Red Pyramid
Red Pyramid
by Rick Riordan
★★★☆☆
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.
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I keep having to resist the urge to call this "a cute book", and all the while I was reading I had to keep reminding myself the main characters are 12. Truly, a 5th or 6th grader would probably LOVE this book. I guess I'm just used to reading books in which the characters act years beyond their age. In that regard, Riordan does a great job of writing the emotions and mentality of a 12-year-old. I'm just glad I'm not 12 anymore.
The plot is a bit inconsistent, with excessive detail given to events which turn out to be irrelevant and not nearly enough attention paid to some events which turn out to be pivotal. And though the frequent change in narrator was confusing at times, it was clearly marked and was an interesting way to tell the story. It's written as though the author of the book has discovered an audio recording made by the main characters and has transcribed it to the best of his ability. Riordan uses the "found recording" to create a sense of intrigue and to include the reader as someone who, now having heard the message, must be on their guard.
The characters in general weren't well described in the beginning, and that bugged me a little. I tend to rely heavily on the author's description of characters to form a picture of them in my mind. With this book, I didn't really have that option. I had to give the characters a look based on my own assumptions. Then I found out, almost halfway through the book, that Carter and Sadie's dad was black and their mom was white. Then it was mentioned that Carter's skin is darker like their dad's while Sadie's is lighter like their mom's, to the point that they don't even look like siblings. So, there I was... halfway through the book and feeling all awkward because I had to change my "picture" of the characters. It was distracting.
But what was more distracting was having a bit of the action take place in my home city of Memphis. The inaccuracies of his description of my home for 29 years had me slamming down the cover of my Nook and exhaling loudly to mr_j "Can you believe thus and such...??" The fact that the characters came here didn't bother me, but it appears that the author has NEVER been here. What do you do if you haven't been somewhere but need to write about it? Either make it up, or traffic in stereotypes. He chose the latter.
The characters came to Memphis looking for an Egyptian god to help them on their quest. They land in our airport (in winter) and rent a car. A BMW convertible to be exact. In winter. I get that we're in the south, but it does get cold here... But that was trifling. They leave the airport car rental place and drive past plantation-style homes with rolling lawns and cypress trees. Where the heck are these houses?? You know what you see when you leave our lovely international airport? THE HOOD. Miles and miles and miles of HOOD. Shacks and run-down apartment complexes and warehouses and houses with bars over the windows. The characters do eventually pass some "shacks" with "young African American men sitting on the porch playing guitars and singing". LOL. A little more stereotypical, please. Riordan answers my request by next describing the "chicken and waffles" restaurant the children pass on their tour of our fair city. Both mr_j and I have searched for such a restaurant without success.
And where is this Egyptian god supposed to be? A library or center of learning. Carter remarks something along the lines of "Not many of those in Tennessee." SHUT YO' MOUF, LIL' BOY! SHO NUFF WE AIN' GOT NO LIBERRIES HERA CUZ WE ALL LIVE INNA HOOD!
I hate hate hate the stereotype that people in the south we are somehow unlearned, ignorant hoodlums or rednecks. Chicken and waffle-eatin' black musicians. Of course, there ARE those people, but they certainly aren't in the majority. They just happen to be the ones who make it on the nightly news, thus giving the nation at large the idea that we're all that way. ARGH.
So the kids are driving through town with their cat goddess chaperone, looking for a library. They "turn left onto Poplar", which you would not do if you were coming from the airport, but whatever. They see signs for the University of Memphis. Okay, cool! Then they call it a "small college". *WCF SMACKDOWN!!* 20,000 students on over 7 city blocks is not a "small college"! And Carter is supposedly such an avid basketball fan and he hasn't heard of the Tigers? We freakin' make it to the NCAA regularly! OH, but they do find some baboons on campus who play basketball.
RAGE!!
They find what they are looking for in a non-existant "science buildling" on campus and are then teleported to... guess where? You'll never guess, so I'll tell you. Graceland. The description of which is strangely VERY accurate, compared to the rest of Memphis. Did you know that Elvis was a magician? Neither did I, but apparently those hips don't lie!
Okay, after the rhinestone jumpsuits attack, the kids are teleported downtown to the Pyramid. Riordan describes them as standing with their backs to the river, looking up at the metal and glass pyramid AND a 20-ft statue of Rameses. Rameses is on the opposite side of the pyramid from the river, NOT THAT ANYONE CARES EXCEPT ME. The way it is IN REALITY paints a more scenic picture because Rameses would be in front, the Pyramid behind, and then the river beyond. Why change it??
Are you ready for me to get over it now?? lol I won't (I'm pissed!), but I'll wrap up my review, for your sake.
Despite the immaturity and the inaccuracies, I did enjoy the story and am looking forward to the sequel--as long as they don't come back to Memphis. It was well written--though maybe not well-researched in places. It is different from what is currently saturating the market (vampires and werewolves) and is refreshing because of that. I've always been drawn to Egyptian architecture and history, and I did enjoy those descriptions (whether or not they were accurate). Maybe I shouldn't care so much about accuracy because this is fiction, but why can't fiction be accurate also? It's the element of truth that often makes fiction more interesting, right?
I would recommend this if you are at all interested in Egyptian mythology. And if you don't live in Memphis. ;)