Rick Riordan | Hyperio9n Book CH | ISBN-10: 1423140567 | ISBN-13: 978-1423140566 | 464 pages
Young fans of the Percy Jackson series may find themselves a bit slower to warm up to this one. Not impossible, mind you, and I think all of them will still thoroughly enjoy these books. However, I noticed that my ten-year-old was taking longer to read this one, just as he had with book one, The Red Pyramid. I think the reason for this is not that the books are less well-written, or the characters less well-drawn. These books are every bit as exciting and character-driven as their predecessors. However, they are a bit more densely-packed with unfamiliar information. Geographically, they range much farther than the Percy Jackson series does. Percy’s quests take place in the United States. If my son had a question about a location, he usually didn’t have to go farther than asking me in order to get more information. Additionally, the mythology itself was more accessible to him (and me). I can’t think of any Disney cartoons off the top of my head that deal with Egyptian gods.
Once he realized during the first book that this was slowing him down, he took to reading it near the computer. We bought this book on Kindle, in order to have immediate access to helpful websites, and, suddenly, this is more like his own quest than just a book. He’s learning, and he’s loving it. This book, like the last is told from the points of view of dual protagonists: Carter Kane and Sadie Kane. For kids, this may be a bit daunting, as the switch back and forth involves two distinctly drawn characters with different voices. I like it, because my son, who normally shies away from books with female protagonists, is absolutely willing to read this. Thank you, Rick Riordan, for doing something about the bias in kidlit and helping our next generation to learn how to see things from different points of view.
The book contains just enough exposition to get you through it if you haven’t read the first (for example, if your child gets this as a gift, you won’t have to run straight out and buy the first book before he or she reads this one; however, your child probably will want to read the first book at some point). Throne of Fire eBook »