Since his mother's death six years ago, Carter Kane has been living out of a suitcase, traveling the globe with his father, the brilliant Egyptologist Dr. Julius Kane. But while Carter's been homeschooled, his youngersister, Sadie, has been living with their grandparents in London. Sadie has just what Carter wants--school friends and a chance at a "normal" life. But Carter has just Sadie longs for--time with their father. After six years of living apart, the siblings have almost nothing in common.Until now.
On Christmas Eve, Sadie and Carter are reunited when their father brings them to the British Museum, with a promise that he's going to "make things right." But all does not go according to plan: Carter and Sadie watch as Julius summons a mysterious figure, who quickly banished their father and causes a fiery explosion.
Soon Carter and Sadie discover that the gods of Ancient Egypt are waking, and the worst of them--Set--has a frightening scheme. To save their father, they must embark on a dangerous journey--a quest that brings them ever closer to the truth about their family and its links to the House of Life, a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs.
From the author of the blockbuster best-selling series Percy Jackson and the Olympians comes this first installment of the Kane Chronicles, combining nonstop action, humor, and suspense in an epic tale of loyalty and heroism.
What to say about this book...
IT'S AWESOME.
Well, since Uncle Rick is one of my absolute favorite authors I'm kind of inclined to like this book, but I have to admit, I probably would've picked it up even if he hadn't wrote it. It's so good.
First off, let's look at the American cover art:
Believe me, it looks a lot better in person, I promise. But still pretty amazing, right?
Anyway, back to the book. Rick really dives into the subject of Egyptian mythology with gusto, and for a mythology geek like me, it's perfect. I for one didn't know much about the Egyptian gods and myths before reading these books, and now I know a lot more and understand more than when I first started reading them. He integrates the stories and facts so perfectly into his story lines, it seems like they might actually be real. It gets kids into learning about stuff they normally find dreadfully boring. Riordan turns the musty dusty facts into something everybody will read and say, "wow, that was amazing!" and they won't even realize that they just took a crash course in Egyptian Mythology and learned more than they did all year in class. That's why I love Rick Riordan's books.
The other thing I love about this book is that it portrays all of the characters in all different lights and completely breaks boundries in terms of that. For instance, the main brother and sister duo, Carter and Sadie Kane, are mixed race kids. Carter has dark skin and travels. Sadie is fair-skinned and lives in Britain. This seemed really cool to me for Rick to do this, as you don't often see siblings with as diverse backgrounds and appearances as Sadie and Carter's are. Somehow, you can also picture them as siblings. It doesn't seem awkward at all.
There's also a lot of plot twists to keep it interesting, but I won't ruin it for you :)
--BBB
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