journey of Faith, Hope, and Joy.

Thinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism by Temple Grandin, Ph.D.

HBO has a new movie premiering in February called Temple Grandin (check out the review over at Daemon’s TV). Claire Danes plays Temple Grandin, a highly functioning autistic woman who grew up in the 60s and 70s–a time before autism was really understood. Grandin’s autobiography, Thinking in Pictures, has been reissued as a tie-in to the movie. In the book, she gives an inside look on how an autistic person experiences the world. Her insights have proven invaluable to many parents of autistic children. Grandin currently designs humane livestock holding equipment and credits her autism for giving her a great deal of empathy for animals. I think both the book and the movie sound interesting and are worth checking out.

On January 20th the Borders in Novi, Michigan hosted an event for several cast members of the upcoming movie, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. Over 500 people turned out to meet Logan Lerman (Percy), Alexandra Daddario (Annabeth), Brandon T. Jackson (Grover), and Jake Abel (Luke). The event started about half an hour late so the Q&A portion was very brief, but here’s an excerpt:

Moderator: So if everybody would just go down the line, starting at the end with Logan, and tell us a little bit about what you’ve done before Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief.

Logan: .I’ve done a few movies and I was part of a television show, that’s like really where I started, it was called Jack & Bobby. I’m not sure if anybody really saw it [applause], yeah there was like two people here who saw it. I did a movie called Hoot. I did this movie called 3:10 to Yuma. And Gamer. But Percy, that’s what we’re here for, right?

Brandon: I did a movie called Roll Bounce, if anybody’s seen that movie. I did a movie for the adults, for the parents, called Tropic Thunder. [Crowd applauds] Apparently you let your kids see rated R movies, but uh, okay. .My favorite movie right now is Percy Jackson. This movie is really good, guys. You’re going to have a great time. And parents, you can enjoy the movie – we got Uma Thurman, Pierce Brosnan in the movie.

Alexandra: I’m Alex. I was on a soap opera called All My Children a long time ago. You guys probably haven’t seen it. And I’m on a show called White Collar right now. And, um, this is my first big movie. I’m very excited.

Jake: Years ago, when I was first starting out, I did a Disney Channel movie called Go Figure. I did The Suite Life of Zack and Cody (Twins at the Tipton). And, uh Supernatural. Do you guys watch Supernatural? I’m coming back to that in February, I go back and shoot some more Supernatural.

Moderator: Were any of you ever interested in Greek mythology or Roman gods before getting involved in this project?

Logan: Yeah, yeah, no, I mean, everyone loves Greek mythology, right? It’s fun. It’s great to learn. I love it. My knowledge before doing the movie was that of any other elementary school student, you know in like 8th grade studying Greek mythology in class. But, you know, the movie was a great excuse to learn more.

Jake: I wish I was as lucky as you guys to have had Greek mythology as part of my school projects when I was a kid because we only touched on it. I think you guys are really lucky to have this as part of your learning experience.

Brandon: Especially with this movie, you guys can learn about the Greek. mythology and everything. You guys can lean a lot in a fun way where it’s not, uh, hitting you over the head. You can be entertained and watch us cut off some heads of Hydra. Right? And Medusa. And have a good time. It’s really cool.

Moderator: Thank you guys. We’re going to open up the floor here. Does anybody up front have a burning question?
Little girl: Logan, where were you born?

Logan: Where was I born? Los Angeles. I’m an LA guy – born and kinda raised. I mean, you travel so much doing movies that you kinda, you – I’ve been doing this for so long that I’ve been able to grow up in so many places across the country. You know, like working in New Mexico for like months or Texas, Arkansas, but I was born in Los Angeles.

Girl: Did you read the Percy Jackson books before auditioning?

Brandon: .My little sisters have the book, but I told them I was going to be playing Grover and they was like “Oh my god, you’re playing Grover, you’re goat boy!” And I was like, “What’s goat boy?” And they told me what the books were and just read them and fell in love with them.

Logan: I discovered the movie first and then fell in love with the books, so it was kind of a backwards situation.

Alexandra: I think I read the book on the plane on the way to the screen test. And after I read it, I knew I had to do the movie. I loved it.

Jake: I was surprised to not know about the books because I’m a big Eragon fan. So, I love fantasy and I was shocked because I hadn’t heard of these books. But I read the book in two days, in two sittings, when I found out this movie was happening.

Moderator: Percy’s viewed as an outcast, a little bit of a troublemaker, if you will. Have any of you ever identified with that stereotype?

Logan: I think everybody does, you know? Percy is symbolic to any other teenager. He’s got problems like anyone else. Disabilities, like anyone else might have. He has ADHD, dyslexia, his parents are separated. He kind of looks down on himself, but, you know, he finds out he’s a son of Poseidon – that he really isn’t who he thought he was, you know? His whole world gets turned around and he takes his disabilities and makes them his strengths. He takes his weaknesses and learns how to harness them. It’s all about embracing yourself.

Brandon: I was class clown in high school. kids, do not do this, do your work because I graduated with a really bad grade point average, 1.9 yes. [Laughter] Don’t be like me in school, trust me. But, what I did, I took my weakness of being a comedian and uh, being funny in class and I turned that around in my career and uh, made a career out of it. But, I encourage everyone to read here and know that your greatest weakness can be your greatest strength. At the same time, make sure whatever you do you find that magic inside and find that thing inside that make you great and that’s how you grow and become great. As I watch all you guys’ faces, I see, you know, so much in you guys and just know you guys can do so much with your life. And never think that your down and out just because you can’t so something.

Alexandra: And it’s really clichéd, but follow your dreams. It’s definitely true.

Jake: Is it my turn? I kind of forgot the question after all that. I think my original thought was. I think all of us here are kind of the black sheep in our respective families, you know, we’re all doing something no one else in our family has ever done or is doing.that’s all I have.

Woman in the crowd: When you signed for this movie, did you also have to sign on for future movies?

Jake: Ninety-five movies.we gave them our souls.

Alexandra: We have to do Percy Jackson movies until we’re 90.

Jake: It’s up to the audience, it’s up to you guys, the fans of the books and the movie to want to see another one, to go see the movie and bring that draw so we’re allowed to.

Alexandra: But we would love to keep doing them.

Logan: But we are contractually signed on to do three. But we would love to do the whole series [Crowd applauds]

Like I said before, they only spoke for a few minutes, but it was fun to see them in person. The little girls in the audience were going crazy over Logan and I think he was a great casting choice for Percy. He doesn’t look like a 12-year-old, but he still looks like how I pictured Percy when I was reading the books. When Alexandra said that she’s on White Collar, I realized that’s where I’d seen her before. On that show she plays a twenty-something, so it just seems really weird to me that she’s playing Annabeth, but I’ll try to reserve judgment until I see the movie. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief will be in theaters on February 12, 2010. Check out more coverage on the movie on Daemon’s Movies.