Author: Rick RiordanBlurb: 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.
Series: Kane Chronicles #1
Publication Date: May 4, 2010
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Pages: 516
Obtained: purchased
Genre: MG/YA Fantasy
Rating: 4
Bottom Line: The return of the Egyptian gods and the Pharaohs
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Grab
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.
Review: In my thirst for more Rick Riordan, I decided to try the Kane series. I've always adored Egyptology, so I was excicted to start it and this being a Riordan novel, I went into it with extraordinary expectations. While I enjoyed The Red Pyramid, I found myself wanting more from it.
The story of the Kanes is told entirely from a first person persepective with the narration switching back and forth between Sadie and Carter. This is hard to pull off and though Riordan does it well, I think that is where some of luster. At first Carter and Sadie had very distinct voices but as the novel progressed I lost which one was narrating a few times. Perhaps its because the siblings started out so far apart emotionally and became closer through their adventure, or maybe that's just me giving Riordan the benefit of the doubt. I also had a hard time connecting with either character with the first person narrative preventing the reader from gaining a more indepth perspective of the character.
Whereas Riordan's Greek and Roman gods jump up the page with their personalities, the Egyptian gods come off more subtle. With the exception of Bast, the gods borrow human hosts which muffle their larger than life charaters. If I didn't have anything to compare it to, it probably wouldn't have bothered me, but I found I missed Riordan's quirky gods.
Sadie and Carter's journey, though fairly straightforward, is an interesting one full of self discovery and history. There are serveral potential villains which helped keep things interesting. The battles are monumental, but not overwhelming and certainly not without some of the wry Riordan humor thrown in. I love watching Sadie and Carter grow together as siblings after so many years envying the others life from a distance.
The book ends solidly, leaving enough loose ends to pull the reader onward in the series. I will certainly be reading further to see where the Kane's journey takes them next, however I'm hoping that as the children mature, the story will too.
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