“We only have a few hours, so listen carefully.”

From Rick Riordan’s Kane Chronicles: The Red Pyramid.

While most would never assume that the young boy and girl were even friends, Carter and Sadie Kane are actually siblings separated by half a world and a set of sad events.  After their mother tragically died, the children were spit up; Carter with their researcher/explorer/archeologist father and Sadie with their maternal grandparents in England.  This has been the new normal for quite a while, when their father reunites the trio to join him on his latest research into the history and mysticism of Ancient Egypt.  Things quickly go from awkward to worse as their father sets off a chain of events that releases the ancient, evil god, Set into our modern world.  Set removes Dr. Kane from this world through banishment, leaving the children alone and completely unprepared to challenge Set’s plans.  In an effort to save their father (and the world), Carter and Sadie are introduced to a world of magicians and Egyptian secret societies that stand in defense against the gods of Egypt.  The closer the Kane children get to saving their father, the more complicated their family history (and secrets) become for the special duo.

Riordan does an excellent job of introducing the reader to Egyptian mythology in a way that is both informative and understandable.  The real-world setting of the book allows for the reader to ease into the pages of the book without losing track of the plethora of monsters, creatures, and gods.  The characters are believable, with raw emotion and honest questions, so that each character becomes a living character by the end of the book.  Carter’s struggles become the reader’s struggles, Sadie’s pain becomes the reader’s pain, and the victor’s joy becomes the reader’s joy.  Riordan’s portrayal of the mythology is a type of captivating that demands that the reader continue to turn the pages until every battle has been won.