The Kane Chronicles

## Plot

In the books, Rick Riordan tells that the story is a written down version of a transcript he received from "Carter and Sadie". The story takes place in the same universe as the Camp Half-Blood chronicles.

## Book One: The Red Pyramid

The book is written as an audial recording by the Kane siblings, Carter and Sadie, and begins when Carter Kane and his father, Julius Kane, go to London to visit Sadie, Carter's sister, who has been living in England with their grandparents for the past six years. Carter notices from the start that his father is acting uncommonly nervous and edgy, but pretends not to notice. At the London Museum, Julius uses the Rosetta Stone to summon Osiris god of the dead, but accidentally releases five gods: Osiris, Isis, Horus, Set and Nepthys. Julius is imprisoned by Set, brother of Osiris and the god of chaos. Carter and Sadie then embark to Brooklyn with their uncle, Amos, later to learn that Julius' side of the family is descended of the Pharaoh Narmer while their dead mother, Ruby, descended from Ramesses the Great. They are attacked at Amos' house by serpopards, and rescued by the goddess of cats, Bast. At the Metropolitan Museum of Art, they are attacked again by the scorpion goddess, Serqet and rescued by character 'Zia Rashid', a trainee at the 'House of Life', which is an Egyptian-themed school of magic dedicated to confining the Ancient Egyptian gods. Zia opens a portal and takes the siblings to Cairo, where the first and biggest 'House of Life' is. Here, it is suspected that the siblings are possessed by Horus (war god of falcons) and Isis (goddess of magic), prompting M. Desjardins, the school's second-in-command, to desire their deaths.

Carter and Sadie were brave and begin to learn the use of hieroglyphic magic; but their training is disrupted when the school's 'Chief Lector' Iskandar dies, leaving Desjardins in command. They escape him and rejoin Bast, with whom they infiltrate Desjardins' house in Paris to obtain a book with which to oppose Set. Following a fight with the Set animal, they visit Thoth, the knowledge god, at Memphis, Tennessee, whence they are sent to gain both a 'Feather of Truth' and Set's secret name. Having obtained the Feather from Anubis, god of death rituals, they continue to Texas, where Carter fights Sobek, the god of rivers. He is rescued by Amos; but Bast and Sobek are exiled to the Duat, the Egyptian underworld. In New Mexico, they defeat the lion goddess Sekhmet and continue to Arizona, where Set has established the story's eponymous Pyramid. To overcome Set, Carter merges with Horus; but both are overcome. Sadie learns Set's secret name (translated as 'Evil Day') from Zia and merges with Isis, with whose aid she banishes Set to the Duat. Both protagonists then learn that Apophis may enter the mortal world, and that the Zia, the host of the river goddess Nepthys encountered hitherto is a ceramic shabti. Having returned to Brooklyn, they discover that their father has merged with Osiris; but themselves forsake Horus and Isis, retaining a portion of each god's power in a sacred talisman.

## Book Two: The Throne of Fire

Having reestablished the regular training of children in Egyptian-themed magic, protagonists Carter and Sadie break into the Brooklyn Museum to seek part of the Book of Ra, hoping to wake Ra (the ancient sun god) against Apophis, The Lord of Isfet (chaos). Following a struggle with several monstrosities, they discover the necessity of three scrolls that control the embodiments of Ra, one being the scroll in the museum. Sadie returns to London to celebrate her 13th birthday; but when she arrives, her grandparents have been forced to incarnate Nekhbet- the vulture goddess- and Babi- the baboon god- and pursue Sadie and her friends, Liz and Emma. From Anubis, she receives her next destination. They are rescued by Bes (dwarf god) and re-unite with Carter and his companion Walt. They then travel to their opponent Vladmir Menshikov's house in St. Petersburg, Russia, in search of the second scroll. There, they are attacked by Menshikov's two-headed snake. Sadie destroys the snake, and Set reveals the location of the last scroll and that of their friend Zia Rashid, lost in the earlier book. Thereafter Bes and Carter search for Zia at her birthplace, where Zia is abandoned by Nephthys. Antagonists Menshikov and Micheal Desjardins attack Carter and Bes; but Menshikov is overcome by Carter. At the story's 'Valley of the Golden Mummies', Sadie and Walt obtain the last scroll, but are attacked by reanimated mummies; whereupon all four characters are rescued by Ptah, who reveals Walt will die young because of an ancient curse in his family. Upon learning that Menshikov prepares to attack their refuge 'Brooklyn House', Walt and Zia return to protect it, while Sadie, Bes, and Carter go to free Ra and defeat Apophis. En route, the latter discover Khnum who has forgotten his secret name (identified by Sadie). They then discover Ra, who appears irrational and senile. To gain time, they challenge the moon god Khonsu to senet, an ancient Egyptian version of gambling, and persuade Ra to merge with Khepri, the scarab and rising sun, but free Apophis in the process. Desjardins witnesses this and helps them banish Apophis; but dies doing so, and warns them that Apophis will later return. In the book's resolution, the return of Ra has deprived Horus of his throne, and Walt will die soon because of the curse on his family's blood line; whereas Bes has lost his memories in the game of senet, and Amos is now in command of the House of Life, whose members blame the protagonists for Desjardins' death.

## Book Three: The Serpent's Shadow

In the opening of this book, protagonists Carter and Sadie travel to Dallas, Texas to meet a fellow-magician, J.D. Grissom, to obtain a heavily guarded magical scroll from the exhibit of Tutankhamen at the Dallas Museum of Art; but the scroll is destroyed before they can reach it, and all Grissom's subordinates killed. In Brooklyn, they discover that a box saved from the incident contains Tutankhamen's shadow. Inspired by Horus, Carter decides to consult Thoth; but Sadie insists on his attendance of their school dance. During the dance, Anubis suggests that the shadow contains record of identity, prompting Sadie to restore Bes' memory (forgotten by him in the second book) by his shadow.

The Russian magician Leonid reveals that renegade magicians are coöperating with Apophis. The House's superintendent Amos instructs Zia and Sadie to visit Bes while Carter and Walt visit Thoth. Carter and Walt find Thoth attacked by demons, whom they vanquish; and later ask the help of Osiris. Sadie learns from Zia that Amos is attempting to channel Set, and both learn from the hippo goddess Tawaret where to find Bes' shadow. Carter, Sadie, Zia, and Walt then obtain the character 'Setne' (a disgraced son of Ramesses II) from Osiris. Sadie and Walt search for Bes's shadow, while Zia, Carter, and Setne seek the Book of Thoth; but Setne secretly orders the character 'Bloodstained Blade' to kill the others. Sadie and Walt trick the hunting and weaving goddess Neith into assisting them; whereafter Walt exhausts himself to revive Bes's shadow, but survives by hosting Anubis. Walt thereafter discovers Setne's plan and sends Sadie to Carter and Zia. Meanwhile, Carter and Zia enter the Land of the Demons, where Carter realizes that Zia is hosting Kherpri, one of the three essences of Ra. With Sadie, they imprison Apophis' shadow, which summons aid to itself from which the protagonists are rescued by old ill gods. Ra is consumed by Apophis, but revived when Sadie and Carter destroy the latter; whereupon the gods leave the mortal world. In resolution, Carter and Sadie visit their father (combined with Osiris in the initial book) to report Setne's escape, and receive warning from their dead mother of "other gods" and "rival magic", which when combined with the initial book's mention of Manhattan having 'its own gods', implies a shared fictional universe with that of *Percy Jackson and the Olympians*, a world of both Greek gods and Egyptian gods.