The Red Pyramid, by Rick Riordan, is the first in the Kane Chronicles series. This series follows Carter and Sadie Kane who are descendants of ancient Egyptian pharaohs. Do they know this at the beginning of the tale? No. But they learn a lot about themselves and their family during their first adventure.Carter and Sadie must battle the forces of the ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses to save their modern world. Their mother died years ago in a strange incident in London. The two children have been separated from each other since then - Sadie living with their maternal grandparents in London and Carter traveling the world (and being "home"-schooled) with their Egyptologist father. After an odd evening in front of the Rosetta Stone in London, Carter and Sadie see their father entombed in an ancient sarcophogus and vow to save their dad.
The children learn that their father has been entombed during the process of releasing the main five gods of ancient Egypt. These gods, along with the ancient House of Life (the magicians of Egypt) are trying to fight Set - the banished god of chaos - in order to save North America. In the process, the kids hope to save their father, reunite their family and live a "normal" life. Both children are able to communicate and harness some of the powers of a god/goddess - Carter with Horus and Sadie with Isis. There are twists and turns (a la Percy Jackson) and of course a giant battle scene and cliff hangers!
This is a great book and a good introduction to the Kane children. Rick Riordan is a great author and keeps the action moving. One of the things I love about this book is that each chapter (or segment of the book) is told from one of the character's point of view. There are chapters written as if Carter is speaking and chapters written as if Sadie is speaking. We not only get to know these two characters intimately, but we hear different viewpoints of events. We also get an in depth look at their relationship as brother and sister - something I can totally relate to as a sister! The whole story is written as if being transcribed from an audio recording of the children - a technique that was pretty unique for me to read. I really enjoy Riordan as an author and can't wait to begin the second installment in this series!
