Status Updates From The Red Pyramid (The Kane C...

We only have a few hours, so listen carefully. If you're hearing this story, you're already in danger. Sadie and I might be your only chance.

The book is STRONGLY hinting that defeating Set is not the be all and end all of the Kane children—that they will have to work together with Set alongside the rest of the pantheon to overcome the primordial Apophis. I’m not as familiar with Egyptian mythology as I am with Greek, but this tracks in my mind with what I vaguely recall (and is thematically aligned with the ending of PJ5).

Carter’s most interesting character beat is a question of race. He has his own idea of what it means to be of African descent as it was taught to him by his father and how he has experienced it while traveling, coming to a bit of a head with the airline security officer. It’s a facet of POV that is absent in Sadie’s narration. She talks about mixed-race a little, but only as a list of things that other her.

Now that we are getting into the Gods inhabiting individuals (like Horus and Isis) we are getting more into the meat of the setting. I like that the book throws out Desjardin as a red herring when the whole “family” dynamic and messy replaying of conflicts all but ensure that Amos is going to be the avatar of Set. Also not sure what Bast’s deal is. I’m sure that there are a lot of “rules” to come.

Spend 50 pages or so around the first Nome, Iskander dies, and it’s predictably unsafe with Clearly Bad Guy Desjardin looking to kill the Kane kids. Also, now Zia is an ordered enemy. Yawn. Part of the strength of Harry Potter is in being able to marinate in the setting. The thrill ride pacing of Riordan books has its perks but it’s not satisfying in the same way.