Rick Riordan talks 'Daughter of the Deep' ahead of Tuesday release

CHICAGO - The best-selling author of Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief and many more books has a new story about to hit the shelves.

Daughter of the Deep by Rick Riordan comes out Tuesday and is a stand-alone novel, separate from his Percy Jackson series.

"I think readers will find this, if you like Percy Jackson, you'll relate to this just fine," Riordan said. "It's got the same sense of humor, the same pacing. The only difference is this is sci-fi. And it really gets kids, I hope, in marine sciences."

DOWNLOAD THE FOX 32 CHICAGO APP FOR BREAKING NEWS ALERTS

The middle school teacher says Daughter of the Deep is a tribute to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

"I've never been able to do sort of a tribute to one of my favorite writers, Jules Verne who wrote 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and really I think started my interest in the ocean," Riordan said. "This was my chance to bring Captain Nemo and the Nautilus and that whole story into the 21st century with a new, young protagonist, Ana Dakkar who is a descendent of the original Captain Nemo."

Riordan even got certified in scuba diving for research.

He says he's been working on the book for 15 years before the COVID-19 pandemic-influenced the storyline.

"During the pandemic, I wrote Daughter of the Deep and I don't think it's an accident that it's a story about a very claustrophobic environment," Riordan said. "It's about a submarine and all the people are stuck on board and having to figure out how to get along with each other."

SIGN UP FOR EMAIL UPDATES FROM FOX 32 NEWS

"We all need books now more than ever because they are escapes when we can't physically leave the house, we have at least the friends that are in books and we can go in any world we want to simply by opening the pages."

Riordan says his next book will be on the character Nico D'Angelo from Percy Jackson's world.