It’s official! The new Nico di Angelo and Will Solace story, co-written by Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro, is entitled The Sun and The Star: A Nico di Angelo Adventure!
In an announcement via Twitter, Mark Oshiro, co-writer of the upcoming story about the son of Hades and son of Apollo, announces the title of the book.
There are many things that The Sun and The Star could refer to, starting with Will’s father being Apollo, the god of the sun. However, based on the synopsis of the book, it appears as though The Sun and The Star will refer to something else.
In The House of Hades, the fourth book in The Heroes of Olympus series, Percy and Annabeth had to fight their way through Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld, to make it back to the surface to survive. This was something that Nico had already done alone, but Percy and Annabeth were aided by Bob the Titan, originally Iapetus, the Titan whose memories were washed clean in the River Lethe in a short story in The Demigod Files.
In that short story, Percy, Thalia, and Nico went on a quest to find the Sword of Hades, a weapon that had been designed by Persephone, with one of the keys of Hades that could unlock the doors to the Underworld set in the weapon. While Percy and Annabeth escaped Tartarus, Bob remained behind to close the Doors of Death behind them, and just before they left, Bob asked Percy and Annabeth to, “Tell the sun and stars hello for me.”
It appears that the Nico and Will story will delve into their attempts to rescue Bob the Titan, without whom Percy and Annabeth would still be trapped in Tartarus.
This is not the first time that Nico has helped Bob. In The House of Hades, Bob reveals that Nico told him that Percy was a friend, something that leads him to help Percy and Annabeth in their quest to escape from the depths of Tartarus.
The Sun and The Star is also the first book that will feature Nico as a main character. While Nico appeared in three out of the five Percy Jackson series, featured in four of The Heroes of Olympus series, and also played a large part in The Trials of Apollo series, as well as several short stories, this is the first story that is predominantly Nico’s.
Nico di Angelo is one of Rick Riordan’s most popular characters. First introduced as a geeky and awkward ten-year-old, Nico discovers his heritage as a son of Hades at the end of The Titan’s Curse and plays a huge role in the defeat of Kronos. He is also Rick Riordan’s first LGBTQ+ character, coming out as gay in The House of Hades, where it is revealed that he has had a crush on Percy since their first meeting, completely surprising fans who believed that he was in love with Annabeth the whole time.
Will Solace has also appeared in all three of Rick Riordan’s series featuring the Greek and Roman gods. His first appearance is in The Last Olympian, where he becomes the leader of the Apollo cabin after the untimely death of Michael Yew, following the death of Lee Fletcher in The Battle of the Labyrinth.
Nico and Will’s romance starts at the end of The Heroes of Olympus series, which is perfect for Nico, seeing as he had spent years pining after Percy while Percy was crushing or in love with Annabeth. Fans have been looking forward to the Nico di Angelo story, and at long last, we finally have more information about the series!
Seeing as Rick Riordan is so busy with the upcoming Percy Jackson Disney+ show, it makes sense that he has a co-writer for this new Nico di Angelo book. Nico is such a beloved character; Rick Riordan would want to do him justice.
Until we get more information about The Sun and The Star, reread all of Rick Riordan’s books, rewatch the Percy Jackson teaser trailer and catch up on all Rick Riordan news here!