''The Kane Chronicles'' is a
trilogy
A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games, and are less common in other art forms. Three-part wor ...
of
adventure
An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...
and
Egyptian
Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt.
Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to:
Nations and ethnic groups
* Egyptians, a national group in North Africa
** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...
mythological fiction books written by American author
Rick Riordan
Richard Russell Riordan Junior (; born June 5, 1964) is an American author, best known for writing the ''Percy Jackson & the Olympians'' series. Riordan's books have been translated into forty-two languages and sold more than thirty million co ...
. The series is set in the same universe as Riordan's other franchises, ''
Camp Half-Blood Chronicles
''Camp Half-Blood Chronicles'' is a media franchise created by author Rick Riordan, encompassing three five-part novel series, two short-story collections, two myth anthology books, a stand-alone short story, three crossover short stories, an es ...
'' and ''
Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard
''Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard'' is a trilogy of fantasy novels written by American author Rick Riordan with the subject of Norse mythology and published by Disney- Hyperion. It is based on Norse mythology and is set in the same unive ...
''.
The novels are narrated alternately in
first-person by the two protagonists, siblings
Carter
Carter(s), or Carter's, Tha Carter, or The Carter(s), may refer to:
Geography United States
* Carter, Arkansas, an unincorporated community
* Carter, Mississippi, an unincorporated community
* Carter, Montana, a census-designated place
* Carter, ...
and
Sadie Kane. The siblings are powerful
magicians
Magician or The Magician may refer to:
Performers
* A practitioner of magic (supernatural)
* A practitioner of magic (illusion)
* Magician (fantasy), a character in a fictional fantasy context
Entertainment
Books
* ''The Magician'', an 18th-ce ...
descended from the two
pharaoh
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: ''pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the an ...
s
Narmer
Narmer ( egy, Wiktionary:nꜥr-mr, nꜥr-mr, meaning "painful catfish," "stinging catfish," "harsh catfish," or "fierce catfish;" ) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Early Dynastic Period (Egypt), Early Dynastic Period. He was the successor ...
and
Ramses the Great
Ramesses II ( egy, wikt:rꜥ-ms-sw, rꜥ-ms-sw ''Rīʿa-məsī-sū'', , meaning "Ra is the one who bore him"; ), commonly known as Ramesses the Great, was the third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Along with Thutmose III he is oft ...
. They and their friends are forced to contend with
Egyptian gods and goddesses who still interact with the modern world.
Origins
Author Rick Riordan, a former
middle-school social studies teacher, stated that the idea for ''The Kane Chronicles'' came from his realization that the only ancient history subject more popular than
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...
was
Ancient Egypt.
Riordan had already written and published several books in the ''
Percy Jackson & the Olympians
''Percy Jackson & the Olympians'' is a series of five fantasy novels written by American author Rick Riordan, and the first book series in the '' Camp Half-Blood Chronicles''. The novels are set in a world with the Greek gods in the 21st centu ...
'' series, which dealt with the interaction between
Greek mythology
A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...
and the modern world. The idea of having two
multiracial
Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethn ...
siblings narrate the books also came from his experience as a teacher. Carter and Sadie Kane, the titular characters, were inspired by two siblings that he taught, as well as the fact that Ancient Egypt was a multicultural society.
He believes putting Egypt back into the realm of African history is important.
Novel series
Sections entitled "Author's Notes" at the beginning and end of books in the series explain to readers that the story is a transcript of audiotapes Rick Riordan received from Carter and Sadie Kane.
The story takes place in the same universe as the
Camp Half-Blood chronicles
''Camp Half-Blood Chronicles'' is a media franchise created by author Rick Riordan, encompassing three five-part novel series, two short-story collections, two myth anthology books, a stand-alone short story, three crossover short stories, an es ...
and ''
Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard
''Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard'' is a trilogy of fantasy novels written by American author Rick Riordan with the subject of Norse mythology and published by Disney- Hyperion. It is based on Norse mythology and is set in the same unive ...
'' and several references are made to the other books. In the three main novels, only two characters -
Drew Tanaka and
Lacy from camp half-blood children of Aphrodite - cross over between novel series.
''The Red Pyramid''
The first book in the series, ''The Red Pyramid'', was released on May 4, 2010. The story is told as a transcription of a recording made by Sadie and Carter Kane, detailing the rise of the Egyptian gods in the modern world.
After a mysterious accident in a museum leaves their
egyptologist
Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , '' -logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious ...
father
A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...
missing, siblings
Carter
Carter(s), or Carter's, Tha Carter, or The Carter(s), may refer to:
Geography United States
* Carter, Arkansas, an unincorporated community
* Carter, Mississippi, an unincorporated community
* Carter, Montana, a census-designated place
* Carter, ...
and
Sadie Kane are taken in by their uncle
Amos
Amos or AMOS may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Amos Records, an independent record label established in Los Angeles, California, in 1968
* Amos (band), an American Christian rock band
* ''Amos'' (album), an album by Michael Ray
* ''Amos' ...
and introduced to their family's long and proud tradition of magic. The duo discovers that they have been chosen as "hosts" by the
gods
A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greater ...
Horus
Horus or Heru, Hor, Har in Ancient Egyptian, is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities who served many functions, most notably as god of kingship and the sky. He was worshipped from at least the late prehistoric Egypt until the P ...
and
Isis
Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingd ...
, respectively, and are hunted by the House of Life, the world's governing body of Egyptian magicians. They are being hunted by the house of life as they have forbidden magicians to follow the path of the gods. In egyptian the house of life translates to per ankh. As a result. Carter and Sadie learn that the god
Set
Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to:
Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics
*Set (mathematics), a collection of elements
*Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively
Electro ...
plans to destroy the
North American continent
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
using their father's power, and they embark on a quest to save him and prove their innocence and good intentions to the House. While on their quest, they learn that a greater threat is rising:
Apophis.
''The Throne of Fire''
The second book in the series, ''The Throne of Fire'', was released on May 4, 2011. The book takes place roughly three months after the events of the first book, ''
The Red Pyramid
''The Red Pyramid'' is a 2010 Fantasy literature, fantasy-adventure novel based on Egyptian mythology written by Rick Riordan. It is the first novel in ''The Kane Chronicles'' series. The novel was first published in the United States on May 4 ...
''.
Carter and Sadie Kane have recruited several students to follow the path of the gods, but are still fugitives from the House of Life. The young magicians secretly plan to find the long-lost king of the gods,
Ra, hoping he will help them fight
Apophis, a powerful god of
chaos
Chaos or CHAOS may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Fictional elements
* Chaos (''Kinnikuman'')
* Chaos (''Sailor Moon'')
* Chaos (''Sesame Park'')
* Chaos (''Warhammer'')
* Chaos, in ''Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy''
* Cha ...
who masterminded Set's scheme earlier that year (in ''The Red Pyramid''). They journey across the world looking for three scrolls to awaken Ra's three aspects and to find Ra's location (as well as the location of a missing magician named
Zia Rashid), and finally into the
Duat
The Duat ( egy, dwꜣt, Egyptological pronunciation "do-aht", cop, ⲧⲏ, also appearing as ''Tuat'', ''Tuaut'' or ''Akert'', ''Amenthes'', ''Amenti'', or ''Neter-khertet'') is the realm of the dead in ancient Egyptian mythology. It has been ...
to rescue Ra and drive Apophis further from the mortal world.
''The Serpent's Shadow''
The third and last volume, ''The Serpent's Shadow'', was released on May 1, 2012.
A few months after the events of the previous book, the House of Life is battling repeated invasions by the forces of chaos, leading the Kanes and their trainees to look desperately for a way to stop Apophis. They finally settle on a difficult method involving part of Apophis's soul (the Serpent's ''
sheut'') and go to great lengths to ensure they will be able to use the ''sheut'' to defeat Apophis successfully. With the help of all the gods, especially Ra (hosted by Zia Rashid), the Kane siblings are able to finally banish Apophis and save their friends, although their actions have the unintended consequence of driving the gods away from the mortal world.
Supplementary works
Survival Guide
''The Kane Chronicles: Survival Guide'' is a companion to the series written by Mary-Jane Knight, who is not credited on the front cover. It features illustrations of characters in the series by Antonio Caparo and full-color diagrams and maps, as well as the guide text.
In the words of the publisher, the latter "teaches readers how to compile secret messages, read hieroglyphics, and recite ancient magic spells", and the intended audience includes "avid followers and budding Egyptologists alike".
The book was released by
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
-
Hyperion on March 20, 2012, a few months before the publication of ''
The Serpent's Shadow''. The British edition was published by
Puffin Books
Puffin Books is a longstanding children's imprint of the British publishers Penguin Books. Since the 1960s, it has been among the largest publishers of children's books in the UK and much of the English-speaking world. The imprint now belongs t ...
in October of that year.
Guide Book
“Brooklyn House Magician's Manual” is the guide book to “The Kane Chronicles” written by Rick Riordan and released on May 1, 2018. It includes more information about the various paths of the gods, magical spells, and characters from the main series as well as Demigods and Magicians. It is narrated by the main characters of the original trilogy, Carter and Sadie Kane. It also involves first-person accounts from some of the other characters and a side plot line continuing from Demigods and Magicians involving the Kanes’ recurring enemy, the evil magician Setne.
Graphic novel
A graphic novel based on ''The Red Pyramid'' was published on October 12, 2010.
It follows a shortened version of Carter and Sadie adventures in ''The Red Pyramid'' with full color drawings. It is adapted and illustrated by Orpheus Collar.
A graphic novel based on ''The Throne of Fire'' was released on October 6, 2015. Like the graphic novel for ''The Red Pyramid'', it was adapted and illustrated by Orpheus Collar.
A graphic novel based on ''The Serpent's Shadow'' was released on October 3, 2017. Similarly to the previous two novels, it was adapted and illustrated by Orpheus Collar.
''Demigods & Magicians''
Three stories combining the characters of the ''Camp Half-Blood Chronicles'' and ''The Kane Chronicles'' with the first two originally appearing as short stories in the paperback versions of ''
The Serpent's Shadow'' and ''
The Mark of Athena
''The Mark of Athena'' is an American fantasy-adventure novel written by Rick Riordan, based on Greek and Roman mythology. It was published on October 2, 2012, and is the third book in ''The Heroes of Olympus'' series, a sequel of the ''Percy Ja ...
''. Eventually, the stories were combined into a miniseries known as ''Demigods & Magicians''.
''The Son of Sobek''
The first ever Percy Jackson-Carter Kane crossover story was included in the back of the paperback edition of ''The Serpent's Shadow'', published May 7, 2013, and became available as an e-single/audio purchase June 18, 2013.
It was later published as part of a collection entitled ''Demigods & Magicians'', released in 2016.
The story is told in first-person by Carter Kane and set on
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
's south shore, in the vicinity of
Moriches Bay
Moriches Bay ( ) is a lagoon system on the south shore of Long Island, New York. The name Moriches comes from Meritces, a Native American who owned land on Moriches Neck.
Two townships in Suffolk, New York ( Brookhaven and the Southampton) share i ...
. Carter and
Percy Jackson
Perseus "Percy" Jackson is a fictional character, the title character and narrator of Rick Riordan's ''Percy Jackson & the Olympians'' series. He is also one of seven main protagonists of the sequel series ''The Heroes of Olympus'', appearing ...
find themselves hunting the same giant magical crocodile, and Carter is saved by Percy. Although wary of each other, they team up to fight the crocodile, which turns out to be a ''petsuchos'', an ordinary crocodile turned to giant size and invested with the power of the Egyptian crocodile god
Sobek
Sobek (also called Sebek or Sobki, cop, Ⲥⲟⲩⲕ, Souk) was an ancient Egyptian deity with a complex and elastic history and nature. He is associated with the Nile crocodile or the West African crocodile and is represented either in its f ...
by a magical charm. Together, they remove the charm and stop the crocodile from terrorizing the suburban neighborhood, then, after briefly introducing themselves, go their separate ways.
''The Staff of Serapis''
The sequel to ''The Son of Sobek'', entitled ''The Staff of Serapis'' is the sixty-page crossover story in which Sadie and Annabeth meet. The sequel came out in April 2014, in the paperback version of ''
The Mark of Athena
''The Mark of Athena'' is an American fantasy-adventure novel written by Rick Riordan, based on Greek and Roman mythology. It was published on October 2, 2012, and is the third book in ''The Heroes of Olympus'' series, a sequel of the ''Percy Ja ...
'', and then was released later on in the year in e-book/audiobook format read by Riordan and including a sneak preview of ''
The Blood of Olympus
''The Blood of Olympus'' is an American fantasy-adventure novel written by Rick Riordan, based on Greek and Roman mythology. It was released on October 7, 2014, is the fifth and final novel in ''The Heroes of Olympus'' series. It is followed by ' ...
''.
It was later published as part of a collection entitled ''Demigods & Magicians'', released in 2016.
In this story, told from
Annabeth Chase
A description of most characters featured in various mythology series by Rick Riordan.
Overview
List indicator(s)
* A dark grey cell indicates that the character was not in the property or that the character's presence in the property has yet to ...
's point of view, Annabeth pursues a strange chimerical creature she encounters on the
New York City Subway
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...
, and is rescued by Sadie Kane when it attacks. Sadie explains that the creature was a figurine that suddenly came to life in
Brooklyn House and escaped the mansion. The two girls deduce that the creature is two parts of a tripartite creature, the Staff of
Serapis
Serapis or Sarapis is a Graeco-Egyptian deity. The cult of Serapis was promoted during the third century BC on the orders of Greek Pharaoh Ptolemy I Soter of the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt as a means to unify the Greeks and Egyptians in his r ...
, which belongs to the
Hellenized
Hellenization (other British spelling Hellenisation) or Hellenism is the adoption of Greek culture, religion, language and identity by non-Greeks. In the ancient period, colonization often led to the Hellenization of indigenous peoples; in th ...
Egyptian god of that name. Serapis has taken up residence in a ruined lighthouse in
Far Rockaway, Queens
Far Rockaway is a neighborhood on the eastern part of the Rockaway peninsula in the New York City borough of Queens. It is the easternmost section of the Rockaways. The neighborhood extends from Beach 32nd Street east to the Nassau County line ...
, and Annabeth and Sadie do battle with him before returning to their separate worlds.
''The Crown of Ptolemy''
''The Crown of Ptolemy'' is the third and last book in the ''
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
''Percy Jackson & the Olympians'' is a series of five fantasy novels written by American author Rick Riordan, and the first book series in the ''Camp Half-Blood Chronicles''. The novels are set in a world with the Greek gods in the 21st centur ...
'' and ''The Kane Chronicles'' crossover series. It was published in the back of the paperback version of ''
The House of Hades
''The House of Hades'' is a fantasy-adventure novel written by American author Rick Riordan, based on Greek and Roman mythology. It was published on October 8, 2013, and is the fourth book in ''The Heroes of Olympus'' series, preceded by ''The M ...
'' on March 31, 2015, and later as an
ebook
An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...
and
audiobook
An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements.
Spoken audio has been available in sc ...
.
The ebook edition was released May 12, 2015.
It was later republished as part of a collection entitled ''Demigods & Magicians'', released in 2016.
The story is told from Percy's point of view. Percy and Annabeth are investigating Governor's Island in Manhattan, and Percy tries unsuccessfully to call Carter.
Setne, the evil magician responsible for the events of the crossovers, creates a freak hurricane while attempting to make himself a god. Carter and Sadie finally arrive and, with help from the goddess
Nekhbet
Nekhbet (; also spelt Nekhebit) is an early predynastic local goddess in Egyptian mythology, who was the patron of the city of Nekheb (her name meaning ''of Nekheb''). Ultimately, she became the patron of Upper Egypt and one of the two patron d ...
(who uses Percy as her host for the duration of the battle), the four teenagers defeat and imprison Setne in a magical snow globe.
The teens then decide to keep their mythical realities separate and head back to their respective homes, although they also decide to keep in touch.
Characters
Film adaptations
On September 12, 2020, Rick Riordan posted on
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
that
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
is currently developing the series as a trilogy of feature films.
References
External links
The Kane Chroniclesat The Worlds of Rick Riordan (Disney: readriordan.com)
Rick Riordan Myth Masterat publisher Penguin Books (UK)
Kane activity ideas and instructional materialat RickRiordan.com
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kane Chronicles
Book series introduced in 2010
Young adult novel series