The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan

The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan

Publisher : Disney Hyperion

Pages : 447

Series : The Kane Chronicles Book Two

Rating: 5/5

     Ever since the gods of Ancient Egypt were unleashed in the modern world, Carter Kane and his sister, Sadie, have been in trouble.  As descendants of the House of Life, the Kanes have some powers at their command; but the devious gods haven't given them time to master their skills at Brooklyn House, a training ground for young magicians.  And now their most threatening enemy yet - the Chaos snake, Apophis - is rising.  If they don't prevent him from breaking free in a few days time, the world will end.  In other words, it's a typical week for the Kane family.
     To have any chance of battling the forces of Chaos, the Kanes must revive the sun god, Ra.  But that would be a feat more difficult than any magician has ever accomplished.  First they have to search the world for the Cook of Ra, then they have to learn how to chant it's spells.  Oh - and did we mention that no one knows where Ra is, exactly?
     Narrated by two different wisecracking voices, featuring a large cast of new and unforgettable characters, and with adventures spanning the globe, this second installment of the Kane Chronicles is nothing short of a thrill ride.

If you haven’t read The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! It is amazing and hilarious and the book that precedes this one so if you haven’t read that, don’t read this and go by The Red Pyramid.

The Throne of Fire starts a couple months after The Red Pyramid ended and the calling card for new recruits worked.  The Brooklyn House is now full of kids training just in time for the impending threat of Chaos.  Carter is informed by Horus, the Egyptian god who possessed Carter’s body in The Red Pyramid, that in order to keep Chaos from breaking out of prison they needed Ra and to get Ra they must find the Book of Ra and travel through the Duat. So accompanied by their new friends Jaz, Walt and Bes along with some older friends, Anubis, Bast, Amos and Khufu, the set out on a new adventure.

I laughed out loud to my empty room more times than I can count during this book.  It was hilarious! I don’t know if Sadie and I have the same sense of humor but I was always looking forward to her narration.  Sadie always has the perfect comeback and is a great smart ass.  The fact that Bes was a dwarf god who killed things but looking ugly didn’t hurt the hilarity.

I know that the main attraction I find for Rick Riordan’s books is the mythological facts imbedded in the story.  History and mythology in particular is my favorite thing so finding it in a book is amazing.  The Egyptian mythology is perfect in both The Throne of Fire and The Red Pyramid. Although they do change the myths to become more age-appropriate because I’ve read many Egyptian myths and some are extremely weird and hardcore.  However, in The Throne of Fire, I especially loved how the story of Isis stealing Ra’s secret name was interwoven with The Throne of Fire and the importance secret names was given.  Also who doesn’t want a hot Anubis, god of death and funerals, showing up randomly?

The new characters in The Throne of Fire were great additions to the family.  Jaz, Walt and expecially Bes had great chemistry and fit into the story so well I can’t imagine them not in The Red Pyramid.  Although I didn’t really appreciate the little love triangle going on, but I won’t say who the people in the triangle are…it’s a bit of a spoiler.

All in all, I loved this book.  I can’t wait for the next book to come out. It’s also left me with an urge to go put kohl eyeliner on my eyes and practice my hieroglyphs.