Kane Chronicles #2: The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan

My name is Carter, and my sister Sadie and I must find and free the Egyptian god Ra or the world will be destroyed! Hmmm... you don't seem surprised by this news. Unfortunately, other magicians from the House of Life are trying to stop us from finding the three parts of the Book of Ra that we need to free the god. Desjardin is supposed to be leading the House of Life, but Vlad Menshikov seems to be influencing him. During a trip with my ba, I discovered Vlad wants to free Apophis and bring Chaos back into the world. I must help Sadie in our quest, but I'm torn and want to rescue Zia. I kind of developed a crush on her shabti, and Sadie would say I've now become obsessed with saving her mortal body. I know we only have two days left to free Ra and rescuing Zia is probably a trap, but I have a sense that saving her is important to completing our quest. And if the mortal Zia ends up loving me too, all the better.

This series of Riordan books is based on Egyptian mythology with a tiny bit of Roman mixed in. The format is very similar to his other books with kids inheriting powers from their ancestors, dealing with godly affairs, with a good dose of adventure and humor thrown in. The story is told through the eyes of Carter and Sadie, and their brother/sister banter is entertaining. Carter is usually the level-headed one, but he lets his heart and emotions guide some decisions in this book. Sadie becomes the sibling more focused on the mission, although her emotions become complicated too. Walt reveals a secret that is a matter of life and death, literally. Carter and Sadie's characters are further complicated by their past connections with the gods Horus and Isis. The gods still occasionally speak to the siblings in their minds, and other characters question their motives and try to stop them. Bes is a dwarf god, and he provides a major comedic element. Without going into great detail, let me just say his major power is being ugly. I'm serious; he uses ugly and a Speedo swimsuit as his weapon. It might help to read The Red Pyramid first, but I don't think it's necessary to enjoy The Throne of Fire on its own.