Review of The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan

Book Two in Rick Riordan’s Kane Chronicles is thoroughly entertaining. The Throne of Fire takes readers back into the world of Ancient Egypt and fills in the gaps left from The Red Pyramid.

The most remarkable part of this story is Riordan’s vision of the Journey of Ra, the sun god. Carter and Sadie Kane experience this fantastic Journey in their search for the aged Sun God to help defeat Chaos.

I had an easier time with the narrator shifts between Carter and Sadie, but still glanced up at the top of the pages for the current storyteller. However, some of the Kanes’ wordplay reduced the tension of the story in places as I, the reader, realized they had survived the current predicament.

I applaud Riordan’s inclusion in this book of a glossary of Commands used by the Kanes, additional Egyptian terms, and a list of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses. This was missing in Book One. I used these three resources frequently while reading.

The Throne of Fire makes a good read for ages 9 and up this summer. Can’t wait for Book Three to see how the Kanes deal with the new challenges.

Review of Rick Riordan's The Red Pyramid

Along with lots of Riordan fans, I eagerly awaited the debut of his new series The Kane Chronicles. The first book is The Red Pyramid.

As with his Percy Jackson series, Riordan introduces modern day characters with ties to an ancient civilization and mythology. In The Red Pyramid, siblings Carter and Sadie find out they have the blood of Egyptian pharaohs and are descended from powerful Egyptian magicians. How they come to terms with this is spread out over the course of the plot as they scramble to save their father, uncle and themselves from Egyptian gods long forgotten but brought back to life and now focused on destroying the world.

Riordan’s combination of action and Egyptian mythology keeps the story moving along with a couple of mummies. Readers shift back and forth between today’s world and ancient Egypt easily enough, but other concerns distracted me.

The story is told from the point of view of Carter and Sadie. To accomplish this, Riordan alternates viewpoints every two chapters. Even halfway through, I still found myself unable to remember which character was telling the story. Thankfully, at the top of each right-hand page was the name of the current storyteller.

Another concern is the lack of information on Egyptian mythology to let readers become familiar with the many gods and customs. Unlike Greek mythology which is taught in some degree is schools usually through Greek literature, Egyptian mythology is not well known. It is only through my research over the last year of Egyptian mythology and life that I understood the terms ba and maat which play major roles in the story.

Riordan does his young readers a disservice by not helping them understand this fascinating culture. I understand wanting to encourage readers to branch out and learn new ideas, but this may backfire and turn readers away.

Hopefully, Riordan’s loyal followers will give him another chance to engulf them in Egyptian mythology. I await the next book with that hope in mind.

Great Books for Young Readers

With summer just around the corner, it's time to start thinking of books for summer for those young readers. Here are some excellent choices from the many middle grade novels out there.

Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson Series

These action-packed novels feature the young hero Percy Jackson, half Greek God courtesy of Poseidon, and his friend AnnaBeth, half goddess courtesy of Athena. Together they battle to save the world today from all kinds of threats from the still existing ancient Greek Gods. Mythology has always been a draw for kids of all ages, and Riordan's adventures pull students in immediately with the first chapter of each book. Chapter one in the Thief is titled, "I Accidentally Vaporize my Pre-Algebra Teacher."

• The Lightning Thief
  
• The Sea of Monsters
  
• The Titan's Curse
  
• The Battle Of The Labyrinth
  
• The Demigod Files
  

Joseph Delaney's The Last Apprentice Series

Thomas Ward is twelve years old and the seventh son of a seventh son. As such, it falls to him to become the apprentice to the local Spook who fights evil and evil creatures. In Revenge, he becomes friends with Alice, the youngest of a witch family, and this complicates his learning because the Spook imprisons witches in a pit to keep them from hurting others.

Each book ends with the current journal entries of young Ward.

• Revenge Of The Witch
  
• Curse Of The Bane
  
• Night Of The Soul Stealer
  
• Attack Of The Fiend
  
• Wrath Of The Bloodeye
  
• The Spook's Tale and Other Horrors

John Flanagan's Ranger's Apprentice Series

Readers meet fifteen-year-old Will who is chosen to be apprenticed to the mysterious Ranger (a modern day spy) in this medieval series. He must learn how to move around the kingdom without being seen, fight for his life only when there is no other choice, and recognize dangers to the kingdom and its people. His enemy from Battle School presents his first challenge. Lots of adventure lurks between the pages.

• The Ruins Of Gorlan
  
• The Burning Bridge
  
• The Icebound Land
  
• The Battle For Skandia
  
• The Sorcerer Of The North
  

All of these series are suitable for readers in the Fifth grade and up (even adults!). They are lively enough for children as young as seven or eight if read aloud.

And don't forget about Guinevere: On The Eve Of Legend due out in April 2009. Further details will be forthcoming.