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A review by eesh25
The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan
4.0
2022 reread
It was still great. Plus, I really liked the idea of gods being really powerful but still being stuck in the same roles and repeating the past over and over.
********************************
I finally read it! Honestly, I blame the lack of hype for this delay. Everyone, including myself, talks about all of Rick's other series but (relatively) so few talk about this one. It made me think that this series wasn't good. And I'd tried to read it a couple of times but didn't immediately get into it, which reaffirmed my belief.
This time, I pushed through. This book follows brother and sister, Carter and Sadie Kane. Carter and his father are off to London to meet Sadie because, after their mother died, their father was only able to get custody of Carter while Sadie went to live with their mom's parents in England. They only meet twice a year and only for a day.
This time, something goes wrong. Their dad, being an Egyptologist, takes them to a museum. There, he does a spell ...and everything goes wrong. Now Carter and Sadie, ages 14 and 12 respectively, who up until then didn't even know magic existed or that they or their father had the ability to perform it, have to find a way to use their powers and save their father from an evil Egyptian god. Thankfully, they have some help along the way, not that it means they're in any less mortal danger.
In true Rick Riordan style, they find themselves in a lot of trouble, with numerous shocking discoveries, plenty of gods and monsters, some allies, and a wealth of individuals who want them dead; all of it with lots of humour and the occasional emotional punch when Uncle Rick decides that, since we like a character, he has to make them suffer.
The book was interesting and fun and exciting. I'm really happy to finally be reading about Egyptian mythology, and in the most entertaining way too, since that's one thing you can always rely on Uncle Rick to do.
One thing that separates this book from Rick's others is that it's told in the form of audio recordings. Carter and Sadie take turns telling us about their adventures. I wasn't sure, initially, if the format would work, but it was really good. The sibling teasing we got from it was a highlight.
Last thing I wanna mention is about Carter. Not many White authors try to write from the perspective of a non-White character, often due to the fear of not doing it right. But Uncle Rick did it. Carter and Sadie's father is Black and Carter looks like him but Sadie resembles their mother, who was White. This gets them some strange looks from people, not to mention the everyday racism that Carter and his father face. The few occurrences of people treating Carter differently because of his race, they were done really well in my opinion. Uncle Rick did his research.
This is a great book with two great protagonist. I'm very interested in finding out what will happen to them next. It does take a little time to really get into the book—at least, it did for me—but you shouldn't let that stop you because, as soon as you get used to the setting, it's all awesome.
It was still great. Plus, I really liked the idea of gods being really powerful but still being stuck in the same roles and repeating the past over and over.
********************************
I finally read it! Honestly, I blame the lack of hype for this delay. Everyone, including myself, talks about all of Rick's other series but (relatively) so few talk about this one. It made me think that this series wasn't good. And I'd tried to read it a couple of times but didn't immediately get into it, which reaffirmed my belief.
This time, I pushed through. This book follows brother and sister, Carter and Sadie Kane. Carter and his father are off to London to meet Sadie because, after their mother died, their father was only able to get custody of Carter while Sadie went to live with their mom's parents in England. They only meet twice a year and only for a day.
This time, something goes wrong. Their dad, being an Egyptologist, takes them to a museum. There, he does a spell ...and everything goes wrong. Now Carter and Sadie, ages 14 and 12 respectively, who up until then didn't even know magic existed or that they or their father had the ability to perform it, have to find a way to use their powers and save their father from an evil Egyptian god. Thankfully, they have some help along the way, not that it means they're in any less mortal danger.
In true Rick Riordan style, they find themselves in a lot of trouble, with numerous shocking discoveries, plenty of gods and monsters, some allies, and a wealth of individuals who want them dead; all of it with lots of humour and the occasional emotional punch when Uncle Rick decides that, since we like a character, he has to make them suffer.
The book was interesting and fun and exciting. I'm really happy to finally be reading about Egyptian mythology, and in the most entertaining way too, since that's one thing you can always rely on Uncle Rick to do.
One thing that separates this book from Rick's others is that it's told in the form of audio recordings. Carter and Sadie take turns telling us about their adventures. I wasn't sure, initially, if the format would work, but it was really good. The sibling teasing we got from it was a highlight.
Last thing I wanna mention is about Carter. Not many White authors try to write from the perspective of a non-White character, often due to the fear of not doing it right. But Uncle Rick did it. Carter and Sadie's father is Black and Carter looks like him but Sadie resembles their mother, who was White. This gets them some strange looks from people, not to mention the everyday racism that Carter and his father face. The few occurrences of people treating Carter differently because of his race, they were done really well in my opinion. Uncle Rick did his research.
This is a great book with two great protagonist. I'm very interested in finding out what will happen to them next. It does take a little time to really get into the book—at least, it did for me—but you shouldn't let that stop you because, as soon as you get used to the setting, it's all awesome.