The
Throne of Fire (Kane Chronicles #2)
by
Rick Riordan
Publication
Date: May 3rd 2011
Publisher:
Hyperion
Source: Bought
Source: Bought
Find
This Book: The Throne of Fire
Rating:
5/5
Rick
Riordan is one of my favorite authors of all time! I honestly wasn’t sure about
my choice of reading The Kane Chronicles because I’m not as into Egyptian
mythology as I am with Greek, but this series is great! I’m sure I’d have
enjoyed the book even more if I was really into Egyptian myth, but Rick
describes the gods/creatures so adeptly that anyone could read and enjoy this
book. It’s a remarkable way to teach kids the culture of ancient Egypt. Grab
their attention with intense action and sassy characters while inserting actual
facts so they learn while also enjoying it.
The fact that the
kids aren’t super-human demigods but magicians descended from the ancient
pharaohs of Egypt is an awesome concept. I don’t think the book would have been
as enjoyable if these kids were similar to the kids of Camp Half-Blood/Camp
Jupiter. Weapons are great and all, but the Hieroglyphs being divine words of
power and creating spells was so cool. That being said, the changes were kind of
weird at first. I mean, OLD magicians, gods traveling as companions,
CELLPHONES. Once I got into the changes The Throne of Fire made for a great book.
Something I don’t understand is how the 21st nome can be in
Brooklyn, and Mt. Olympus and a bunch of demigods can be in Manhattan and they
don’t know about each other and notice when the world is about to end because
of another group of gods. Like how does the mist work on the Egyptians? I mean,
Percy had the sky turned blue to signal to his mom that he was ok. The
Egyptians didn’t see that when they were right there? Or the invisibility spell
on the Greeks? Carter and Sadie could see the fight at the 21st nome
from outside the spell, so if a demigod just happened to be, oh I don’t know,
flying around on his Pegasus, you’re telling me he wouldn’t notice?? Clearly
Carter and Percy have had an interaction and both seen the same monster and the
same for Sadie and Annabeth. Plus Amos said to not go into Manhattan, so there
has to be something going on about all this. What would even happen if they
realized that there were other gods wanting to destroy the world???
Anyway, back on
topic, this book was absolutely hilarious, which is one of the reasons why I
love Rick Riordan’s writing. He can have a completely serious and intense
life-or-death situation and insert the best comic relief. For example, Apophis
is going to break free of his prison and bring chaos to the world and Carter is
grumbling over how Sadie bought him Pikachu pajamas (ADORABLE by the way). The
pop culture references throughout the book are what make this so relatable and
modern. They also make the book a refreshing read. Carter and Sadie have
impressive personalities and their brother-sister relationship was so
relatable. The bickering and teasing weren’t too over-the-top and deep down
they actually care for each other and are the people who know each other best.
Getting to meet new
gods like Bes the Dwarf God, Tawaret protector of childbirth, Ptah the creator,
Khonsu the moon and time. Not going to say why/how they meet them because of
spoilers, but it was all really interesting.
The only thing I
have against this book is Sadie’s age. She turns 13 in this book, yet she acts
extremely mature for her age. It’s hard to remember that she’s only 12/13. I
don’t know about you guys, but I wasn’t kissing two different guys on my 13th
birthday, and I certainly wasn’t setting myself up for a love triangle at that
age either. I guess I wouldn’t be able to read about hot Anubis if it wasn’t
for Sadie’s interest, but still she’s only 13!
All in all, not as
good as PJ&tO or HoO, but it was entertaining and a fun read. Besides,
nothing can really compare to Percy Jackson or Heroes of Olympus. I’m already getting
ready to read The Serpent’s Shadow. I can’t wait!