A Review of The Red Pyramid by Ian

The first time I heard about the Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan was a month after I had finished the Heroes of Olympus series (the sequel series to Percy Jackson & the Olympians). I was a massive Percy Jackson fan (very original opinion I know); it had all the elements to a story I didn’t even know at the time I wanted like a low fantasy setting and being based in mythology. So, when I finished the series and couldn’t find any more Percy Jackson related books to read, I naturally fell into a deep depression as if the book had taken part of my soul with it. And so I did the obvious thing and searched for another book to avoid dealing with my feelings. I looked around a bit and got suggestions from my family until I heard that Rick Riordan had written another series based on Egyptian myths instead of Greek ones. This book sounded interesting enough so I decided to read it.

 

Honestly I don’t remember my first read through of this book too well, which is to be expected because I barely remember anything short of running into a poll from my childhood (or really good books). I believe I liked it to some degree, but not as much as Percy Jackson. Although it did help me get over finishing that series so I can give it that. Therefore I decided to read it again, and it was pretty good. It has a fairly standard premise of kids finding out they are a part of a magical world with a hero’s journey like story, but it also has some interesting nuances with the characters. Said nuances have to do with two siblings, who happen to be the protagonists: Carter and Sadie. Carter and Sadie were separated pretty young when their mother died and her parents got custody over Sadie, while Carter on the other hand had to live with his dad, who is constantly flying all over the world for his job. They only see each other twice a year, so they end up with a very incomplete understanding of each other, until they are thrust on a journey to save the world where they finally get time to get to know each other. The book is also heavily inspired by Egyptian mythology (as stated earlier) and has interesting connections to the myths.

 

As I’ve already stated, overall I definitely enjoyed this book. I wouldn’t say I enjoyed it as much as Rick Riordan’s other works as while I enjoy the mythology, I liked it more in his other books, along with the decent but not perfect characters making some parts a bit slow. I did like most of the cast of characters and their interactions such as the cat goddess Bast, and the jabs Carter and Sadie take at each other. The stakes also felt real and the build up to the final battle was pretty fun, along with offering a lot of tension. Although this may not be my favorite book ever it is still a solid book and I’m glad I read it!