Review- The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan

Title: The Red Pyramid
Series: Kane Chronicle's 
Author: Rick Riordan
Published: May 4th 2010
Book 1 

The Red Pyramid is a novel which also consists of God's like the Percy Jackson Series (another series by Riordan), however, the God's are of Egyptian origins rather than Greek. The novel revolves around siblings Sadie and Carter Kane and begins when their father accidently releases five major God's and Goddesses from their "prisons" when he only intended to release one. Releasing the God's are illegal and punishable by death from the organisation called The House of Life (you'll understand more once you read it). The God's are blamed for plunging the world into chaos at one stage and were imprisoned because they were considered unstable and drunk with their own power. 

Anyway, continuing on, once Sadie and Carter's dad release the God's/Goddesses, they become hosts for them, which means that the God's can use their body. One of the God's, named Set, is the evil one and he took his chance to escape and try to reduce the world to nothingness then rebuild it in the form of his empire. Sadie and Carter learn that they are magicians on the way and that they must use their abilities to stop Set and save the world. It turns out that Sadie is hosting the Goddess Isis and Carter is hosting Horus. Along their quest, they endure many challenging obstacles which all take time, and time is not a luxury that they have.

What I absolutely love about this novel is how unique the magic is expressed throughout the book. Weapons like staffs and wands are used (which you may think is general), however, wax figurines, amulets and a number of other essential items are used to make the plot more interesting and appealing to readers. These items and weapons can be modified to the magicians needs. For e.g. the staffs can transform into animals and attack something or someone or they can just be used to emit the magicians spell. Riordan has great ideas put into this which are mostly new and haven't been used before. 

I also liked Riordan's use of hieroglyphs throughout the story line. The hieroglyphs are also part of the way magic is used and they are also used for writing and so on. I may of also mentioned in another review that in many books the characters are like machines and never run out of energy. In Riordan's book, he expresses how exhausted the characters are feeling once they have used too much magic or if they have over extended themselves physically. 

What I didn't really like in the novel was that the characters weren't described in detail. They were brief descriptions of how the character looked and in times of emotion, one sentence was used to describe the basic feeling. Riordan is more focused to the story line, which is great, but the characters are what makes the story line more interesting and effective on readers. The characters are described extremely well in times of combat when they are using magic, however, in other more important parts, as I said before, the descriptions are quite bland. 

Overall, I gave the book a major “thumbs up” and it had many twists and details that left readers entranced within the world of Sadie and Carter.

Rated: 4/5

Review- The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

Title: The Lost Hero
Series: Heroes of Olympus
Author: Rick Riordan
Published: October 12th 2010
Book 1
I must begin by saying that after I read the Percy Jackson series (the prequel to Heroes of Olympus), I knew that this series was going to be magnificent. As soon as I opened the book and I was a chapter into it, the novel consisted of action, heroics and twists at the very start. The story begins with the memory loss of a teenager named Jason Grace. He finds himself in an unknown life with strange people surrounding him who are supposedly his friends. On a school excursion, he and his friends are attacked by storm spirits called venti. Jason discovers that he is a half-blood after the attack is over. Later along in the book, it is evident, during quests which involve Queen Hera, that Jason is a Roman hero stuck in the life of a Greek hero. He unlocks more of his memory as the novel continues.

As soon as I picked the book up, it was difficult to put down again because of how enticing it is to be in another world of Greek/Roman mythology. It is thrilling to say that Riordan pulled off a novel that has many cohesive characteristics such as action, twists, cliffhangers and more! I advise all people to read this novel if they haven't already. 

What I especially adored about this novel was that Riordan gave each of the characters a unique and rare ability which is discovered and develops throughout the novel. It makes the character connect with readers which leads to more thrills. I also liked moments when the trio on a quest feels down and has a loss of determination, it is always Piper that brings them together again with a new surge of willpower.

Leo, Piper and Jason grow closer to each other on their quest to save the captured God/Goddess (to be revealed in the book). However, if they fail there will be severe consequences involving the ancient creation Goddess and her malevolent minions. Leo has a secret, Piper has the most unanticipated God for a parent and Jason's past is revealed, including where he was from and who the "Lost Hero" is.

The Heroes of Olympus series is much more detailed and interesting than the Percy Jackson series even though Percy Jackson is the prequel to Heroes of Olympus. It was difficult to jump from first person in Percy Jackson to third person in Heroes of Olympus as they are both two entirely different contexts. However, I got used to third person and I must admit I liked it even better as it explains what is happening from different perspectives for each of the protagonists. There are many new ancient Greek antagonists in the novel which are revealed throughout the journey. With this comes new protagonists who have the power and strength to overcome anything standing in their way, some at a loss, and some so simple without any injury or discomfort. 

Overall this is a "top 5" read in my opinion which has no minor or major faults. However, I should warn you that once this book has been picked up it will be near impossible to put down again!

Rated: 5/5