Series: Book 1 in the The Kane Chronicles series
Rating: Not rated
Tags: Fiction, General, Siblings, Brothers and Sisters, Juvenile Fiction, Fantasy & Magic, People & Places, Action & Adventure, Family, Family secrets, Adventure and Adventurers, Egypt, Voyages and Travels, Middle East, Secret societies, Mythology; Egyptian, Seth (Egyptian deity), Lang:en
Summary
Starred Review. Grade 4–9—Riordan takes the
elements that made the "Percy Jackson" books (Hyperion) so
popular and ratchets them up a notch. Carter, 14, and Sadie,
12, have grown up apart. He has traveled all over the world
with his Egyptologist father, Dr. Julius Kane, while Sadie
has lived in London with her grandparents. Their mother
passed away under mysterious circumstances, so when their
father arrives in London and wants to take them both on a
private tour of the British Museum, all is not necessarily
what it seems. The evening ends with the apparent destruction
of the Rosetta Stone, the disappearance of Dr. Kane, and the
kidnapping of Carter and Sadie. More insidiously, it leads to
the release of five Egyptian gods, including Set, who is
their mortal enemy. Carter and Sadie discover the secrets of
their family heritage and their ability to work magic as they
realize that their task will be to save humanity from Set,
who is building a destructive red pyramid inside Camelback
Mountain in Phoenix. The text is presented as the transcript
of an audio recording done by both children. Riordan creates
two distinct and realistic voices for the siblings. He has a
winning formula, but this book goes beyond the formulaic to
present a truly original take on Egyptian mythology. His
trademark humor is here in abundance, and there are numerous
passages that will cause readers to double over with
laughter. The humor never takes away from the story or from
the overall tone. A must-have book, and in multiple
copies.—_Tim Wadham, St. Louis County Library, MO_
Starred Review Since their mother's death, six years
ago, 12-year-old Sadie Kane has lived in London with her
maternal grandparents while her older brother, 14-year-old
Carter, has traveled the world with their father, a renowned
African American Egyptologist. In London on Christmas Eve for
a rare evening together, Carter and Sadie accompany their dad
to the British Museum, where he blows up the Rosetta Stone in
summoning an Egyptian god. Unleashed, the vengeful god
overpowers and entombs him, but Sadie and Carter escape.
Initially determined to rescue their father, their mission
expands to include understanding their hidden magical powers
as the descendants of the pharaohs and taking on the ancient
forces bent on destroying mankind. The first-person narrative
shifts between Carter and Sadie, giving the novel an
intriguing dual perspective made more complex by their
biracial heritage and the tension between the siblings, who
barely know each other at the story's beginning. The first
volume in the Kane Chronicles, this fantasy adventure
delivers what fans loved about the Percy Jackson and the
Olympians series: young protagonists with previously
unsuspected magical powers, a riveting story marked by
headlong adventure, a complex background rooted in ancient
mythology, and wry, witty twenty-first-century narration. The
last pages contain a clever twist that will leave readers
secretly longing to open their lockers at the start of
school. Grades 5-8. --Carolyn PhelanFrom School Library Journal
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