The Serpent's Shadow, by Rick Riordan

I finished the third and final book in the Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan.  The Serpent's Shadow is an action-packed conclusion to the story of brother-sister duo Carter and Sadie Kane.  The Kane children must travel through the Egyptian underworld (Duat) in order to capture the shadow of Apophis.  Apophis is a giant snake and ancient enemy of Ra (the sun god).  Sadie and Carter learn that in order to destroy Apophis (or at least send him away for a long, long time) is to find his shadow - a portion of his soul - and destroy the shadow along with the rest of Apophis.

This is not a simple task, however.  Carter and Sadie lose friends and family in this epic battle.  They learn more about themselves and about each other. 

The action scenes in this novel were very well written.  I learned about Egyptian mythology (not one of my strengths) as well.  I recommend this series to pretty much everyone.  The final installment is a long one (400 pages), but all three books are worth a read!

I am currently on to another topic completely.  But you will have to wait until I finish the book to see what it is.  In the meantime, I am looking forward to both Pi Day (3/14) and the Ides of March (3/15).  Expect some crazy and nerdy posts this week on those topics.

Throne of Fire, by Rick Riordan

Last night I finished the second book in the Kane Chronicles series.  Throne of Fire, by Rick Riordan, follows Carter and Sadie Kane as they journey to awaken the sun god Ra in an effort to thwart the return of Chaos (embodied in the serpent god Apophis).

Sadie and Carter must travel the known world, and the magical world, in order to find the three pieces of the Book of Ra.  Once they have reunited all three pieces of the scroll, the brother-sister duo must follow the ancient journey Ra took each night through the underworld (the Duat in ancient Egyptian lore), find Ra and bring him back to life and power.  Sounds easy, right?

Wrong.  There are, of course, many people against the Kane children.  Sadie and Carter must battle the House of Life - a group of magicians led by the Chief Lector - who believe that Sadie and Carter are trying to bring the gods back in an effort to become more powerful themselves.  The House of Life views the Kanes as power-hungry children who do not understand what is at stake.  They also have to fight against the powers of Chaos - including a crazy Russian called Vlad the Inhaler because of his wheezy voice - who want Apophis to return and to destroy the world as it is currently understood.

Along their journey, the Kane children make some unexpected allies - including one at the end so shocking I can not believe it!  They are also helped along their journey by Bes - a dwarf god who can scare the socks off of anyone by dressing in his Speedo that says "Dwarf Pride" and hollering "BOO" at anyone and anything!  (Great mental imagery by the author on that one!)  As they travel through the Duat, the Kanes meet some new gods who help them, one who they gamble with and have a chance to have dinner with their parents.

This was another great installment of the Kane Chronicles.  Again, I was really impressed with the switch in voice between Carter and Sadie.  You can tell that the different chapters are from the different points of view just by the writing styles.  There are the expected (and now required by me) twists and turns and a few "did that really just happen?" moments in the book.  I recommend this book to every one!

The Red Pyramid, by Rick Riordan

I just finished another book.  I know it took a while this time, but this book weighs in at over 500 pages!  With lots of stuff going on, including travels, time to read has been sparse.  However, the book is done and so now I can review it!

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!