The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan
July is going by in scary fast-forward. On the one hand, every day that gets us closer to the end of summer and this miserable heat is good in my book. On the other hand...well, besides impending work deadlines, it feels like a lot of life is passing by too quickly to even notice, like the time skips in "The Farnsworth Parabox" - Off you go, apparently...
For example, I finished the new Rick Riordan book, The Red Pyramid almost two weeks ago, I think, though it's been so many days that I don't actually remember when it was. But on to the book. Like Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, this new YA series focuses on ancient gods, this time Egyptian, while set in the present day. The narrators' interaction with them, however, is very different. The story is told from the alternating points of view of Carter and Sadie Kane, a brother and sister who have been raised apart since the death of their mother six years earlier. After a Christmas visit to the British Museum with their father goes horribly wrong, Carter and Sadie meet an uncle they'd forgotten they had and learn mysterious and previously unimagined truths about their family. Meanwhile, Egyptian gods are turning up in all sorts of unexpected places, and one of them wants to destroy the world. Carter and Sadie have just five days to try to save their father and prevent the apocalypse.
The Red Pyramid was really fun. I love a good apocalyptic story, and Carter and Sadie are great characters. I enjoyed the narration switching back and forth and was entertained by their parenthetical bickering as they told the story. And though I don't want to give anything away by explaining her role in the story, the goddess Bast was a fabulous character whom I just adored. Though there's a similarity or two to Percy Jackson in the larger arc of the series, hey, it's a good plot, and I think it's going to be carried out in very different ways. Rick Riordan is awesome, and I have no doubt that he will continue to make The Kane Chronicles just as unique and brilliant in its own way. I must admit that I still love Percy Jackson more, but I think that's mostly because I was obsessed with Greek mythology as a kid. Though I learned and enjoyed some Egyptian mythology, I didn't get to the point of obsession, which means that it didn't stay so clearly in my mind. Given my love for Stargate, however, it was most entertaining to see some very different interpretations of several characters who appeared as Goa'uld on SG-1 ;) I'd highly recommend The Red Pyramid for that alone, but there are so many more reasons why it was awesome. I particularly loved the ending, though I'll resist the urge to explain why. I'm really looking forward to the next book in the series; thank goodness Riordan is so prolific! (unlike some series authors I could name...)
For example, I finished the new Rick Riordan book, The Red Pyramid almost two weeks ago, I think, though it's been so many days that I don't actually remember when it was. But on to the book. Like Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, this new YA series focuses on ancient gods, this time Egyptian, while set in the present day. The narrators' interaction with them, however, is very different. The story is told from the alternating points of view of Carter and Sadie Kane, a brother and sister who have been raised apart since the death of their mother six years earlier. After a Christmas visit to the British Museum with their father goes horribly wrong, Carter and Sadie meet an uncle they'd forgotten they had and learn mysterious and previously unimagined truths about their family. Meanwhile, Egyptian gods are turning up in all sorts of unexpected places, and one of them wants to destroy the world. Carter and Sadie have just five days to try to save their father and prevent the apocalypse.
The Red Pyramid was really fun. I love a good apocalyptic story, and Carter and Sadie are great characters. I enjoyed the narration switching back and forth and was entertained by their parenthetical bickering as they told the story. And though I don't want to give anything away by explaining her role in the story, the goddess Bast was a fabulous character whom I just adored. Though there's a similarity or two to Percy Jackson in the larger arc of the series, hey, it's a good plot, and I think it's going to be carried out in very different ways. Rick Riordan is awesome, and I have no doubt that he will continue to make The Kane Chronicles just as unique and brilliant in its own way. I must admit that I still love Percy Jackson more, but I think that's mostly because I was obsessed with Greek mythology as a kid. Though I learned and enjoyed some Egyptian mythology, I didn't get to the point of obsession, which means that it didn't stay so clearly in my mind. Given my love for Stargate, however, it was most entertaining to see some very different interpretations of several characters who appeared as Goa'uld on SG-1 ;) I'd highly recommend The Red Pyramid for that alone, but there are so many more reasons why it was awesome. I particularly loved the ending, though I'll resist the urge to explain why. I'm really looking forward to the next book in the series; thank goodness Riordan is so prolific! (unlike some series authors I could name...)