Estelle - It kills me that I don’t get to know if you prefer Stella or Essie or something else entirely. I hope that one day you and I will get to sit down and you can tell me everything about yourself. I’d like to imagine you aren’t too different to how you were as a baby. Silly and laughing and slobbering over everything. Hopefully, I can find out. For now, though, I can only guess what you like and believe.  

 

If you’re reading this, you better be sixteen - or just about to turn sixteen. It’s for a version of you that has already had a happy childhood. A safe one. I’ve done a lot of questionable things in my life, but finding a way to give you more time to be a kid is not one of them.

 

As for what this is and who I am? Excellent question. You’ll be sure to have a lot of them, but I got you covered. My name is Percy Jackson - you’re older brother. Maybe you’ve heard of me, maybe you haven’t. I’m going to operate on the assumption you know nothing because, well, you aren’t allowed to know anything.

 

Here’s the thing, Estelle. The real world is… very complicated and messy. I wanted you to have some years away from it all to be happy, but the truth is you eventually need information to make world-changing decisions. That’s what this book is. Everything you need to know - about the gods, the demigods, the wars, and the war that is yet to come.  I’ve tried to simplify things for you the best I could. It may not be enough.

 

Legally, I am not actually not allowed to tell you anything, but you’ll find that I’m not a big rule follower. If I had been, then I would be a clump of shrubs somewhere on Olympus. Nevertheless, here we are. Here you are. Try to use this as a guide. A lifeline to the answers you need. It all comes down to you, despite my efforts to have that not be the case.  

 

But you’ll make the right decision. I know you will. Until then, I’ll keep guessing what you like to be called.

 

 - Percy