The Red Pyramid begins a new series by Rick Riordan -- the author of the now complete Percy Jackson series. The story's first-person POV alternates between Sadie and Carter Zane, siblings who have been living apart since their mother's death six years ago -- Sadie with her maternal grandparents in London and Carter traveling the world with his archaeologist father. Each sibling is somewhat envious of the other's life.
On Christmas Eve, Carter and his father, Julius, arrive in London for one of their twice-a-year visits with Sadie. When a trip to the British Museum goes terribly, horribly wrong (think exploding Rosetta Stone and disappearing father) Sadie and Carter are thrust into an adventure that spans three continents and teaches them much about their heritage while they struggle to save their father, figure out who they can trust, and come to terms with their own powers.
What kept me coming back to the Percy Jackson series, in spite of the fact that its target audience is 4th grade boys (I'm a 34 year old woman) was the humor. Somehow the brand of humor Riordan uses in the series is just my style. I didn't feel the same connection with the humor in The Red Pyramid and I'm not sure why.
Throughout the book I found myself flipping back because there was something I didn't remember or missed the first time. I'm not sure if this was due to my lack of knowledge about Egyptian gods and history, the distractions in my life, or actual flaws in the narrative. At one point Carter and Sadie are told that no one can cross a certain bridge without meeting a challenge and that the challenge is different for each person. And yet, in the following pages, only Carter is challenged and the rest of their party just sort of follows in his wake. I'm not sure if I just missed something here or if it is a true inconsistency.
While unrelated to the main plotline, I appreciated the way that Riordan incorporates Carter's experiences as a dark-skinned youth into the book in a very natural way -- experiences such as being carefully watched by shopkeepers and police officers and being told that he needs to always be just that much more neatly dressed in order to prove himself. Opening up this subject for discussion is always a positive thing, in my opinion.
My favorite turn of phrase? When Carter is describing the rarity of an equal partnership between a god and a human he says it's "like the one time when the coin doesn't land heads or tails, but stands on its edge, perfectly balance" (p.457 in the hardcover).
Riordan does a good job of putting in little details to remind us that Sadie and Carter have spent the last six years in very different places -- British terminology, Carter's lack of friends his own age, etc. I also appreciated a few twists at the end -- a showing of mercy, a stunt double, the return of . . . well, I should probably leave that for you to find out. :)
Here's another review -- I waited to read it til I was finished with mine.
Would kids like it as much? I liked the Percy Jacksons, but not at the exalted levels of my eleven year old. He'll put up with less depth in the interest of fast-moving plot.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good question. I think that they would like it as much at the Percy Jackson series... I wonder what they would make of the shared narration (by both Carter and Sadie)
ReplyDelete