Quick review

The Red Pyramid

The book is written as a recording made by the Kane siblings, Carter and Sadie. The story begins when Carter Kane and his father, Julius Kane, go to London to visit Sadie, Carter's sister who lives separately from them. Julius takes them to the British Museum to "study" the Rosetta Stone. But he actually has deeper motives and tries to summon Osiris, the Egyptian god of the Underworld by using the stone as an anchor. It goes wrong when all the other four major gods are brought out and Set, the Egyptian god of storms and chaos, imprisons Julius (he is now a host of Osiris) in a coffin.
Carter and Sadie were taken to Brooklyn by their uncle, Amos. He goes to find Set, leaving the two near-stranger siblings alone with a baboon called Khufu. In the library of the Brooklyn mansion, they begin to discover signs that they are descended from famous pharaohs. Julius' side of the family was descended from Narmer while their dead mother, Ruby, had a family originated from Ramesses the Great. The term is blood of the pharaohs.
Just then, the mansion is attacked by serpent leopards,also known as serpopards. Sadie's cat, Muffin, turns out be the cat goddess Bast. She makes quick work of the serpopards but the three are forced to run when the carriers tails them. They go into Manhattan, which Amos had earlier said had other non-Egyptian gods. At the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bast attempts to have them go in the Duat – a magical realm right underneath the mortal realm. But the goddess of scorpions, Serqet, fights Bast and supposedly overpowers her.
In the museum, Carter and Sadie find Zia Rashid. She is the scribe of the First Nome, the main nome of the House of Life, that had magicians trying to protect people and fight gods. Carter develops a massive crush on Zia in the book. Zia combats Serqet and bans her from her host by using the Seven Ribbons of Hathor spell.
Zia takes the two to the First Nome, where Chief Lector Iskandar – the House of Life leader – and Desjardins – the second-in-command – brought up the assumption that they were both hosts of gods. Sadie and Iskander have a talk and the old Chief Lector tells her about the hosts. They were mortals who the gods inhabited so they could leave the Duat and be in the mortal realm.
The next day, the two siblings begin their training. Zia teaches them the concept of casting hieroglyphs to use magic. Carter surprises Sadie and Zia by summoning a combat avatar – it is a magic and Bast used it to fight Serqet – of Horus, the falcon war god. But their training is disrupted when a magician informs Zia that Iskander is dead and Desjardins is next in line for the throne. Sadie creates a portal and they escape to Paris because Desjardins would want to kill them because they are hosts, but not before bringing sphinxes with them. Bast, who is still fine, takes care of them and all of them infiltrate Desjardins' house so they could take a book to fight Set.
At Washington, D.C they are chased by the Set animal, who Carter named Leroy. Carter stays back at the airport to fight it and manages to wound it with his combat avatar. He throws Leroy in his Duat locker-a short opening to the Duat-and manages to catch the airplane to Memphis, Tennessee, where the wisdom god Thoth is.
When they finish Thoth's test, they learn that they were supposed to have a Feather of Truth from the Underworld/Land of the Dead. And they also needed Set's true name, which contained the person's identity and life. Because of Sadie's attraction to Anubis-god of funerals-he gives the Feather of Truth to her. They then continue from New Orleans to Texas, where Carter fights Sobek but is hopelessly outmatched and outclassed even with the combat avatar. Amos saves them but Bast and Sobek are expelled to the Duat.
They go to New Mexico, as Zia wanted Carter there and the earth god Geb told Sadie to. It turns out that Desjardins had known this and a fight occurs. Thanks to Zia's plan, they defeat Sekhmet, the lion goddess of battle, and drive onwards to Arizona. They spot the Red Pyramid, which is Set's main host. When they arrive, Amos collapses and Set reveals he was hosting Amos as well, all along.
Carter merges completely with Horus becomes the eye of the war god. He puts up a good fight but Set's strength grows when dawn approaches and the desert glows. Sadie learns from a dying Zia that Set's secret name is Evil Day. She combines with Isis, the magic goddess inside her, and transports Carter and Sadie along with herself to Washington, D.C. Sadie banishes Set to the Duat, reading the book and using the Feather of Truth along with his secret name.
Just then, Set's servant appears. He is the host of Apophis, the Serpent of Chaos itself. Even though Carter kills the servant, it is Sadie who rubs the picture of the snake in the sky. They come back for Zia, who turns out to be a shabti-a ceramic doll-and urges Carter to find the real Zia Rashid.
They return to Brooklyn House and rebuild the place with magic. Amos leaves for the First Nome to be healed from being possessed by Set. Carter and Sadie are paid a visit by Osiris, who was bonded with their father. They even see the ghost of their mother who was accompanying Julius. The god of the dead gives them his djed amulet to attract other things. The siblings give up Horus and Isis, who vanish away into the Duat but not before preserving a quarter of their power in the amulets Julius had given them a long time ago. Carter and Sadie store the amulets in Carter's Duat locker and put the djed amulet with it. Once kids began to come, they would teach them divine magic or the path of the gods, which involved channeling a god's power. In the end, Carter and Sadie find their father. Julius decides that he would like to stay with his wife; Carter and Sadie now live with their uncle Amos.

The Throne of Fire

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 have not given them much time to master their skills at Brooklyn House, which has become a training ground for young magicians. The other branches of the House of Life are hunting the Kanes down once they left the safety of their branch, the Brooklyn House. And now their most threatening enemy yet—the chaos serpent Apophis—is rising. If they do not prevent him from breaking free in a few days' time, the world will come to an end.
The story begins with Carter and Sadie breaking in to the Brooklyn Museum during a wedding to search for a part of the Book of Ra, which will allow them to wake up Ra to help them imprison or kill Apophis, the lord of chaos. Along with them are Khufu the baboon, and their new trainees, Jaz and Walt. Instead, they find a papyrus scroll that is booby trapped with a series of fire traps. As Carter and Walt distract the demons that are a part of the booby trap, Jaz performs a spell that banishes the demons back to the Duat, but Jaz ends up falling into a coma. Before she does, she manages to hand Sadie a wax statue to heal Carter.
Carter escapes from the museum with the griffin before the police arrive. When they arrive back in the mansion, Carter explains to the new trainees that they must find Ra, the sun god, before Apophis wakes in four days and swallows the sun as well as all of existence. They also find out that to do this, they must find the three scrolls that control the embodiments of Ra, one of them being the scroll that Sadie found in the museum. However, new enemies await, such as Vladimir (Menshikov) who serves Apophis and holds one of the key scrolls in freeing Ra.
Sadie returns to London to celebrate her 13th birthday, but when she arrives, her grandparents have been forced to host Nekhbet, the vulture goddess, and Babi, the baboon god, and hunt down Sadie and her friends, Liz and Emma. While escaping the two gods she has a short conversation with Anubis. There she is given directions as to where she has to go next, a netjeri knife, and a kiss from Anubis. They are then rescued by the dwarf god Bes, who is able to use his extreme ugliness as a weapon. They meet up with Carter and Walt along the way. When Bes opens a portal, he insists for Walt to get out for reasons Sadie and Carter do not know. They teleport to the Eighteenth Nome, in St. Petersburg, Russia, which is Menshikov's home. They get inside Menshikov's headquarters, and find out that he is summoning Set. They get the scroll but are attacked by Menshikov's two-headed snake (tjesu heru). Sadie manages to destroy the snake, but not before it bites Carter. Set tells them the location of the last scroll and also the location of the real Zia, in exchange for his "secret name". After Sadie agrees to give Set back his secret name, she still remembers his secret name, which is "Evil Day", but doesn't know how to use it. After Sadie heals Carter with the statue by using his secret name, Sadie calls on Walt to help he with the scroll, while Bes and Carter go to find Zia.
Carter and Bes find some men to take them to The Place of Red Sands, Zia's birthplace and where she is hidden. Nephthys, who is using Zia as a host, leaves Zia, but Mehsikov and Micheal Desjardins arrive. Carter finds the weapons of Ra, the crook and flail, and uses it to defeat Menshikov, but Menshikov attempts to curse him while Bes is trapped in a cage. Meanwhile, Sadie and Walt arrive at the Valley of the Golden Mummies, meeting a Roman ghost called Appius Claudius Iratus (Mad Claude), who wants them to get the mummies' spirit to the Afterlife, as the rites were not done properly. When they cannot, Mad Claude gets angry and calls on the other mummies to kill them. Sadie manages to find the last scroll, but they get trapped by mummies. Ptah, a god, sends rats to help them and creates a portal to Carter and Bes. The portal destroys Bes' cage, and he scares them away. It turns out Walt is cursed and will die young, which was why Bes sent him away. Menshikov is preparing an army to attack Brooklyn House, so Walt and Zia go back to protect it, while Sadie, Bes, and Carter go into the Duat to free Ra and defeat Apophis.
In the Egyptian version of the underworld, the Duat, there are 12 Houses, each representing an hour of the night. At the Gates of the Fourth House (Can only be entered before 4 O'clock), they find Khnum, the first part of Ra, who has forgotten what his secret name is. Using the Book of Ra, Sadie reads out his secret name, returning his essence to the scroll. They enter the Fourth House. With the help of Tawaret, who has history with Bes, and it takes them four hours to find Ra, who is senile. Ra acts like a madman, throwing ice cream bananas into the air, and talking about weasels and zebras. Because the Eighth House can only be entered at 8 O'clock, they travel to the Seventh House, where Osiris, who is being hosted by their dad, and the ghost of their mom await them. They invite Khonsu, the moon god, who can add more time into the night, but they have to gamble for it. If they lose a round, their identity (Ren) will be consumed. They will have no memories. They have to win 3 rounds of senet. They win the first round, but lose the second, causing Bes' identity to be lost. They win the last two, and with the extra time, they get into the Gates of the Eighth House and travel towards the Twelfth House. Menshikov is there, possessed by Apophis. They get Ra to merge with his last aspect, Khepri the scarab god, but free Apophis (they must in order to get Khepri). Desjarins witnesses this and helps them banish Apophis, but combusts from using too much magic. He warns them that Apophis will return in time.
They return to Brooklyn House and find out that because of the power of Ra, they were able to hold the enemies and win the fight. However, the gods are not happy with them, especially Horus and Isis, because bringing back Ra has caused Horus to lose his throne. Walt is dying in a year unless they can find a cure, which is lost, because Menshikov was the last person to know it. Bes is sitting in the Fourth House, not having any memories, not knowing who and where he is. Apophis will return, and Ra is in no shape to fight him. The House of Life is still trying to crush them, as they think that Desjardins died by the hands of the Kanes, and Amos is the new Chief Lector. In the end, Sadie is left with nothing but a crush on both a person who is about to die, and a 5000 year old god.

The Serpent's Shadow

Carter and Sadie, the main characters, travel to Dallas, Texas the 51st nome, with their initiates, and meet J.D. Grissom, the leader of the nome. They tell him that they need a heavily guarded magic scroll from the king Tut exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art, or his nome will get attacked and destroyed by the forces of Apophis, the chaos snake, who in three days will rise, swallow the sun, and destroy the world. Sadie sees a face in the wall, which tells that they will not understand the scroll and they instead need a golden box. However, the nome is attacked, and the scroll is destroyed. To save everyone from getting killed, Sadie summons Ma'at, repulsing the forces of chaos but almost losing her life. They discover that the entire 51st nome has been destroyed, including all of the magicians. At the 21st nome in Brooklyn, they discover that the box is a shadow box, and it holds the shadow of King Tut.

Horus visits Carter as a pigeon and hints a connection between shadows and statues. Carter suspects that there is a better way to execrate Apophis and decides to consult Thoth. He tells everybody at dinner and Sadie makes him go to their school dance. During the dance, Sadie meets Anubis and he suggests that the sheut is like a computer backup drive, but Shu breaks them up later. Sadie gets an idea about using Bes's sheut to give him back his ren.
The Russian magician they met last year, Leonoid, comes with bad news. Sadie takes him to the First Nome to meet Amos. He tells them that the rebels, led by Sarah Jacobi and Kwai, have teamed up with Apophis. Amos tells Zia and Sadie to visit Bes. Meanwhile, Carter and Walt go visit Thoth. Thoth is being attacked by demons. Walt and Carter repulse them, and Thoth helps them understand who Setne is. They realize they have to visit the Land of the Dead at his trial and persuade Osiris to help them.
When Zia and Sadie are visiting the House of Rest, Sadie realizes that Amos is calling on the Path of Set, who he once hosted. Tawaret tells them where Bes once hid his sheut. Carter, Sadie, Zia, and Walt meet and exchange information. They meet Osiris and persuade him to let Setne go with them. Sadie and Walt go to look for Bes's sheut, while Zia and Carter go with Setne to find The Book of Thoth.
They go to the serapeum of Apis, and later Setne tricks them by giving orders to Bloodstained Blade to kill them. Meanwhile Sadie and Walt visit the goddess Neith, who tells them she will help them if they can survive her hunt till sunset. They survive by using their shen amulets to split up and transfer to each other's side, and then in the end right before sunset Sadie tricks Neith by mesmerizing her with tales of hunting Jelly Babies and etc. Walt uses the rest of his energy to revive Bes's sheut, and then he survives by becoming the host of Anubis.
He realizes Setne's plan and tells Sadie to go help Carter and Zia. Meanwhile they enter the Land of the Demons, and Carter and Zia kiss. Carter realizes that Zia has become the host of Ra. They find the sheut and Setne binds them by turning the glamour charm used to disguise them into binds. Sadie comes to help and they bind Apophis's shadow to the statue. The shadow sends a distress call to all forces of Chaos, and they arrive.
Tawaret arrives with the gods from the Fourth House and saves them. When they return to the mortal world, the Brooklyn House is at the First Nome, helping Amos and the others protect it. Ra is reborn with Zia as his host and is not senile anymore. The other gods come to help them, while Ra gives Carter the pharaoh's throne. He orders the other gods to help. They enter the First Nome to help protect Amos against the rebels. Apophis eats Ra, and then Sadie and Carter execrate his shadow. He regurgitates Ra and dies. Ra and the rest of the gods retreat from the world.
Carter and Sadie go to see their father to report Setne's escape. Their father is just happy that they're alive and succeeded in saving the world. Sadie talks to her mother who asks her to be careful because her gift of prophecy has shown her visions of "other gods" and "rival magic". And their is also the fact that Setne will have to be dealt with sooner or later too.
Carter takes Zia out on a date in the Mall of America. She tells him that she will be staying in Brooklyn House. They share a passionate kiss and start a relationship. Meanwhile, Bes and Tawaret finally get together after many centuries. Walt, now the host of Anubis, dances with Sadie and the pair also have a romantic kiss.
The book ends with an invitation to anyone with pharaoh's blood to join the House of Life. Sadie also mentions having to check out "unexplained magic" in Long Island.
Note; The two girls named Lacy and Drew (in the school dance) are most possibly the Aphrodite demigods from “The Heroes of Olympus” as they mention they both go to a summer camp. This is also mentioned again right at the end of the book as Sadie describes 'rival magicians and gods as close as Long Island', not even counting the fact that Setne is still on the loose too. Which most probably refers to the Greek gods, and by magicians, the demigods at Camp Half-Blood who are using their demigod abilities on almost a daily basis. This is also supported by the fact that in all 3 of the Kane Chronicles, certain similarities are described as to how mortals see magic, as to the fact that the mortal brain perceives magic. In the Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus Series, it's called Mist, and in the Kane Series, their is no name for the effect or Magic, but has much of the same effect, even if no one can control it like Thalia or Jason can. If Rick does end up mixing the two Character sets together, it would be interesting as to how he does it because of all the background of all three Greek, Roman and Egyptian mythologies would have to be thoroughly explained for readers who start with this kind of book without reading the Kane Chronicles, The Heroes of Olympus or the Percy Jackson and the Olympian's.