Which of Rick Riordan's New Series Is Best?

If you're a serious Percy Jackson fan, you're probably going to read both of Rick Riordan's new series. But what if you only have time for one? Will it be the Percy Jackson follow-up, which introduces new characters, but promises to bring back Percy himself in Book 2? Or will you leave Greece (and Rome) and head for Egypt, the source of magic in The Kane Chronicles?

Decisions, decisions!

With Heroes of Olympus, The Lost Hero, you do return to Camp Half-blood. But there's something different about our new set of heroes, and not just the fact that one of them is being blackmailed to betray the others. We've got Jason, who can't remember his life before the bus ride with which Book 1 begins; his supposed girlfriend Piper, who is dismayed to find out who her mother is; and a Latino boy named Leo, who's been commandeered by a rather senior goddess from an early age and has a pretty scary power. But could Jason be the son of a Roman god, not a Greek one? (Try not to think too hard about the logistics. It boggles the mind.) Either way, there's a new prophecy and a new villain in the land, and these three are only the first of a team of seven who must be assembled in order to win the day. Not to mention that Percy is missing—where, oh where, can he be? Annabeth definitely wants to know! Meanwhile, our new trio heads west on a quest to stop the rise of Porphyrion, a giant baddie, and rescue Hera before it's too late...

Then there are The Kane Chronicles, which pick up speed in Book 2, thankfully. (Book 1 got a bit bogged down in backstory.) The Throne of Fire returns with brother-and-sister act Carter and Sadie Kane, who have turned their spell-protected house in Brooklyn into a training camp for those who want to fight the forces of evil with them. Making it a mini version of Camp Half-blood, of course! The story begins with the siblings and a couple of other kids trying to steal an artifact from the museum. Soon the Kanes are traveling all over the world, trying to find the scrolls comprising the Book of Ra so they can wake the sleeping king of the gods and he can defeat a terrible rising serpent named Apophis (Chaos). Along the way, Sadie and Carter split up rather often the way characters in horror movies do ("Please stick together! Oh, no..."), increasing their peril on a regular basis. Carter's still crushing on Zia, now the original rather than a copy, and is determined to find her, while Sadie likes a boy named Walt in addition to (secretly, and with some chagrin) Anubis, the god of the dead.

Now, let's compare the two series.

Where Heroes of Olympus Excels:

—KC's Brooklyn House feels like a pale imitation of HOO's Camp Half-blood. The subplot about the mean girl dominating Aphrodite House in The Lost Hero is especially nice.
—Both series offer comic relief, but KC's funny ally, the terribly ugly dwarf god Bes, and some adventures in a nursing home for gods aren't nearly as amusing as the HOO crew's encounters with the wind and his dysfunctional kids, an icky tribe of Cyclopes, and Medea reigning over an evil department store. Leo is also pretty funny all by himself.
—While both of the current books, let alone the entire series, use a quest format, HOO's plot development feels a tad more natural and less deliberately choreographed than KC's. (In particular, the way Carter and Sadie keep splitting up to go off on their own and then end up getting attacked feels contrived.)
—Leo and Piper are strong new characters, while Jason is pretty good, too, though less distinctive. KC's siblings feel richer in Book 2 than in Book 1, but I still found Leo and Piper more appealing. (Plus Carter continues to lag behind his sister in depth and interest.)
—Leo's mechanical dragon totally rocks, beating out Carter's griffin.
—This book also wins for coolest action scenes. KC's mummy scene doesn't quite cut it, but HOO's Cyclopes scene and the whole thing in the house of the winds are wonderful.
—Despite the complexity of the plot, HOO feels more fast-paced than KC, even if we overlook KC's relatively dense start in Book 1. KC has moments of drag, but I didn't see many of those in The Lost Hero.


Where The Kane Chronicles Excel:

—Both books have new, humongous villains attempting to rise from beneath the earth, but I'd say a giant snake that can destroy with its very presence is more horrific than an angry giant.
—The romance factor is handled with sweetness and humor in KC as Sadie tries to ignore her feelings for two different boys and Carter heads knowingly into a major trap for love of a girl who won't even know who he is (kind of a doppelganger thing). In contrast, the romance in HOO is minimal if not confusing.
—Perhaps I'm just burned out on Greek and Roman mythology, but the Egyptian mythology feels fresh and nicely strange in this series.
—The overall story arc of the KC series seems smoother, perhaps because the major plot point created by distinguishing between the Greek gods and Roman gods strains credulity a little.
—I found KC's save-the-world plot more compelling, perhaps because HOO's save-the-world plot seems like a rerun. Plus the Hera thing didn't quite work for me, while the situation with Ra is a delightful soap opera. (I can't wait to see how it gets resolved.)
—Like its predecessor, HOO has a cast of thousands, while focusing on just two siblings in KC makes for a cleaner read.
—Sadie and Carter's magical powers are intriguing, especially their relationship to the gods who have tried and will try again to possess them. In contrast, fire making and the other powers in HOO seem predictable.
—When it comes to girl-power, Sadie's got it in spades. Piper is an excellent character, but not nearly as gutsy and outrageous as Sadie.

Hmm. I think I'll give four prizes here. Kane Chronicles wins "Most Improved" and "Most Potential," but Heroes of Olympus still triumphs when it comes to "Most Appealing Characters" and "Best Storytelling." If you have to choose, I'd say go with that second round of Greek (or maybe Roman) demigods. Then again, here's hoping you'll get to read both series.

Readers, which of these series do you like best? Let us know in the comments!

Note: Book 2 of Heroes of Olympus, The Son of Neptune, is due out on October 4. If the ending of Book 1 is anything to go by, we'll be visiting the Roman side of things next.

A Review of The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan

Hooray, it's out! "It" being the first book in The Lightning Thief author Rick Riordan's new series based on the Egyptian gods and magic, The Red Pyramid. If your offspring loved the Percy Jackson series, you may already have this new book in your hot little hands. If not, what are you waiting for?

And of course, we have to ask ourselves, just how does the new book stack up?

On the one hand, I could argue that there's a whole lot of setup and explaining going on in The Red Pyramid. On the other hand, all of that is needed, and Riordan does a pretty good job of making the info dump a natural part of his storytelling as we discover things together with our young main characters.

Fourteen-year-old Carter Kane is the book's hero, along with his sister Sadie. After their mother's mysterious death, Sadie was sent to live in London with her maternal grandparents, while Carter traveled the world with his archaeologist father. Let's just note here that Carter is a little older than Percy Jackson when those stories began, which reminded me that the movie version made Percy older (so Riordan got smart about the age thing!). What I really like is that Carter and his sister are black—or at least, their father is black and their mother was white. I live in L.A., and mixed-race kids feel like a nice representation of our modern world. This also allows Carter and his sister to be connected by blood to the pharaohs of ancient Egypt, which ends up being an important plot point.

It's Christmas Eve, and Julius Kane is more nervous than usual. He takes his children to the British Museum, where he hopes to "make everything right," apparently by releasing a helpful Egyptian god. Unfortunately, he releases an evil Egyptian god named Set while he's at it and ends up trapped in a magic coffin which takes him away, leaving Carter and Sadie behind in the midst of what looks like a bombing. They are brought to their grandparents' house and interrogated by police who cast suspicion on Dr. Kane, then picked up by their father's wizardly brother Amos, who spirits them away to New York City to protect them from the newly unleashed Set. Because yeah, Sadie and Carter have powers, and they're part of something world-changing. And yeah, they need to save said world from Set's destructive plans.

Sadie and Carter find out more about Egyptian magic, their own heritage, and a group called the House of Light—protectors of Egyptian magic who would just as soon kill the two kids as have to deal with them. There are questions of who can be trusted, also who's possessed by an Egyptian god (for good or for ill). We get various adventures, including monster attacks, and some of the author's trademark humor along the way, with a cheery little side trip to the land of the dead. Riordan has Sadie and Carter take turns narrating, which is sometimes helpful and other times confusing. (Riordan even throws in some talk that makes the reader feel like he/she is not only being addressed by Carter and Sadie, but is being recruited to their cause.) This book is what they call uneven, but I have a feeling that, with all of the setup out of the way, Riordan will shine in the second and following books of the Kane Chronicles.

I got a kick out of the author's nod to his Olympians books, by the way. When Amos first takes the kids to the mansion, we read:

"So you can't live in Manhattan?" [Sadie] asked.
Amos's brow furrowed as he looked across at the Empire State Building. "Manhattan has other problems. Other gods. It's best we stay separate."
"Other what?" Sadie demanded.
"Nothing."

I should mention that one feature of Amos's mansion is a baboon named Khufu who's a huge fan of the L.A. Lakers. Other secondary characters include the helpful if unpredictable cat goddess Bast and a beautiful young girl named Zia from the House of Lights, whose loyalties are torn between her assigned duties and her desire to help Carter and Sadie. (Read: future sidekick/love interest comparable to Annabeth in The Lightning Thief.)

In a nice twist, late in the book Riordan has Carter make a really interesting decision about his potential for a powerful future. It's also intriguing to see how the author handles the issue of the missing Julius Kane.

A perfect read? No. But The Red Pyramid is nevertheless a good series start. If you're a Percy Jackson fan, read this one and then join me in looking forward to smoother sailing (preferably in a narrow reed boat with eyes) in Book 2.

Percy Jackson and His Sexy Friends

So I went and saw The Lightning Thief movie on Friday. It wasn't bad overall, although it didn't hold a candle to the best of the Harry Potter movies. No full review here, just an observation, and that is, apparently Hollywoodizing a children's book now includes a sensual if not sexual component. Thank you, Twilight. Or should we be thanking the likes of movie directors Judd Apatow, Todd Phillips, and John Hamburg, not to mention the last decade or two of Saturday Night Live writers, all of whom seem incapable of telling a story without a dose of steam?

For example, when Percy Jackson arrives at Camp Half-Blood in the movie, he sets his eyes on his about-to-be-sidekick, Annabeth, as played by Alexandra Daddario. Only in the movie, unlike in the book, Percy and Annabeth exchange a seemingly endless series of longing looks that reminded me of the yearning looks exchanged between Bella and Edward in the movie version of Stephenie Meyer's YA paranormal, Twilight. Here Annabeth Chase's slightly parted pillowy lips seem designed to accessorize her noticeable bosom. Yes, this is the hot version of Annabeth, which threw me off a bit as a reader of the series and also makes the Potter movies' cute-but-true-to-the-book-character Hermione seem better than ever. Especially considering Annabeth is written by Riordan as such a strong character, smart and independent. At least she gets to show off her combat and archery skills as the movie progresses!

Even Grover does not escape unscathed: he is presented as what the Brits in our midst would call randy. (In the books, Percy and Grover sometimes notice girls are cute, but that's about it.) Grover is also a hip-hop caricature; I suppose this is sort of fun, but I'm not sure I'm sold on it. Anyway, movie Grover acts hot-to-trot in Vegas, land of the Lotus Eaters, and even with Hades' wife Persephone, who also gets to be sexy in this film, coming on to Grover in turn. I realize satyrs have a reputation in mythology, but Riordan really didn't go there.

Finally, Logan Lerman, the actor who portrays Percy, looks like a young Chase Crawford. Which is pretty funny, since Gossip Girl's 24-year-old Chase is so young himself that he really shouldn't have a junior clone. But he does. Meet the movie Percy, who, like Annabeth, is fully capable of smoldering stares in the middle of the action.

At best, these touches of sensuality are a little distracting. At worst, they mar what started out as perfectly good middle grade fiction. Again, I have to recommend the Harry Potter movies, which manage to show adolescent crushes in a natural way, as part of the storytelling, i.e., without any panting, lip-parting, or pat sexual innuendos.

Good things about the movie? Well, the depictions of the gods and monsters are terrific. In particular, as the critics are saying, Uma Thurman's Medusa is wonderful. And I really did enjoy seeing this best-selling adventure story retold onscreen. But if you go to the movie theater to watch The Lightning Thief, be prepared for a few surprisingly sultry moments.

A Review of The Immortal Fire by Anne Ursu

While Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series has been selling like crazy, you may have missed another series about contemporary kids and Greek gods, Anne Ursu's Cronus Chronicles. Book One, The Shadow Thieves, came out about six months after Riordan's first book about Percy Jackson, The Lightning Thief, suggesting once again that certain themes float into different authors' psyches at around the same time. Yet Ursu's trilogy has been overshadowed by Riordan's five books. Today I'm looking at Ursu's series wrap-up, Immortal Fire, but I definitely recommend all three books. I think they're just as good as Riordan's, and they have the advantage of a clever tongue-in-cheek tone.

Quick overview: In The Shadow Thieves, Charlotte and her cousin Zee stop a plot by a demon grandson of Poseidon, Philonecron, to take over the Underworld using the shadows of children as an army. Unfortunately, having their shadows stolen makes human children sick. Even more unfortunately, Zee is the unwitting conduit for this endeavor. But he and Charlotte fight back, and they are able to thwart Philonecron's dastardly plans.

Still, family is family, and Book Two, The Siren Song, finds Poseidon responding to his grandson's request for vengeance against the two mortal children who have dishonored him. What's more, Charlotte is up against something not often seen in children's fantasy books, which is that her parents freak out about her long absence to save the world. Naturally, they don't believe her crazy story; instead they ground her and make appointments with a child psychologist.

When her family wins a cruise soon afterward, it doesn't occur to Charlotte that she is being set up for Poseidon's wrath to crash down on her head like a tsunami. And Zee finds himself in the unenviable position of being even more of a pawn for Philonecron than before. After some wild adventures on the cruise ship, which is mysteriously transported to the Mediterranean Sea, Charlotte and Zee eventually manage to prevail yet again. Siren Song is my favorite of the three books, if only because of Ursu's depiction of Poseidon as the tacky blue-skinned, gold chain-wearing owner of a luxury boat he has plastered with portraits of himself. (Come to think of it, her portrayal of all of the fallible Greek pantheon is pretty amusing!)

I noticed that The Immortal Fire drags in a few spots, but Ursu ultimately comes through, wrapping up the trilogy with dash and humor. Charlotte and Zee's mentor, Mr. Metos, who is a member of a secret society called the Prometheans, doesn't take the two kids seriously enough, considering all they've accomplished. When the Chimera burns down the middle school and snatches Charlotte, Mr. Metos begins to pay a little more attention. Such strange things are happening in the Mediterranean that they're making the TV news, yet no one figures out that Philonecron is back in action, having gotten his hands on Poseidon's trident.

This time, Philonecron is gunning for Zeus and mastery of the entire universe, and he's going to use his arch nemesis Charlotte to help him do it. One of the funniest things about these books is the way the author stops every so often to show us just what's going on in this towering narcissist's head. (I suspect Phil is secretly Ursu's favorite character!) Here's a passage in which Philonecron is planning world domination, but still worrying about thirteen-year-old Charlotte Mielswetzski, who has already foiled his schemes twice:

He was a hero, this was a hero's journey, an epic for the ages—the saga of a humble demon's long journey from Underworld garbage collector to Supreme Lord of All Creation.... but every hero had a nemesis, one as terrible as he was great. It was only literary....

Was she still out there, lurking in her vile little lair, clad in an item from her relentless series of discount casual wear, plotting her next move in her eternal quest to ruin his life? What if—it was absurd, but bear with him—what if at his moment of triumph, when Zeus was on his knees quavering in front of the trident, weeping and pleading, what if the little mortal monster appeared—because that was what she did, she appeared, and ruined everything? What if, just as he was about to get what he most wanted, she came, grabbed his beautiful dream with her sticky little hands, and stomped on it with her squeaky rubber soles?

Naturally, Charlotte will appear. Charlotte is ordinary and grubby and kind of cranky, but above all she is tenacious. Before she can confront the vain villain, however, she and Zee will have to save an angry teenager named Steve from the misguided Prometheans and find their way to Greece, where breaking into Mt. Olympus is just a little harder than it sounds. As the book progresses, Ursu works in themes like self-sacrifice and love, having social outsider Charlotte bely her own cynicism and Zee make an unthinkable choice, but most of all, The Immortal Fire, like its two predecessors, is just a funny, off-the-wall ride.