Perfect Egyptian Conclusion

I have always been interested in "things Egypt" so I don't know how I have so little knowledge about Egyptian mythology. And when you want a heavy dose of mythology on a hilarious platter, who do you come to? Why Rick Riordan, of course! The master of repurposed mythological tales has done it again as he wrapped up the Kane Chronicles with The Serpent's Shadow. 


Sadie and Carter know they must stop Apophis, the God of Chaos, from destroying the world. But how could two teenagers stop the apocalypse? When, when you are a Kane, you always have friends in strange places. With Bast, a cat goddess, to watch over their initiates in the house, they embark on a journey to find the way to stop Apophs, but each day he grows stronger. Add to that the fact that the senile sun god, Ra, who was supposed to help them dances around and has to be babysat, that their best friend Walt is slowly dying from a generations-old curse, and Carter was crushing on a magical clay figurine he thought was a girl. Once the figurine was destroyed and they rescued the real Zia, she had no memory of Carter's time with her shabti. And Bas, the dwarf god, has sacrificed his soul to save them and is now sitting like a shell of himself in the retirement home for the Gods. 


So how are they going to stop this unstoppable God of Chaos now that they have freed him and allowed him to gain more power than any one god or goddess can control, you ask? Well, it might involve a spell that is so powerful, it will destroy the Kanes for good, but when you have the weight and fate of the world resting on your shoulders, you really don't have much of a choice. Sadie and Carter will do anything to save the world, even if it means tough choices and big sacrifices. And with the Kanes against them, even giant serpent gods who thrive on chaos can stop them!


It is no secret that I think Rick Riordan is a god. God of literary brilliance! His Percy Jackson series and the spinoff series are brilliant uses of Greek and Roman Gods, and this series is just as phenomenal. His ability to repurpose mythology brings it into the mainstream and gets our kids involved in stories that might have been too old, too, boring, and too distant for them before. And let's face it, mythology is interesting, but those stories are intricate and dense and those names get seriously confusing. Let's not even mention how ridiculous those tangled webs of relationships can be! But Riordan makes mythology accessible AND more important, absolutely HILARIOUS! The things that come out of these gods and godesses' mouths will leave you in a fit of giggles. And for my students who have read these stories, those gods and goddesses are interesting and the source of future research and reading. I find kids who read these books want to go on and read more about their favorite gods and goddesses, and since Egyptian mythology isn't as well known as Greek mythology, this series is a great way to strike a balance between the two!


The conclusion of the series was whole-heartedly satisfying. I promise you won't think it is going to be until the very end, but it really is. I have to say, I thought this was another 5 book series, so at the very end, when things started winding down, I had to rush to do some research as to whether or not this was the final book in the series. Sadly, because I love this series and wanted it to continue, this is indeed the final book, but it ends beautifully. If there was a perfect way to end everything, The Serpent's Shadow was it. So, I know Riordan is working on the Percy Jackson spin-off, but I really hope he has another series up his sleeve! 

Baby, Your Throne is on FIRE

"I named my camel Katrina. She was a natural disaster. She slobbered everywhere and seemed to think the purple streak in my hair was some kind of exotic fruit. She was obsessed with trying to eat my head. I named Walt's camel Hindenburg. He was almost as large as a zeppelin and definitely full of gas." When I read Kane Chronicles: The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan, I found myself giggle with each page. The spunky and sassy Kane kids, Sadie and Carter, bring more fun adventure with this second installment to the Egyptian mythology-laced story.

Carter and Sadie barely made it through the last scuffle where the Red Pyramid was almost constructed. Instead, they bartered with evil God Set, their dad agreed to host the god of the underworld, Osiris, and they put a call out to all magical children. The Brooklyn house became a training ground for young magicians and godlings, but they had barely recovered from their last heroic adventure. They certainly weren't ready for the next one to start so quickly. Carter was still obsessing about Zia, the girl he fell in love with until he realized she was a shabti of the real Zia- a clay figurine transformed to look and act like a real person (most aren't as lifelike as Zia's was). Sadie was still crushing on Anubis, the dog headed god of the dead who looked a lot hotter in person (and much less dog headed).

When the Kane's learn the world is going to end (again), they only have five days to awake an elderly god, Ra, who has been asleep for thousands of years. Hopefully he can restore Ma'at (peace) and keep Chaos from overtaking the world, particularly in the form of a serpentine god named Apophis, who has been imprisoned since Ra retired. To do this, they must find all three scrolls of the Book of Ra, travel to the Duat (limbo/underworld), find Ra, and convince him to take his throne again. All this combined with cackling vulture Gods and angry, dumb ape gods taking over their grandparents, a leader of the House of Life who wants to take the Kanes down, a crazy Russian consorting with Set, a loony Dwarf God who squeezes into a speedo and a Hawaiian shirt, and no adults to help them makes for a very crazy few days for Sadie and Carter Kane. But will rising Ra be the answer? Can they save the world?

One thing that I realized about this series was how Riordan writes Sadie's character. She is a 13 year old girl, and a sassy and spunky young woman. You wouldn't want to cross Sadie Kane! I remember reading James Patterson's Witch and Wizard and being thoroughly annoyed how he portrayed Whisty, his young female character. I thought it was a clear example of how a middle aged man shouldn't try to write as though he was a 13 year old female narrator, but that isn't the case with Riordan. He writes Sadie like many of the 13 year old girls I know. Perhaps Mr. Patterson should contact Mr. Riordan for a little help in understanding his characters!

This was such a fun follow-up to to the first book in Riordan's Egyptian series. I am not as familiar with Egyptian mythology as I am Greek or Roman mythology, so I was exciting to have this series to learn a little more. Some of the names and terms can be difficult to pronounce or understand, but there is a glossary at the end of the book of terms and hieroglyphs. It is really helpful if you have trouble with these strange names (I know I did!). Other than the Egyptian terms, this is a very clean, wholesome story. There is plenty of adventure, but the content is appropriate for any age group. I would give this to any high skilled elementary student to a high school student. It has enough excitement and adventure to keep anyone intrigued.