Kane Chronicles #1: The Red Pyramid

After dabbling in the finer arts of Greek and Roman Mythologies, we now delve into the land of the Egyptians. Presenting Kane Chronicles #1 The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan.

Here is the summary of the book:

Since their mother's death, Carter and Sadie have become near strangers. While Sadie has lived with her grandparents in London, her brother has traveled the world with their father, the brilliant Egyptologist, Dr. Julius Kane. One night, Dr. Kane brings the siblings together for a "research experiment" at the British Museum, where he hopes to set things right for his family. Instead, he unleashes the Egyptian god Set, who banishes him to oblivion and forces the children to flee for their lives. Soon, Sadie and Carter discover that the gods of Egypt are waking, and the worst of them —Set— has his sights on the Kanes. To stop him, the siblings embark on a dangerous journey across the globe - a quest that brings them ever closer to the truth about their family and their links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs.

While I love all things Greek meaning Greek mythology but have absolutely no idea about the Roman Mythology (even if both are the same) but I do know a little bit about the Egyptians. Since the latter is supposed to be much more larger than the Greek and the Roman empires. 

So on with the story, Carter and Sadie Kane's mother died when they were young, and since then they have had to live apart - Sadie with her mother's parents in London, and Carter with his father, traveling the world looking for Egyptian artifacts. And as the arrangements were they can only see each other once a year. That year at their scheduled meeting hour their father Dr. Julius Kane takes both Sadie and Carter to the British Museum but something goes and both of them realize there may be much more to their father, and the Kane family than they knew and now they are on a "time sensitive mission" (remember Logan Lerman(Percy) uses the same phrase when they enter the Lotus Casino in LA) to stop Apocalypse happening.

All this done, I'd like to point out one thing here or like a point of differentiation between the "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" and "Kane Chronicles" - whereas the former deals with a single point of view through out the whole series, i.e., Percy's, the latter alternates between Carter and Sadie's point of view. Also whereas Percy's story is more like a written diary with the funny chapter titles and the snippy comments at every point, the Kane Chronicles are more like an audio diary of the events but I have read the book so I don't know how the audiobook is going to be like.

Moving the layout of the story as to how it is presented is very much similar to the Percy Jackson series but thankfully not that similar, so it was a very refreshing read. But the one best quality of this book can be definitely attributed to the whole relationship or should I say the evolving understanding between Carter and Sadie. We know both live apart and as it is ruled are only allowed to meet one a year, so the whole journey is a treat as little by little after every incident in their path they start to understand one another in a whole new level. Although there is a little of jealousy there Carter is always on the move with his dad, never staying at a place more than a few days or even a few hours while Sadie gets to stay and get the normal life as a British school kid. 

Carter is a rather subdued personality, he is very shy and he just wants to impress his father, while Sadie is rather outspoken and brash, she very much knows how to lash out at somebody. So they learn to work together and it doesn't take much for them to learn the real value of family. And also the fact that Carter has a darker skin than Sadie, with a black father and white mother; which Mr. Riodan handles pretty well while not making a huge deal about it.

On the spiritual level i'd say the story revolves around the theme of "History repeats itself" or "As above, so below". At the heart of the story is an old legend at play. Well i'm not really going to elaborate or it will ruin the story for those who haven't read it yet. Also for those thinking this is another Percy Jackson does the Egyptian way....well....be prepared to be wrong......big time. At the end I'd say that after such an interesting read I am definitely on board for the next books in the series and after Greek, Roman and Egyptian lets see which mythology Mr. Riordan tackles next.

"Brilliant and Enticing - Be prepared for a journey that will take you to the heart of land of the Nile" 

Genre :      Young Adult, Fantasy


Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children


Rate:              5/5 (It was Awesome)