Book review

I like kids books sometimes, what can I say. Rick Riordan books are typically a fun ride, especially when you're not overly serious about your lore and mythology. I really liked the Percy Jackson series of books (the movie was horrible, but that wasn't Rick's fault!). Since I'm a big fan of Greek lore, I saw the twists and turns coming in the Percy series, not so much in the Kane Chronicles. It's a bit like the Percy series (young teenage Heroes/Demigods and the adventures they go on encountering deities and artifacts, both popular and obscure). Since I'm not as adept at Egyptian lore, I've enjoyed following along, looking up deities when they're mentioned. He oversimplifies a lot of the lore, but that's to be expected, especially for a kid's book.

I like that they don't make out Isis to be all sunshine and lollipops and fairy dust. There is a power hungry dark side to her as well. Again, the whole thing is oversimplified, but still. After reading an email thread tonight about discounting lore about deities that doesn't jive with what you want and only accepting the lore that does, it was refreshing to be reminded of the example of this book: There is always more to the story and some of it won't fit into your current worldview. Thing is, in this book, the view expands instead of the kids sticking fingers in their ears like if they ignore the "bad stuff" will go away.

If you haven't read the Red Pyramid, I highly recommend it for a fun escape. If you have read it, you check out the first chapter of The Throne of Fire here. 

SPOILER ALERT:  I did enjoy the scene where they encounter a Roman burial site in Egypt which had been part of a Roman colony/defense. The mummies were prepared for the Egyptian afterlife, but none of the spells were done to properly send them off.