Book Review by Adele: The Red Pyramid

The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan is an amazing 528-page fantasy novel about Carter and Sadie Kane’s adventures. It is the first in a series called The Kane Chronicles. Published by Disney Hyperion on May 4, 2010, The Red Pyramid has been a number one New York Times bestseller and was named the School Library Journal Best Book of 2010. This book is based on Egyptian mythology, so there are some historical and fantasy aspects to the novel. The story takes place in different places; a few important ones are Cairo, New York, Phoenix, and London. At the beginning of each chapter, it says who tells the story, followed by their ancient Egyptian symbol.


The only two narrators are Carter and Sadie. Carter and Sadie are brother and sister, fourteen and twelve respectively. They are both leading characters, but Carter seems to narrate more often. The other main characters are, Amos, their uncle; Bast, the goddess of cats; Desjardins, the Chief Lector (eventually); Set, the god of fire; Zia, a student at the house of life; Horus, brother and conqueror of Set; Isis, sister of Set; Julius/ Osiris, the god of the dead; and Ruby Kane, Carter and Sadie’s mother.


This story is about Carter and Sadie’s adventures across the globe as they join forces to solve a mystery that has them uncovering ancient family secrets. Along the way, Carter and Sadie learn that they are descendants of ancient Egyptian pharaohs. They discover that Carter was a host of Horus. Sadie finds out that she was a host of Isis. Julius, their father, becomes the host to Osiris, the god of the dead. This happens when Julius tries to summon Osiris using the Rosetta Stone in order to bring back Ruby, his wife, who died when Carter was eight and Sadie was six. Eventually Carter and Sadie reach Set’s red pyramid and they find out a surprising family secret. That secret is an important development that helps Carter and Sadie face their foes and save the world.


My favorite character is Bast, the goddess of cats, because she has leadership qualities, even though she is a sidekick of Ra, the god of the sun. Sadie is a strong character who does as she likes, not as her brother Carter (who is like my brother Ace!☺) would like. I particularly disliked Desjardins because he did not want to hear Carter's and Sadie’s ideas just because he argued with their father a lot. Sadie was often frustrated when her good ideas were not always heard. I think a lot of people her age feel like that. The author told the story as though it had been actually recorded word for word on tape and then transcribed into a book. This made the adventure seem realistic. The author gave the main characters a good sense of humor, which balanced the serious themes, making the story even more likable.


My overall impression of the book was that it would be a very positive book to read for fun and for school. I would recommend this book to people who like suspense books and mythology themes. It is not for people who like fairy tales and happy endings (although it has a kind of happy ending). I think that readers aged eight and over of both genders would enjoy reading The Red Pyramid.


By Adele Wells