I'm sure many of you have heard about or read The Percy Jackson series and if you enjoyed those I know you'll love the new Kane series starting with The Red Pyramid. The second in that series recently came out and it surprised me so much that I felt a book review coming on.
Rating: 9 & 1/4 out of 10
Pages: 446
First Line: "Carter here. Look, we don't have time for long introductions."
Synopsis: After the Egyptian gods and goddesses were let lose, Carter and Sadie have been pretty busy. They've been fighting monsters, training kids with Egyptian magic, and trying to save the world. I know you're probably thinking that a fourteen year-old boy and an almost-thirteen year-old girl cannot possibly be trying to save the world because: a. they're too young, b. they just found out about their magical abilities not too long ago, and c. if the world were in danger, you would have heard about it--right? Wrong. You see Carter and Sadie have only just released the tape-recordings that tell their story. In just a few days, less than a week, in fact, the snake Apophis is going to swallow the sun and Chaos will take over. Basically, the world will end. But not if the Kanes can help it. They are planning to bring Ra, the sun god, out of retirement and have him stop Chaos from overruling Ma'at, order. To do this they have to find the three different scrolls that make up the Book of Ra, chant the spell correctly, and actually find the missing sun god. As they face their newest adventure, the odds are against them, but this never stopped before. Too bad that this is an impossible task, harder than anything they've ever seen.
Review: I had thought the first book in the series to be just okay. This was caused by not enough explanation about the complex magic. Also, I found that I do enjoy the Greek gods in the Percy Jackson series and The Lost Hero, more than the Egyptian gods. I had thought The Red Pyramid was decent, but really didn’t think it was up to par as a Rick Riordan book. Well, the second book in the series definitely changed my mind.
The Throne of Fire was jam-packed with adventure. There were all sorts of fights that were both won and lost by the protagonists, making the storyline very realistic. They traveled, got captured, and made daring escapes. Everything that makes a fast-moving, good action story was there.
Also, there were secondary storylines and conflicts, such as Walt’s secret or Carter’s quest to find Zia. These added a lot of dimension to the story and complicated the main conflict, just like in real life. *SPOILER ALERT* And though not everything worked out with Zia and Carter, I found that she was a very important part of tying the first two books together and I believe we will see much more of her funky character in future books.
I really love how these books are written as if they are transcribed. It makes them even more interesting and I enjoy the biting side comments that the sibling exchange. This brings me to the comedy in this book. Though Mr. Riordan does not put a whole bunch of comedic dialogue or jokes in, there is a humorous side to this story. He works in bits that are so random and his characters have such ridiculous quirks that you’ll be giggling out loud. I almost always found myself smiling as I read this book from the pure absurdity of it all. (This may not sound like a compliment to some of you, but from me it is.)
One of the few things I thought the booked lacked was a really great climax. The rising action and the building momentum of the story were wonderful, but they promised so much more than we got. I found the main fight to be almost boring, partially because Carter and Sadie were not very involved. *SPOILER ALERT* Yes, Sadie reads an immensely difficult spell while Carter protects her, yet the fighting is mostly between Desjardins and Apophis. I thought that this did fit in with the story and was well thought out, yet I could not help but become disappointed after all the other minor fight scenes that led up to the big challenge.
By and large, I was quite immersed in this book. I found the mythology and magic to be better explained than in the first book of the series and I thought the voice recording bit still fit in with the story quite nicely. The action was intense and there was just enough comedic relief. The Throne of Fire was a joy to read and the level of writing happily surprised me.
Recommended: Mhm. If you don't like mythology or fantasy then this will probably not be an exciting read for you, but if you enjoyed Mr. Riordan's other books or like this genre then I recommend it highly.
Similar: The Red Pyramid, anything by Terry Pratchett, The Akhenaten Adventure by P. B. Kerr
