The Red Pyramid

This is the first book of a new series by the crazy-popular Rick Riordan, author of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. Now if you're a Percy fan like me, you may have some trouble with this book. It is both similar to Percy, and maddeningly NOT Percy (hilarious fly-by-your-seat madness vs. down-to-earth magical realism). Although I kept waiting for the sarcastic half-blood to make an appearance (he does not), humor was dispensed in ample doses by a sarcastic Sadie ("Just because you cannot discern my wit, doesn't make me sarcastic." Thank you, Sadie.) I suppose this is the price to be paid for having already written a fantastic book with a compelling hero.However, Book One of The Kane Chronicles does not disappoint, and is the show more wonderfully rich story of Carter and Sadie Kane and their adventures around the world, trying to save their father from Egyptian gods, and possibly bring back their mother from the Land of the Dead. An amazing amount of Egyptian mythology is crammed into this hefty book, and a few times I felt like I needed a scorecard to keep track of all the players. "Another lot of daft, arrogant gods. Brilliant!" as Sadie Kane would say, in her fantastic British voice, which Riordan captures so well.The violence in The Red Pyramid is on par with the comic-book variety in The Lightning Thief - a lot of hacking and slicing of demons and gods, turning them into sand or mist. There is some peril ("Some peril. Did you even read the book?" Yes, Sadie, I read the book. Please stop interrupting.). Ok, a lot of peril. Did I mention that this book has alternating, first-person, point-of-view? Riordan breaks the rules successfully with his distinctive voices for Carter and Sadie.Fourteen-year-old Carter and 12-year-old Sadie both have mild love interests in this book, which I'm sure will grow as the series continues. But it is barely touched upon, with no kissing or even serious puppy love. Riordan also touches on racial experience in this novel, with Carter and Sadie being biracial (their mother is white parent and their father is black). Because of the differences in the kids' skin tone, they have very different experiences of the world, and I thought Riordan handled this extraordinarily well.Overall, fans of Percy Jackson will love this book. While advanced readers will not be challenged by the reading level, they might be by the length (516 pages!), but more importantly, they will be fascinated by the depth and detail of the Egyptian gods and magic that Riordan brings to life. show less

In one night, the lives of Carter and Sadie Kane are changed forever. After their father releases Egyptian gods that have been imprisoned for centuries and is taken captive by one of them, they find themselves on the run in world they barely know. They quickly learn the history of their family and are forced toward a destiny they never wanted nor expected.

I've been enjoying the Percy Jackson series, so I definitely had to pick this up and give it a try. My personal love of mythology and ancient culture just seems to keep being fed well by Rick Riordan's books. And the masterful way he presents this book in first person - alternating between the two very distinct voices of Carter and Sadie - makes it very easy to get drawn into the world show more of the Kanes. There were a few parts I thought were just a bit slow - hence the rating of 4 instead of 5 - but I highly, highly recommend this and plan to pick up the second book once I'm caught up on the Heroes of Olympus series. show less

Red Pyramid would be a lot strong if I hadn't read Percy Jackson.

Don't get me wrong. Red Pyramid is still a fine book, although it feels like it's written for an even younger audience than Percy Jackson.

A few of the downsides:

- Red Pyramid is told 'interview style', as if it were a transcribed copy of an audio recording. It would be fine as a framing device, except there are random interjections between the two narrators that each time pulled me out of the story. They're supposed to be 'witty', but I could have done without them.

- The humor feels younger than Percy Jackson. The five elements: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and ... Cheese. I guess I'm getting old.

- Despite having two narrators, it was hard to tell who's chapter I was reading show more at times. Riordan did this much better in the Heroes of Olympus.

- The BAD GUYS were BAD just for the sake of BEING BAD. Even from a kid's book, I would like a little more depth. Although I guess there's something to be said for gods playing a role.

On a more positive note:

- Egyptian mythology is weird! The flavor does play through several points of the story. Where the Greek and Roman gods felt 'human', the Egyptian gods feel weird. That's a good thing. The hieroglyphics in particular were a neat touch.

- There are hints at a shared universe (the western bank belongs to ... others) without it being overbearing. I don't think I would ever like to see a crossover with the Greek/Roman books, but the possibility is neat in and of itself.

- SUMMON BIGGER BAD. The ending was fairly obvious from early on (and once again strongly echoes Percy Jackson), but it did leave me wanting more.

Still. A fun read. Relatively quick. I'll finish the series. show less

This was a bit harder to get into than the Percy Jackson series and I liked that series a bit better. Still, once I actually got into the story and it started flowing it was interesting and different.

It’s the story of Sadie and Carter Kane. A brother and sister who have been raised separately. Sadie with her mother’s parents in England and Carter traveling around with their father. Their mother had died years previously and what starts them on their journey in this book is the apparent loss of their father. Although for a lot of the book we’re not exactly sure what’s going on with the Elder Kane.

They get thrown into this Egyptian world where magic is real, the Egyptian gods and goddesses are real, and they can do stuff like show more travel across the Atlantic Ocean in the blink of an eye.

I liked most of the characters. Bast was awesome and quite hilarious at times. Unlce Amos was a constantly shifting question in my mind. Was he good, was he bad, what was his agenda? Zia and Anubis were interesting characters too. I’m not sure that I’ve read a lot of brother/sister adventure books and so seeing how the author went about getting them both romantic possibilities was interesting.

I also liked the few subtle references to the Percy Jackson series like how Manhattan has its own, other, gods and how it has its own problems. What can I say, I’m a sucker for different serieses in the same universe.

OVerall I liked the book. The Egyptian mythology stuff was interesting, and by the end I was looking forward to the next book in the series. show less

Summary: Siblings Carter and Sadie Kane haven't seen much of each other since their mother died when they were young; Sadie lives with her grandparents in London, while Carter travels around the world with their father, a famous Egyptologist. On a Christmas visit, their father drags Carter and Sadie to the British Museum after hours, where he attempts to use the Rosetta Stone to perform magic. But something goes wrong, and the Egyptian god Set, the god of chaos, imprisons Dr. Kane in a glass coffin that then melts into the floor. Carter and Sadie don't know where to turn or what to do, until they're taken in by their Uncle Amos, who is a member of a secret group of Egyptian magicians, the House of Life. Carter and Sadie begin to have show more visions of Set and his plans to destroy the world, and when they're attacked by ancient monsters, they realize that it is up to them to stop the god's plans. They're not alone - they will have help from some of the other gods - but not only do they only have a few days to stop a god, they're also being pursued by members of the House of Life, who consider mortals working with gods to be dangerous and therefore forbidden.

Review: This book was definitely an enjoyable read. I was in the mood for something light, funny, and above all, engaging, and this book certainly did the trick. Riordan brings Carter and Sadie to life, and they're personable and smart and funny and capable yet fallible, everything you could want in a protagonist. The story ticks along at a good pace, keeping things moving (both geographically as well as action-wise, as is Riordan's wont) while sneaking in plenty of world building and character development around the edges. I was also impressed, once again, how he manages to work mythology into modern life, in a way that was clever and felt cohesive, and explained clearly without pandering to his younger readers.

But, while I absolutely did enjoy this book, I didn't enjoy it *quite* as much as any of the Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus books. And I don't think that it's got anything to do with the quality of the book itself; rather, Greek mythology is much, much more familiar to me than Egyptian mythology. That means that in Riordan's Greek books, I didn't have to start from scratch with my understanding of the worldbuilding, and was also better able to spot and appreciate the subtle and clever touches he added in. In the case of the Kane Chronicles, I found it harder to get my bearings in terms of how magic worked, and how the gods related to each other, and to keep the details in my mind. (Heck, even the names and pronunciations were more unfamiliar and thus more mental work.) That all kept it from flowing quite as easily as I'd come to expect from Riordan's other books.

But, hey, mythology plus fiction is almost always a win in my book. It can't be Greek all the time. 4 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Recommended for Riordan fans, or anyone interested in ancient Egypt and looking for something fun and fast-paced. show less

I genuinely enjoyed this first installment in Riordan's new YA fantasy-mythology series, 'The Kane Chronicles'. Those who liked the latter half of the Percy Jackson series will find much to love here. Those who preferred the first half of Percy's series, however, will be a little surprised by where Riordan starts this one. The first half of PJ was lighter and funnier -- plenty of comic relief and charm -- than the last couple of books in particular; with the Kane series, Riordan has jumped feet first into the dark end of the pool. This series seems like it is written for an older audience, right off the bat, and some of the descriptive passages -- particularly of the demonic minions of Set -- are downright gruesome. Just a heads-up, show more especially for parents of younger kids who want to jump on the Riordan bandwagon.

There is plenty of good stuff otherwise, though. I like the fact that Riordan has made room for both female and male protagonists here -- Sadie and Carter are typical YA heroes, but it's a particular pleasure to see a girl acting heroically in a YA myth-fantasy by a male author. I also like the emphasis on teamwork -- the two siblings are extraordinary as a team, rather than simply being individually (and unattainably) awesome. The narrative of the novel, which bounces between Sadie and Carter's perspectives, can at times be a little inconsistent and the interrupting asides are a bit annoying, but I think these are things that will smooth out as the series continues. I'm not as familiar with Egyptian myth as I was with Greek, but it seems to me that Riordan has taken as much care to follow the traditional rules as he did previously, using the characterizations of the Egyptian gods and monsters in a respectful way and opening the door to kids who will no doubt devour the older stories as they become fascinated by this series.

So, bottom line: it's not perfect, but I liked it and I look forward to the next installment. show less

Rick Riordan does it again, although I must say that I actually prefer this book to the Percy Jackson series! Carter and Sadie Kane are mixed race brother and sister (Carter is black and Sadie is white) who have been separated from each other for three years since their mother died. Carter has travelled the world with their archeologist father, while Sadie has stayed in England with her grandparents due to a court order. Every Christmas their father is allowed to take Sadie out for 1 day, and so the 3 visit the British museum where Dr. Kane blows up the Rosetta Stone to unleash an Egyptian god. This sets off a chain of events where he is captured, Sadie and Carter get possessed by gods, have to stay with their uncle who has a pet baboon show more called Khufu and a crocodile called Phillip of Macedonia. Also on the list of characters they meet is Bast ( a cat god trapped in Sadie's pet kitten Muffin) a band of magicians sworn to kill them, some very evil gods including the fiery Set and their demon counterparts, and two semi love interests - Zia ( a magician who can't decide whether to kill or protect the Kanes) and Anubis ( a good-looking underworld god who agrees to go on a date to the Mall with Sadie.) In the space of 4 days, the two must stop Set from building a red pyramid in the desert that will enable him to consume not only the real world but also the god's Higher and Lower worlds. As a fan of Ancient Egypt mythology, it was great to see so many of the lesser gods and the legends interwoven in the story in such a way that they made sense. There was action and loads of humour ( especially from Sadie) and the concept of alternating chapters between the two main characters was excellent. Highly recommended! show less