FROM THYSHELF - Read Like an Egyptian (The Kane Chronicles)

As promised, I will be reviewing a book, a series actually. See, I have been writing a lot of drafts for the blog but haven't had time or energy or motivation to finish them. But, since I will start work soon, I doubt I will have time once I started so I am finishing them now. Anyway, here it is, The Kane Chronicles.

The Kane Chronicles

The Kane Chronicles is the story about two teenagers, Carter and Sadie Kane. They are brother and sister who grew up apart because of their ancestry. Their parents are both magicians. not the Carnival or stage magician but Egyptians since both their parents are descendants of pharaohs making Carter and Sadie very powerful magicians.  The Kane Chronicles are recordings both done by the two to record the events that transpired in their life as magicians and how they saved the House of life. The Kane Chronicles is full of Egyptian mythology much like how the Percy Jackson series and Heroes of Olympus series.

Book 1: The Red Pyramid

The series started with Carter and Sadie Kane knowing about their powers ever since they saw their father trapped in an ancient sarcophagus. They soon found out that their father unleashed ancient gods of Egypt and set loose the god of evil, Set. They were took by an uncle they barely knew and they must try to learnt he path of the gods since two of the most powerful gods (Horus and Isis) that were unleashed by their father chose them as hosts.  Now, the two Kanes must unite to bring back their father and stop the evil god.

Book 2: The Throne of Fire

The Kanes have started to gather initiates to follow the path of the gods. That is to learn magic through an Egyptian god or based from the power of a specific god which is illegal for the House of life. Now that they know what threatens the House of Life, they hatch a plan to stop it. That is awakening the sun god Ra. Ra was the first divine pharaoh of Egypt and the Kanes need his help in defeating Chaos (Apophis). They must awaken Ra and stop Apophis from  swallowing the sun god before other magicians catch up to them.

Book 3: The Serpent's Shadow

The Serpent's Shadow is the conclusion to the series. Here, the Kanes are thinking of different plans on how to defeat Apophis. Apophis has risen and now is unleashing his powers. The Kanes are desperate to try all methods to stop Apophis and to save the House of Life. They seek help from a ghost magician who turns out to be a traitor. Their plan of awakening Ra did not go entirely as planned. Also, they are doing the best they can to learn magic to help a friend who sacrificed a lot for the Kanes. Knowing that the spell to save their friend might also the way in defeating Chaos and restoring order in their world. 

Here are some of the Characters in the story:

Carter Kane - brother of Sadie and son of Julius and Ruby Kane. Carter grew up with his father, an archaeologist. Carter knew most about Egypt since he grew up with his Dad. Carter was home schooled and since his father had to be in different places, he doesn't have many friends. Carter became the host for the god Horus. A falcon god who was the son of Isis and Osiris.

Sadie Kane - Sister of Carter and daughter of Julius and Ruby Kane. Sadie grew up with their maternal grandparents, The Fausts, in London. Sadie who is very outspoken and spunky also has a pet cat named Muffin, who is actually the cat goddess, Bast. When her father unleashed the five gods, Sadie became the host of the goddess Isis, sharing her thoughts and her powers.

Julius Kane - An archaeologist by profession but is really a magician of the House of Life. However, the House of Life does not trust him since Dr. Kane tries to follow the path of the gods, a path forbidden by the house due to the problems it may bring. However, due to a prophecy that his wife sees, they try to release the cat goddess, Bast, from fighting with Apophis and pushing Apophis further into the duat, killing his wife in the process. Julius tried to correct what they had done but unleashes the five gods, making him the host of Osiris, lord of the dead.

Ruby Kane - Also a magician and a seer, she foresaw what will happen to the cat goddess and Chaos that is why she and her husband tried to prevent it. However, this resulted to her death.

Bast - the cat goddess. Bast was Ra's most trusted ally. However, when Ra retired to give way to Osiris as pharaoh, Bast was instructed to fight with Apophis forever. Ruby Kane saw a vision that Bast will be defeated and Apophis will rise. Ruby Kane died in saving Bast from the prison and keeping Apophis inside. Bast, out of guilt, promised to keep the Kane children safe and to take care of them.

Amos Kane - Brother of Julius Kane and leader of the Fifty first nome in Brooklyn. Amos Kane took care of Sadie and Carter after their father had disappeared. When the five gods were released, Amos became the host of Set. Set released Amos but the other magicians were not convinced he was rid off the evil god. Amos, being the second most powerful magician, became the Chief lector when the former one died to delay the rise of Apophis.

Zia Rashid - a magician of the first nome in Egypt. Zia was also at the museum when the five gods were released. The river goddess Nepthys inhabited Zia's body. Carter had strong feelings for Zia but it turns out that the Zia he met was actually a shabti, or a clay model. The real Zia was locked by the Chief lector Iskandar to protect her because he saw a vision about Zia's future.  Zia's hometown was destroyed with Apophis when she was young. When the lord Ra was awaken, he liked Zia to take care of him. Carter and Sadie knew that Zia is meant to play a great role though they did not knew what that would be.


Walt Stone - Walt was one of the first initiates of Carter and Sadie. Walt was an excellent charm maker or a  Sau. Sadie had a crush on Walt although Walt was very distant. Walt was descended from King Tutankhamen, the young king who died at an early age. I turns out that that Tutankhamen bears a curse. A curse that will passed down to his descendants. This made Walt very cautious in using his powers. Walt used charms and amulets because it allowed him to store magic and not aggravate his condition.

Anubis - Anubis was god of death. Anubis was the son of Nepthys and Set. When Anubis was born, Nepthys gave him to Osiris. Nepthys does not want Anubis to meet his father. In the book, Anubis appeared to Sadie as a sixteen year old boy whom Sadie is attracted to. Anubis often help Sadie because he said Isis was always nice to him and treated him as his own son.

Horus - He is known as Horus the Avenger because he avenged his father's death. Osiris was killed by Set to usurped the throne. Horus snatched the throne back from Set and became the pharaoh. Carter became the host for Horus and in return Horus was able to share his strength and power to Carter when he needs to. Although they do not share the same goals, Horus and Carter worked together to defeat Apophis.

Isis – Isis was the mother of Horus and wife of Osiris.  When Set sliced Osiris into pieces, Isis and Nepthys worked together to find all pieces and Anubis bound it. However, Isis was not able to bring back her husband making Osiris an undead god. Isis was also the reason why Ra retreated into the heavens. She used Ra’s secret name to heal Ra and force him to give his throne to Horus. Isis used Sadie Kane as her host, giving Sadie strong magician powers since Isis was also a magician. Though they share one mind, Sadie is not as ambitious and selfish as Isis. 


I just finished reading the last book a week ago and here is what I thought about it:



The Kane Chronicles is a lot like the Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus series. Of course, as they were all written by the same author, Rick Riordan, it will really have similarities. The Kane chronicles reference to Egyptian mythology was very accurate and believable.  There were a lot of heiroglyphs and Egyptian rituals and traditions mentioned throughout the series.Now you might say whom am to verify such references, but I did with research. I know internet is a sketchy source but after thorough reading,yes I do believe his facts.

Also, what I like about the Kane Chronicles is that it wasn't too long. I do love to read but if there were ,let's say, 7 or more books in the series, my head would have exploded from all the information. The culture of Egypt is so vast and widespread that three books is not enough to cover it all. It was nice that the focus is one aspect in the mythology.His main issue in the Kane Chronicles is the rise of Chaos against Ra. Same as what he did in the Percy Jackson series. Now I do not have problems with long series such as The Spiderwick Chronicles or the Harry Potter series (I am a certified POTTERHEAD), but the Kane Chronicles deals with facts about Egypt and its culture. I think if all of it will be transcribed in the book, it would be a lot to digest.


My rating for this series: 5 stars ☆☆☆☆☆