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grav_ityMythology, adventure, hilarious chapter titles, historical amusements, Making Things American (But Keeping Them Cool), Not Being Racist, etc.
OH MY GOSH, YOU GUYS! This book! Was FABULOUS! I was expecting an amusing Egyptian version of the Percy Jackson books, and I was PLEASANTLY SURPRISED to find something TOTALLY (well, SORT OF) DIFFERENT and EVEN MORE FUN.
Because not only has Riordan improved in terms of not being INSANE (don't get me wrong, I love the PJ books, but SO MUCH HAPPENS), it's about EGYPT and that's WHAT I WENT TO SCHOOL FOR!
*breathes into a paper bag*
One of my favourite things about the PJ books was how perfectly Riordan shifted Greek Mythology into modern America without softening it up too much. These books? Do it again. ONLY BETTER because the Egyptians were FREAKING INSANE. (There's a bit with Anubis and New Orleans that just...oh, go READ it!)
And as if that didn't blow my mind enough already, there's a scene where one of the characters is explaining why they have to live in Brooklyn instead of Manhattan, and in addition to Manhattan being on the West Bank (which is the Realm of the Dead in Egyptian mythology and therefore to be avoided), the character looks at the Empire State Building and says "Well yes, and also because Manhattan has...other problems", WHICH MEANS CROSSOVERS! AND BRAIN EXPLOSIONS!
The characters are great. There are two main characters, who shift POV Narration. They are brother and sister. They are both sort of fabulous. They have SERIOUS ISSUES and THOUGHTS ABOUT ABANDONMENT and on top of everything else, RACIAL PROBLEMS because one of them looks like their (black) father and one of the looks like their (white) mother, so when people find out they're siblings, they always get THAT LOOK, and it causes them TRAUMA AND UPSETNESS, but Riordan MAKES IT WORK.
Which brings me to race. There were sort of Characters of Colour in the PJ books, but SEVERAL IMPORTANT CHARACTERS in this book are black. Or Arabic. And I love it. Because Sadie, who thinks of herself as mixed-race, passes as a white British girl, and is separated from her brother, whom her grandparents don't want because he's too black. Which is horrible and traumatizing, and Sadie DEALS WITH IT. AND IT'S AWESOME. Anubis even falls for her, not because she's pretty, but because she's SO DARN FABULOUS IN USEFUL WAYS.
And as if that weren't enough, the book is written as a message to me, the reader. Which I think is really cool. There were hints of it in PJ (more in the Demigod Files), but this is an actual message to other kids with the blood of the pharaohs. And I think that's really cool. It certainly makes for compelling reading.
Oh, and it's drop dead hysterical, as you can probably imagine. I didn't keep a list, but if i had, there would be about a hundred quotations.
Basically, everything that made the PJ books so great has been refined and improved in the Kane Chronicles. I am super excited and pleasantly surprised.
So on my almost completely arbitrary sliding scale of book ratings (yes,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
emmaorgana, I'll admit it), I give it an 9.5 out of 10.
ETA: Emma tells me it wassache8 who said I was arbitrary. ;)
OH MY GOSH, YOU GUYS! This book! Was FABULOUS! I was expecting an amusing Egyptian version of the Percy Jackson books, and I was PLEASANTLY SURPRISED to find something TOTALLY (well, SORT OF) DIFFERENT and EVEN MORE FUN.
Because not only has Riordan improved in terms of not being INSANE (don't get me wrong, I love the PJ books, but SO MUCH HAPPENS), it's about EGYPT and that's WHAT I WENT TO SCHOOL FOR!
*breathes into a paper bag*
One of my favourite things about the PJ books was how perfectly Riordan shifted Greek Mythology into modern America without softening it up too much. These books? Do it again. ONLY BETTER because the Egyptians were FREAKING INSANE. (There's a bit with Anubis and New Orleans that just...oh, go READ it!)
And as if that didn't blow my mind enough already, there's a scene where one of the characters is explaining why they have to live in Brooklyn instead of Manhattan, and in addition to Manhattan being on the West Bank (which is the Realm of the Dead in Egyptian mythology and therefore to be avoided), the character looks at the Empire State Building and says "Well yes, and also because Manhattan has...other problems", WHICH MEANS CROSSOVERS! AND BRAIN EXPLOSIONS!
The characters are great. There are two main characters, who shift POV Narration. They are brother and sister. They are both sort of fabulous. They have SERIOUS ISSUES and THOUGHTS ABOUT ABANDONMENT and on top of everything else, RACIAL PROBLEMS because one of them looks like their (black) father and one of the looks like their (white) mother, so when people find out they're siblings, they always get THAT LOOK, and it causes them TRAUMA AND UPSETNESS, but Riordan MAKES IT WORK.
Which brings me to race. There were sort of Characters of Colour in the PJ books, but SEVERAL IMPORTANT CHARACTERS in this book are black. Or Arabic. And I love it. Because Sadie, who thinks of herself as mixed-race, passes as a white British girl, and is separated from her brother, whom her grandparents don't want because he's too black. Which is horrible and traumatizing, and Sadie DEALS WITH IT. AND IT'S AWESOME. Anubis even falls for her, not because she's pretty, but because she's SO DARN FABULOUS IN USEFUL WAYS.
And as if that weren't enough, the book is written as a message to me, the reader. Which I think is really cool. There were hints of it in PJ (more in the Demigod Files), but this is an actual message to other kids with the blood of the pharaohs. And I think that's really cool. It certainly makes for compelling reading.
Oh, and it's drop dead hysterical, as you can probably imagine. I didn't keep a list, but if i had, there would be about a hundred quotations.
Basically, everything that made the PJ books so great has been refined and improved in the Kane Chronicles. I am super excited and pleasantly surprised.
So on my almost completely arbitrary sliding scale of book ratings (yes,
emmaorgana, I'll admit it), I give it an 9.5 out of 10.ETA: Emma tells me it was
sache8 who said I was arbitrary. ;)
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no subject
Date: 2010-07-11 03:11 am (UTC)Faith was the one who called it arbitrary! I like arbitrary-ness. Or something.
AND MAPS ARE VERY IMPORTANT.
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Date: 2010-07-11 03:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-11 03:14 am (UTC)If I did call it arbitrary (and that is entirely possible) I didn't mean it in a bad way. <3 <3 <3 :p
no subject
Date: 2010-07-11 03:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-11 03:20 am (UTC)One day, it shall be written!
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Date: 2010-07-11 03:22 am (UTC)(The story I'm not writing? Now has a romantic subplot, complicated races and geography and LINGUISTIC RULES FOR NAMING CHILDREN. *headdesk*)
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Date: 2010-07-11 03:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-11 03:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-11 03:25 am (UTC)Decisions, decisions.
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Date: 2010-07-11 03:27 am (UTC)ZukoFLYING PEOPLE, right?no subject
Date: 2010-07-11 03:30 am (UTC)And a break never hurt anyone. I wrote part 1 of Katia during Nano 07 and part 2 in Nano 09 with something completely (okay, not completely) different in 08.
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Date: 2010-07-11 03:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-11 03:34 am (UTC)Also, your cupcake post earlier sent me on a fierce sugar craving, and it was all I could do to not start noming down the chocolate bars I bought yesterday for next weekend's s'mores. :|
That's probably explaining my lack of normal brain function. Not enough sugar.
no subject
Date: 2010-07-11 03:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-11 03:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-11 03:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-11 05:14 pm (UTC)I read an excerpt of the novel a month or so ago, and just from that I thought it really had promise. Definitely going on my to-buy list now (which is exceedingly long at this point >.>).
Also, CROSSOVER POTENTIAL? I think my brain imploded. <3
no subject
Date: 2010-07-11 09:52 pm (UTC)I KNOW! I read the line and had to set the book down for a couple seconds in order to recover. ;)