The Throne of Fire: Hieroglyphic Heroes

Rick Riordan, one of my all-time favorite authors, just recently released The Throne of Fire, the second book in his Egyptian mythology series, The Kane Chronicles. In 2005, Riordan, once an adult mystery author, released his first novel for middle readers and young adults, The Lightning Thief. This Greek mythology adventure mystery novel spawned the widely popular Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. Upon ending Percy Jackson’s story in 2009, Riordan created two new series, another one about Greek mythology and one about Egyptian mythology. Despite taking different directions and adding new characters to his more recent books, Riordan’s books remain the best of the best, garnering many accolades and number one positions on bestseller lists. His previous books have been called “clever”, “adventurous”, and “witty”. The Throne of Fire lives up to the level of greatness that its predecessors created.

A warning to all: Spoilers from The Red Pyramid, the book before The Throne of Fire, are present in this review. Proceed with caution.

The Throne of Fire started off with a bang. Taking place a few weeks after the end of The Red Pyramid, Carter and Sadie, the book’s sibling protagonists, find themselves in the Brooklyn Museum, scouring for a scroll, a piece of The Book of Ra. Ra, the sun god, has been in hibernation for centuries, but Sadie and Carter want to attempt to bring him back to Earth using the powers that they have as Egyptian magicians. The siblings believe that bringing Ra, the original Egyptian god, back will allow them to defeat Apophis, an evil snake spirit that wants to swallow the world. Sounds like Carter and Sadie are saving the world, right? That’s not what some people think.

The majority of the other magicians think that bringing gods into the mix will only worsen the world’s problems. They believe that the gods are manipulative, greedy, and too powerful. It sounds like they’re trying to do what’s best too, right? No. The magicians, especially the powerful ones, are evil, forceful, antagonizing people who try to stop Carter and Sadie from retrieving the remaining two pieces of The Book of Ra, the book that will revive Ra. With the ever-present threat of Apophis and evil magicians looming over them, the sibling duo travels the world in search of the rest of The Book of Ra. Along the way, they encounter a few friendly gods, many menacing gods, water demons, evil ice cream men, and, of course, a giant baboon.

Told from two witty and fascinating point-of-views, The Throne of Fire is spot-on. Just like, The Red Pyramid, The Throne of Fire is an audio transcript from a cassette given to the author by the main characters. This book is a daring, mysterious, humorous experience. Its magical spells and memorable characters will stay with you long past the final page. You will be dazzled by its rich setting and lyrical descriptions. Rick Riordan is the ultimate author and his novels are the ultimate stories. 

Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars