Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Book Shelf: The Throne of Fire (Kane Chronicles #2) by Rick Riordan




Ever since the gods of Ancient Egypt were unleashed in the modern world, Carter Kane and his sister Sadie have been in trouble. As descendants of the House of Life, the Kanes have some powers at their command, but the devious gods haven't given them much time to master their skills at Brooklyn House, which has become a training ground for young magicians.

And now their most threatening enemy yet - the chaos snake Apophis - is rising. If they don't prevent him from breaking free in a few days' time, the world will come to an end. In other words, it's a typical week for the Kane family.

To have any chance of battling the Forces of Chaos, the Kanes must revive the sun god Ra. But that would be a feat more powerful than any magician has ever accomplished.

First they have to search the world for the three sections of the Book of Ra, then they have to learn how to chant its spells. Oh, and did we mention that no one knows where Ra is exactly?

Narrated in two different wisecracking voices, featuring a large cast of new and unforgettable characters, and with adventures spanning the globe, this second installment in the Kane Chronicles is nothing short of a thrill ride.

Blurb from Goodreads.....


Review: (Warning, contains spoilers)


This book was wonderful. I’m always entranced by Rick Riordan’s work. I adored Percy Jackson, and I always will, but I think it’s possible that if this series continues to way it is, I may end up liking it more. Both books in this series have been brilliant and Riordan knows exactly what he’s doing. One of the things I love about Riordan’s writing is how he adds in little sentences that let you know something crazy is going to happen like, “It started when we set Brooklyn on fire" or “Should I describe Waterloo Station as it was before or after we destroyed it?"--things like that are just brilliant and you know you’re going to get a fabulous tale from the very beginning.
This book was a fast paced, never ending ride of awesome the entire way through (yeah, yeah, tacky but sue me). It was action packed and fun, with the perfect blend of friendship, humour and romance to draw you in and captivate you the entire way through.

It was great to see all the wonderful characters from the first book back, along with some new inclusions. Bes, Walt, Jaz were all excellent additions to a cast of characters that I love already. Carter and Sadie continue to be fabulous main characters and I love following them on their journeys. I feel like they’re both really growing as characters, especially Sadie, who is really beginning to shine and I find it adorable to watch her face her boy troubles just like every other teenager while trying to save the world. Then again, most teenagers don’t have the choice between a boy who’s dying and a god. Still Sadie is hanging in there and managing to lean things as she goes.
I admit that I don't have the same love for Carter as I do for Sadie. He's not quite as interesting and at times can be bland, but he's beginning to take shape too and I like character growth. I feel sorry for him with how the Zia situation turned out and I’m hoping to see things resolved as the series progresses.
Although I missed seeing Bast in this book, but I thought Bes was a terrific replacement. He was gross and grumpy and kind and funny and just a great guy. It was nice to have the dwarf god in the story and I’d love to see more of him, depending on whether or not Carter and Sadie can return him to his former glory that is.

The battle scenes within this book were many, and the fight scenes between Carter, Sadie and Apophis/ Vlad were interesting. I almost feel sorry for our two heroes. They went through so much and it almost seems like they didn’t gain anything. Desjardins is dead, Apophis is in the abyss (although it’s pretty obvious he’ll claw his way out sometime soon) and Amos is the new Chief Lector. Ra is still, well, senile and Zia apparently has some big destiny that we all know nothing about....things sure are exciting!
I’m looking forward to the next book in this series, although I have no idea when it will be released. Can’t wait regardless.


Rating: **** stars
Recommend: Yes!
Did I Buy, Borrow or is it an ARC: Bought
Recommend Buy or Borrow: Buy
Ebook or Actual Book: Actual Book
Cover: I actually don't mind the blue cover we got Down Under--it's nice.
Read sequel/continue with series: Yes.....

Buy it here:

buy the book from The Book Depository, free delivery

3 comments:

  1. Great review! Thanks for sharing! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I really want to read your review but I haven't read it yet and I don't wanna read any spoilers! I'll come back after I read it! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Honey =)
    Yeah. Lol. Sorry about that. I find it darn near impossible to write a review without spoilers. Mainly because I'm just so excited about how good a book it was!

    ReplyDelete

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