Rick Riordan is the master of mythology. He’s written about the Greeks, the Romans, and the Egyptians. He has a way of seamlessly weaving humor, modern settings, and ancient culture all into the same story. And he’s about to do it again with a new series he has in the works that will explore Norse mythology.

Riordan’s been writing two series simultaneously for a couple years now. With Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Kane Chronicles off his plate, he’ll be able to focus on Heroes of Olympus – and this new project. It might not be due out until 2015, but we’re sure he’ll begin plotting and outlining his stories soon.

Besides, between watching Thor and The Avengers, not to mention time spent waiting for the upcoming release of Mark of Athena, we’ve got some time to kill. He’ll have had plenty of notice to see our article and take our advice.

And, frankly, we’re bored.

ONE

How cool would it be if the characters were just a tad older this time around? We’ve seen Percy grow up throughout the Olympians series. Now, in Heroes of Olympus, he’s about 16 years old. If the characters in the Norse books were around 18 or so, they’ll appeal to a slightly older audience (including those who have grown up with Percy). It’d be a nice change from his previous, more middle-grade books.

TWO

One of our favorite parts in the Kane Chronicles was when Riordan gave a quick nod to his previous Percy Jackson series. In The Red Pyramid (on page 58), Uncle Amos tells us that, “Manhattan has other problems. Other gods. It’s best we stay separate.” We’d like to see some commentary from new characters about the crazy demigods that keep making a mess of things in New York and California.

THREE

And if we get that last one, can we have some crossover characters too? What if Percy showed up at the end of the first book, begging the new main character to help him and the other demigods? It’d make for an interesting cliff-hanger! We know they’re all supposed to stay separate, but perhaps this series will introduce the worst bad guy we’ve met yet, one who will eventually force all of our heroes to fight together. (Like the Avengers for the mythological world!)

FOUR

Speaking of the Avengers, Riordan can’t write this series without making at least one reference to the Marvel comic books featuring the god of thunder. Here’s what we’re thinking: the real Thor is a bit self-conscious. They didn’t get his characterization right and he’s not at all happy with the likes of Chris Hemsworth portraying him on the silver screen. Loki chimes in with his own comments about Tom Hiddleston’s dashing good looks, just to get on Thor’s nerves.

FIVE

We’d also like to see more world travel in this one. In Mark of the Athena, the characters are going to make a trip to Rome. In the Kane Chronicles, we saw the protagonists making a few trips around the world. But wouldn’t it be cool if our Norse heroes were stationed in another country? (We’d even settle for Canada at this point.)

SIX

You want to know something we wouldn’t change? The humor. Riordan’s often silly, but always amusing, sense of humor is one of the best things about these novels. He’s got a knack for making us LOL, and we wouldn’t trade that for the world. Hey, don’t fix it if it ain’t broken.

SEVEN

What else could we possibly want from this series? That’s easy. More mythology. Norse mythology is not as well known. That makes the stories a little less predictable and a lot more exciting. We think Riordan should just keep doing what he does best, and that’s turning mythology into something that anyone can enjoy.

Do you think Riordan is going to start plotting out his next project soon or do you think he’ll wait until Heroes of Olympus is complete? What sort of things are you looking forward to in a book centered around Norse mythology?