The Kane Chronicles

Rick Riordan

I'm sure many people have read at least one of Rick Riordan's book series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Heroes of Olympus, The 39 Clues: The Maze of Bones, as well as 8 books for adults. Riordan created these books because of his love for mythology. He wanted to bring the joys of learning about mythology to students.  Percy Jackson and the Olympians is based on Greek gods, and The Heroes of Olympus is based on both the Greek and Roman gods. After Riordan finished the Percy Jackson series he started to write the Kane Chronicles.  The Kane Chronicles are based on Egyptian gods, and the Egyptian magicians. There are two books in the Kane Chronicles right now; The Red Pyramid and The Throne of Fire. As of now there is no information on the website on when the next book in the series comes out.

Ra was the sun god who protected  the world from armies of the chaos serpent Apep. Ra was also the first pharaoh. Isis was the goddess of Magic, and Osiris' wife. To get Osiris on the throne she had a poisonous snake bite Ra's leg. Ra knew that Isis could heal him, so she made him give her his secret name. If a person had your secret name then they could control you. Since Isis knew Ra's secret name she convinced him to retire from being pharaoh leaving Osiris to take the throne.
Osiris was the eldest son of Geb and Nut. He took over the throne from Ra after his wife, Isis, tricked Ra into retirement. Set, his brother, got jealous of him, so he killed him and cut him into tiny little pieces and spread him all over the world. Isis found all of the pieces of her husband and made him into the first mummy. Osiris came partially back to life but he had to become the ruler of the Underworld. Set, Osiris' brother, was the god of the desert, storms, and evil. After his nephew, Horus, defeated him he went into the desert were he controlled the bad land outside of the Nile River Valley. Horus was the son of Isis and Osiris. He fought Set for the throne, and won. The Ancient Egyptians then believed that every pharaoh who took the throne was a descendant of Horus. Nephthys was the River Goddess and Set’s wife. She didn’t like her husband, and when he killed Osiris she helped Isis find all the pieces and bind them together. Nephthys was also the mother of Anubis, the god of funeral rites. Geb and Nut were the parents of five of the major gods. Ra forbade Nut to have her children on any of the 360 days of the year. Nut then created the final five days of the year and gave birth to the five gods. Those days were called the Evil Days. On the day the god was born he or she is the most powerful.

Carter Kane

The first book, The Red Pyramid, starts with Carter Kane, a 14-year-old boy who traveled the world with his father after the death of his mother. He was home schooled and learned mostly about Ancient Egypt. His sister states many times though the first book that he has no sense of fashion. He normally wore really nice clothes like button down shirts, dress pants, and nice shoes.

Sadie Kane

Sadie Kane, Carter's sister, is 12-years-old in the first book The Red Pyramid. She turns 13 in the second book The Throne of Fire. She normally has some bright color dyed into her hair. She has been living with her grandparents, near Canary Wharf in London, since she was about 6-years-old. She loves her combat boots, chewing gum, a leather jacket, her cat Muffin, and her iPod.









The Red Pyramid is the first book in The Kane Chronicles. It starts with Carter and his dad going to England to get his sister, Sadie, from their grandparents. When their mom died her parents, Carter and Sadie's grandparents, won the custody agreement for Sadie. The court allowed Dr. Julius Kane to see his daughter once every six months. On one of the two days a year that Sadie gets to see her father; he takes them to the British Museum too see the Ancient Egypt display. Carter and Sadie end up witnessing their dad breaking the Rosetta Stone and unleashing all the Ancient Egyptian gods. Different gods merged with different people. From there Carter and Sadie meet their Uncle Amos. Amos takes Sadie and Carter to his house in Brooklyn, New York after the incident at the museum. Upon arriving they meet a baboon named Khufu who only eats foods that ends in o, like Cheerios, Jello, avocados, mangoes, and so on. Carter and Sadie, along with their Goddess friend Bast has to figure out how to defeat Set before his birthday.

The Throne of Fire is the second book in The Kane Chronicles series. This takes place a few months after the first book. By now they have quite a group of kids being trained by Carter and Sadie. In order to stop the  chaos snake Apophis, Sadie, Carter, and Walt (their new friend and a decedent of  King Tut) must wake up Ra. In order to find Ra Carter and Sadie need to gather the three sections of the Book of Ra, which are hidden all over the world. Once all of the books are together they need to go to the Underworld to find Ra, read the scrolls, and wake him up. All in about five days.

If you want to read the Kane Chronicles I highly suggest it. They are a great way to learn about the Egyptian gods,  Ancient Egypt, and how it influenced to our lives today.