[Review] The Red Pyramid - Rick Riordan

Title of Book:
The Red Pyramid
Author: Rick Riordan
Series: The Kane Chronicles #1
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Publication Year: 2010
Language: English
Format: Hardback
Pages: 529

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.
-----------------------

The Red Pyramid is the first book in Riordan’s fantasy trilogy based on Egyptian mythology called The Kane Chronicles. The book tells the story of Carter Kane and Sadie Kane who got estranged after their mother’s death. Carter has to live with their father travelling around the world because of his job as an Egyptologist. While Sadie lives with their grandparents in London. When their father took them to spend time together at the British Museum, he did a ritual which released Egyptian Gods and trapped them in a coffin. Carter & Sadie then met their long-lost uncle and seek for help. That’s when they learned their family history. What started as a mission to save their father turns out to be a mission to save the world.

I know that this book is already more than a decade old. I think that’s also how long it’s been on my TBR. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve read Percy Jackson series back in high school and I like it. I guess I’ve been putting it off because I thought I wouldn’t be able to commit finishing the series. I’ve been feeling empty lately and seeking for escape through fantasy world and that’s why I had the sudden urge to finally read the series.

Anyway, this book is told from Carter and Sadie’s perspective alternately. The frame story is Riordan supposedly found a recording of the Kane siblings telling their adventure rescuing their father and battling Egyptian magicians and Gods. It’s a fun way to frame the story and add a touch (just a tiny) of reality into the story. Of course, it’s definitely not real but for a book which targeted for middle grade, it adds an element of fun to the story.

As you can obviously read from the premise, this book is heavily revolved around Egyptian mythology. You don’t have to worry about not knowing anything about it because it’s explained clearly in the book. I mean, even Sadie is not as knowledgeable as Carter in Egyptian mythology. I think that’s a good character set up in Riordan’s part. Since Carter has been following his father, he’s more proficient in the subject. So he’s the one who’s patiently explaining to Sadie. We can position ourselves as Sadie so no worries there.

Honestly, I didn’t expect this series to have magic in it in a sense that the characters have the ability to conjure or manipulate it. This comes from Percy Jackson series in which magic exists, but the human (or demigod) characters don’t have the ability to conjure or manipulate it. However, I like the magic system in the Kane Chronicles. It distinguishes this series from Percy Jackson series.

What I like about Riordan’s books is they’re so much fun and even though they’re based on mythologies, they’re easy to read. They’re action packed and fast paced especially this one. The events in this book are happening in the span of five days. I don’t remember if that’s also the case with Percy Jackson books. Still, if you’re looking for a fantasy book full of adventure, I recommend this one. My only concern is the romance. True, it only appears subtly. Just a hint of it. Even so, since the characters in this book are basically tweens I feel uncomfortable reading them talking about love or kissing someone. Other than that, it’s all good.

No comments :

Post a Comment