Ancient Egypt.... the land of the mysteries...

When I first picked up a novel by Author Rick Riordan, I was just fulfilling a nagging feeling at the back of my mind. Working in Warner Bros support, tends to do that to your mind… you cant stop yourself from wondering what the movies are all about. So, when I picked up Lightening Thief, I was just trying to understand what is the whole hoobla about Percy Jackson is all about… and voila… I found something that not only caught my attention, but also brought along an attachment… kinda like when I picked up Amulet of Samarkand and felt for the demon Bartimaeus… Percy was interesting, fast paced and engaging at the same time... so much so that I finished reading the entire series in a span of 20 days… 20 working days to be precise… (I was reading it in office, you know)

There was a sense of loss when I came to the end of the series… like I was letting go of a friend… and I KNOW how THAT feels, trust me. Letting a series end, without a real end, is something that I cant ever adjust to… why do authors do that… may be because they want the readers to be hooked on for a NEXT installment of the books by the author… and that works… take Kane Chronicles for the instance…

From a review point of view, The Red Pyramid gives you all that you come to expect from Rick Riordan’s novels… Gods, Magic, Heroes and loads of excitement… Egypt has always been fascinating… at a point in my life, and I suppose its true for almost all of us, that I wanted to be an Egyptologist, just so that I can get to roam around in the land of the Pharaohs…

With Kane Chronicles, Rick Riordan manages to bring back all those memories and aspirations; back to the surface… he brings back the mysteries to life. I don’t call myself an expert, but reading Rick Riordan is like ice-cream. You don’t want it to end, but cant stop eating it…

Carter and Sadie are two teen siblings, who have been separated at the age of 8 and 6 respectively. They are siblings but nothing about them is similar, except for the love towards their parents. Even thought they meet each other only twice a year, they have feelings for each other than any normal teenager would have about his / her sibling. Carter finds Sadie to be rebel, while Sadie believes that Carter has no adventurous bone in his body. Each strapped to a certain lifestyle, they both marvel and want each other’s life style. They are forced to stay on together when their father, Dr. Julius Kane, visits British Museum and blows the Rosetta stone. As a reader you witness their travel with their uncle who takes them away for safety, enjoy their new found powers and even get mystify when you come to understand that the Gods of ancient Egypt are well alive and active… you find yourself anticipating what is coming next, before even realising that you are drawn to the whole Ancient Egyptian Gods plot.

Their fight to save their lives, the motivation to free their father, their learning curve through various Gods they fight, keeps you engaged throughout the novel. You learn to enjoy Khufu’s interferences, and simply love to enjoy Bast’s catty behaviour. Your heart breaks when Bast faces of with Serqet and you assume that Bast is lost forever in Du’at. The story keeps rocking and rolling from one battle to the next and you as a reader find yourself enjoying the whole Gods are walking the earth once again.

I’m not sure that Rick Riordan was trying to send out a message through the novel or anything… but I believe what I took out of the book was, that when you have family around you… you can defeat ANY obstacle, and that you have no idea what you are capable of doing, unless to face extra-ordinary circumstances…

So, anyone looking for a fantastic journey through the rich history of the Land of the Pharaohs, do read the Kane Chronicles first Chapter…. The Red Pyramid