Carter presents as Black, and Sadie presents as white.) Considering the discussions of race and racial justice from this summer, this book felt like a timely read. (Carter’s parents were an interracial couple. I had forgotten the references to racism that are sprinkled throughout the book.

I’d like to re-read the rest of this series – The Kane Chronicles – soon. I also liked that Carter and Sadie have two fronts for battle – the magicians who don’t trust them and then the gods. Carter and Sadie take turns telling the story, and there’s an interesting framework for readers that is more extensive than in the first Percy books. I did like the other differences in this book. But grasping the details of the Egyptian gods as well as the magic system here felt like more work than with Percy. I don’t know if the magic system in Percy Jackson is just easier, or if Greek mythology is just more familiar. My son assigned this to me as part of our Summer Reading Challenge, and I loved getting to read it after also reading the first five Percy books this summer. This is written for older middle grade readers – 10 and up. At my first reading, I liked the story and the characters, but I preferred Percy Jackson’s world of Greek mythology. This book is 10 years old this year, and it’s been close to that long since I read it. So they, too, are trying to stop Carter and Sadie. But the Egyptian magicians of the day don’t trust anything to do with the gods.

And two of them are working with Carter and Sadie to help take down the evil god, Set. Now their father is gone, the police are threatening to arrest them, and their uncle has magically whisked them away to Brooklyn. There was that Amos guy who talked to their dad and then disappeared.īut all of that weird was nothing compared to the Rosetta Stone exploding in a bit of magical combat. Going to the museum on Christmas Eve wasn’t Sadie’s idea of a great visitation plan.

This left Carter to travel the world with his archaeologist father and only see his younger sister twice a year. After their mom died, the grandparents sued for custody, taking Sadie in. Carter Kane and his dad are in London for Christmas to visit Carter’s sister, Sadie, who lives with their mom’s parents.

Rick riordan the red pyramid series