The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan

[Michelle]

Rick Riordan is best known for his Percy Jackson series, where Greek gods meet the modern world. In this new series, he’s turned his attention to the Egyptian gods, and some of the mythology surrounding them.

 

My concern was that The Red Pyramid would offer the same formula as before, but with a different set of gods, but Rick has managed to avoid that.

 

For a start, there are two main characters telling the story, Sadie and Carter. They are brother and sister, but have been brought up separately. The story is told by both of them, and presented as a transcript of a discovered tape.

 

They are brought together when their father is captured, and the ancient gods are released. They quickly have to learn about their past, their abilities and their responsibilities, aided by some interesting characters.

 

Rick still presents the same blend – the main characters develop and grow, dealing with the usual modern problems, including getting to know each other. But at the same time, we are given an adventure story, and lots of Egyptian mythology.

 

The gods are presented differently this time – rather than watching over and not interfering, these are both good and bad, and looking to destroy!

 

My only real criticism is that it felt a little too long. I understand that this is to be a trilogy, but it may have better spread over more books. In some parts it’s quite complex, and some parts felt as if they could have waited until a later book.

 

I do also think that the main characters act older than there supposed age, but this is something I also felt of the Percy Jackson series.

 

I would suggest that this series would probably suit a slightly older age group than Percy Jackson, mainly due to the length of the book and the complexity.

 

The likeable characters are there, the humour is there, the mythology is there, and so is the adventure. That overcomes the criticisms, and makes it a recommended fantasy adventure book.

[catwoman]

Thanks for the great review and that has helped me in deciding wether of not to get this book for Xmas for my son. I read him the Percy Jackson series (we will be reading book 3 soon) and I was told by a friend of mine that this book is a lot more complex and maybe a bit too much for my son. I think I might hold back for a while and get him other books instead.

 

Thanks Michelle.

[PatrickUK]

Thanks for the great review. As I told you, I've read the first book of 'The Kane Chronicles' but I'm waiting to finish the 'Percy Jackson' series before reading 'The Kane Chronicles' and I'm also waiting for its box set to be released.