Monday, September 21, 2015

Book Review: The Red Pyramid

The Kane Chronicles: The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan


Recommended For: Ages 10 to Adult

Rating: PG for violence

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.

Yes, I was supposed to review Princess Academy. I...read this afterwards and it kind of drove Princess Academy out of my mind enough that I don't think I'd be able to review Princess Academy analytically. I'm in a sort of rush to finish my library books so I can read Michael Vey: Storm of Lightning. Anyways, I'm reviewing this book instead. It was just as good as Princess Academy was.

Writing: 5/5

Rick Riordan wrote this book as if it was a transcription of an audio recording, and it was clever. I haven't read any books besides Treasure Island that had more than one "I" character. And it was way less confusing than Treasure Island was in that. Carter and Sadie have such distinctive voices that are also different from Percy Jackson's and all the others in the Heroes of Olympus. The dialogue wasn't lacking and the descriptions were well done.

Setting: 5/5

The books are sort of set in the real world...sort of not. It's hard to explain. It's Egyptian...look, just read the book and you'll understand. Anyways, the real world stuff seemed very realistic, and the other stuff was well built. the setting was well done.

Plot: 5/5

Rick Riordan's books seem to always have a close deadline. Not that I mind at all, it keeps the plot moving quickly. It was just an observation. Rick Riordan's plots are very well paced and well done. They make sense and they're not contrived. I really like Rick Riordan's plots. I give him a hand.

Characters: 5/5

I love Rick Riordan's characters. I really like Carter Kane and Sadie Kane. Bast is well done, and I like Zia. Anubis is...interesting and Set is well done. Sorry, but it's late and my mind is frying. All I know at the moment is that the book was really good.

So basically, go read this book. Anyone who likes the Percy Jackson books will probably like this. As my friend warned, it's a little weirder, but still, I'm not bothered by it. Definitely recommended.

2 comments:

  1. Even though I missed Percy, once I got used to him not being in a Roderian book I really enjoyed this series.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah. I really want to read the short stories where Carter and Percy meet up, though.

      Delete

Tell us what you think! We love to hear what others think of these books and movies. We just ask that you would please keep your comments clean. We are a kid-friendly site.