Red Pyramid : Ancient Egyptian Magic Brings Out a New Exciting Adventure

Red Pyramid By Rick Riordan

Did I ever mention I love the Percy Jackson series? I think it might have came up a few times as I made multiple references in my smoothie reviews as well as left positive reviews for all five books. Well I do. So when I heard Rick Riordan was starting a new series. A trilogy set in a brand new mythology all together I was excited. So I went out and bought a copy of the first book in the Kane trilogy called “The Red Pyramid.”

So what is it about? It is a epic fantasy set in deep in ancient Egyptian mythology. It starts off with a broken family. The mother is dead as the siblings are separated by a legal battle after her death. Carter is in the custody of his father, who is a Egyptologist which means the two travel all over the world always on the road. Then his sister Sadie is under the custody of her grandparents in London living a very normal life. They have very different up bringing as well as being complete strangers.

Anyways Julius (their father) and Carter only have visitation rights twice a year. And one of the days is Christmas eve. As they spend the day together, Julius takes them to the museum. There he seems edgy and once inside they witness him performing a spell just as a great explosion happens, releasing Egyptian gods that have been locked away for thousands of years.

As this happens Sadie and Carter are thrown into a world of ancient Egyptian magic. The god of chaos Set is building great red pyramid that will on completion will give him power to rule the world. There is a secret order of Egyptian magicians called the first nome seems to welcome them at first but once discovering that they may have strong Pharaoh blood that can host gods, they are labeled as enemies. Julius is taken by Set locked away and buried in a coffin. Also gods beside Set are trying to possess the siblings. So as they run from everything, they find that they must defeat Set to stop everything. The only ally they have with them is a cat goddess Bast, who promised their father that she would watch over them. Wow a lot to explain there. But hopefully it made sense to you.

So the good and bad? Well start with the bad. There was nothing terribly bad, but there was enough to bother a reader a bit. The problem being this focused on Egyptian mythology. And it seemed it took every long time to explain this world. Gods were talked about many times, but seem to take the longest explain how the hosts worked. There seemed to be lacking explanations of what the demons were. Were they existing inside hosts as well? I’m still not sure. There’s another dimension where gods thrive, a sort of spirit world called the Duat. And then when channeling god, such as Horus, the host can control this nine foot giant puppet form of the god. Nothing terrible here. Lots of good ideas, but it’s a rough first say 170 pages explaining until it actually made sense to the reader. This seems so strange to say as he did the same in the original Percy Jackson much more quickly, but then again maybe Greek mythology is easier because the general audience is exposed to that world so much more. The next thing. I have to say is a major side character is a baboon. And baboons are, have you seen them? They are gross. It’s the last animal I would want with me on a adventure.

Now the good? Despite its bumpy start, once the mythology was all laid out I got into it. It echoes some things form Percy Jackson, but it is in no way the same book. It had new rules, new villains and new fun characters. The author even went far out of his way to make them not resemble characters from the first series in the least which is great. Action is paced perfectly. It jumped back and forth between Sadie and Carter giving the alternation chapters very interesting perspectives.

Overall, in the end it fun. It delivers the exciting adventure it promises and does live up to the author reputation. The only thing that holds it back is the bumpy start.

Overall Rating : Ancient Egyptian Magic Brings Out a New Exciting Adventure

3 ½ Smoothie out of Four

P.S. If you like books then check out my book and ebook website Lelue’s Realm. Google it or go directly to http://www.freewebs.com/lelue/

The Curse Maker : Makes Something Old Seem Fresh Again

The Curse Maker By Laurell K Hamilton Smoothie Review

Back to the short stories. Between long novels it’s good to read one or two. So I decided to continue with a tale from Laurell K Hamilton’s Strange Candy collection called the Curse Maker.

So what is it? It is a story set in a medieval sort of fantasy world. It focuses on a warrior Sidra, her mentor and sorcerer Gannon to help a dear friend who is dying from the death curse. It follows them as they put together clues to find the curse marker who can lift the curse.

So the good? Despite the fact it is set in a dangerous and dragons set of world, it doesn’t feel like it. It’s not convoluted with dozens of new terms to remember. Also it is a crime story. Nothing epic. The simplicity in fact is what makes it so enjoyable and accessible to other readers who are not die hard fans of the genre. The characters are fun, and the imagination is brilliant. Instead of pulling out the old fashioned trolls, dragons, or elves she went with a evil sword that likes to drink blood. It is portrayal in a very creepy fashion.

The bad? It is not action based. The climax feels like its leading to another part of the story when there isn’t one. So it does leave the reader at a cliff hanger wondering what will happen next rather than a true conclusion. And also I wanted to know so much more about this world. The detail is so minimal in this piece.

Overall it interesting. If you have the collection it’s worth reading this one. If you got it for a dollar in ebook format, I don’t think that is disappointing either. Beyond that, you might want to question whether it is worth sinking money into this individual story. It is in no way a must read. Just a very mediocre fun story.

Overall Rating: Makes something Old Seem Fresh Again

2 smoothie out of four

P.S. If you like books then check out my book and ebook website Lelue’s Realm. Google it or go directly to http://www.freewebs.com/lelue/