Revies of "The Red Pyramid" by Rick Riordan
Okay, so this is a Young Adult novel and I'm sure that most of you will recognize the author. Rick Riordan is a brilliant writer who really knows how to get kids interested in the worlds he creates. I loved the Percy Jackson books. I like Riordan's snarky writing style. Anyhow, the Kane Chronicles is his series of which "The Red Pyramid" is the first book. Riordan definitely followed the same formula he used in creating Percy Jackson's tale. In fact, it was almost identical, which was a bit disappointing. I felt like I was reading the first Percy Jackson book all over again but with less flair because I already knew the story.
Don't get me wrong, I liked the book well enough and would definitely recommend it to some fifth and sixth graders. And if you pretty much want to read Percy Jackson again, but through the lens of Ancient Egypt then this book is perfect. "The Red Pyramid" is told in first-person by the two protagonists of the story. Carter and Sadie are siblings who are two years apart in age and are polar opposites by all accounts. Their mother died when Carter was 8 and Sadie was 6. She was a white woman with blond hair and blue eyes. Carter lived with their dad, an African-American man, and Sadie was sent to live with her mother's parents. Description-wise Sadie is described as nearly a spitting image of their mother whereas Carter shares their father's looks. They don't grow up together and only see each other twice a year.
Their dad travels which means that Carter travels with him, and as an African-American male, his father has taught him to dress "nerdy" according to Sadie. He dresses his best every day in khaki's, a nice shit, nice shoes, and only carries one suitcase which holds all of his possessions. It was nice to see the racial diversity in a YA novel. That was one of my favorite aspects about the story. Anyway, the kids were on one of their days in which they got to see each other and their dad took them to see the Rosetta Stone in an Egyptian display at a museum. He revealed himself as a magician who was in the process of releasing the trapped gods from the stone. All hell breaks loose and he gets taken captive by an evil god named Set.
The story revolves around Carter and Sadie doing everything in their power to defeat Set. They encounter magical friends and foes along the way. They often find themselves in situations where they must complete a task or test in order to move closer to their goal. Riordan does a good job keeping the reader interested by ending each chapter with the reader wanting to know more. As always, his research of mythology is wonderful and is used in a way that makes it entertaining and enlightening at the same time. I certainly know more about Egyptian gods now than I did before. I am a little bummed that Carter, the son who traveled the world with his expert-on-all-things-Egypt father didn't have a better understanding of the Egyptian mythology or history. Most of his information was basic, at best. I would have been nice for him to be a bit more adept, instead he looked mediocre. Sadie, on the other hand was sharp, bold, assertive, and much more complex of a character. Poor Carter, he started off as timid and obedient with little ability to think or act for himself. By the end of the story, he had gained some confidence and assertiveness, but it definitely felt like he relied on little Sadie for strength and courage more than she relied on him or anyone.
All in all, I enjoyed the book just fine. Nothing spectacular. It was a good way to spend some time. Kind of like a movie you see on TV when you're flipping channels. You've never seen it, didn't bother to see it in theaters, and now that it's on TV you're like, "eh, why not..." It's like that. It isn't a bad read, and I'm sure that some 10-12 year olds would fall in love with the story. It's easier to read than Percy Jackson. The characters are also less complex and more basic than those we find in the Percy Jackson series. Anubis kind of reminded me of Neo...if we're comparing.
I hope that helps.
Don't get me wrong, I liked the book well enough and would definitely recommend it to some fifth and sixth graders. And if you pretty much want to read Percy Jackson again, but through the lens of Ancient Egypt then this book is perfect. "The Red Pyramid" is told in first-person by the two protagonists of the story. Carter and Sadie are siblings who are two years apart in age and are polar opposites by all accounts. Their mother died when Carter was 8 and Sadie was 6. She was a white woman with blond hair and blue eyes. Carter lived with their dad, an African-American man, and Sadie was sent to live with her mother's parents. Description-wise Sadie is described as nearly a spitting image of their mother whereas Carter shares their father's looks. They don't grow up together and only see each other twice a year.
Their dad travels which means that Carter travels with him, and as an African-American male, his father has taught him to dress "nerdy" according to Sadie. He dresses his best every day in khaki's, a nice shit, nice shoes, and only carries one suitcase which holds all of his possessions. It was nice to see the racial diversity in a YA novel. That was one of my favorite aspects about the story. Anyway, the kids were on one of their days in which they got to see each other and their dad took them to see the Rosetta Stone in an Egyptian display at a museum. He revealed himself as a magician who was in the process of releasing the trapped gods from the stone. All hell breaks loose and he gets taken captive by an evil god named Set.
The story revolves around Carter and Sadie doing everything in their power to defeat Set. They encounter magical friends and foes along the way. They often find themselves in situations where they must complete a task or test in order to move closer to their goal. Riordan does a good job keeping the reader interested by ending each chapter with the reader wanting to know more. As always, his research of mythology is wonderful and is used in a way that makes it entertaining and enlightening at the same time. I certainly know more about Egyptian gods now than I did before. I am a little bummed that Carter, the son who traveled the world with his expert-on-all-things-Egypt father didn't have a better understanding of the Egyptian mythology or history. Most of his information was basic, at best. I would have been nice for him to be a bit more adept, instead he looked mediocre. Sadie, on the other hand was sharp, bold, assertive, and much more complex of a character. Poor Carter, he started off as timid and obedient with little ability to think or act for himself. By the end of the story, he had gained some confidence and assertiveness, but it definitely felt like he relied on little Sadie for strength and courage more than she relied on him or anyone.
All in all, I enjoyed the book just fine. Nothing spectacular. It was a good way to spend some time. Kind of like a movie you see on TV when you're flipping channels. You've never seen it, didn't bother to see it in theaters, and now that it's on TV you're like, "eh, why not..." It's like that. It isn't a bad read, and I'm sure that some 10-12 year olds would fall in love with the story. It's easier to read than Percy Jackson. The characters are also less complex and more basic than those we find in the Percy Jackson series. Anubis kind of reminded me of Neo...if we're comparing.
I hope that helps.
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