KANE CHRONICLES, Book One: THE RED PYRAMID - NEW INTERVIEW AND AND NEW INFORMATION 5/09/10

SPOILER ALERT - Contain's excerpts from the book- chapter 1 and short additional passage

Check frequently for new updates.
I have compilied all that I have found or heard first hand on the new book due out May 4, 2010. The Kane Chronicles site has been expanded. There is much more to see and read, and will soon have puzzles and give aways.Kane Chronicles home site

“I was fascinated by how magic works in Egypt,” Riordan told Speakeasy in an interview after the event. He said he was intrigued by the section in the Bible in which Moses confronts Egyptian magicians. “I wanted to explore the Egyptian idea of magic,” he said. Excerpt from The Wall Street Journal - Speakeasy.

The Red Pyramid -- The cover leaf

Since their mother's death, Carter and Sadie have become near strangers. While Sadie has lived with her grandparents in London, her brother has traveled the world with their father, the brilliant Egyptologist, Dr. Julius Kane.
One night, Dr. Kane brings the siblings together for a "research experiment" at the British Museum, where he hopes to set things right for his family. Instead, he unleashes the Egyptian god Set, who banishes him to oblivion and forces the children to flee for their lives.
Soon, Sadie and Carter discover that the gods of Egypt are waking, and the worst of them — Set-has his sights on the Kanes. To stop him, the siblings embark on a dangerous journey across the globe — a quest that brings them ever closer to the truth about their family, and their links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs.

Transcription of Rick's introduction to Chapter one
Riordan: It's about a brother and sister, Carter and Sadie Kane, who find out their family is a lot older than they thought, and they have a connection with the gods they were not aware of. There's a terrible accident and the Egyptian gods are unleashed on the modern world. Only Carter and Sadie can figure out how to put them back.
Excerpt from the book:
Chapter One
We only have a few hours, so listen carefully. If you're hearing this story, you're already in danger. Sadie and I might be your only chance. Go to school. Find the locker. I won't tell you which school or which locker, because if you're the right person, you'll find it. The combination is 13-32-33. By the time you finish listening, you'll know what these numbers mean. Just remember, the story you're about to hear is incomplete and how it ends depends on you.
The most important thing, when you open the package and find what's inside, don't keep it longer than a week. Sure it'll be tempting. I mean, it will grant you almost unlimited power. But if you use it too long, it will consume you. Learn its secrets quickly and pass it on. Hide it for the next person, the way Sadie and I are doing for you. And then, be prepared for your life to get very interesting. Okay, Sadie's telling me to stop stalling and get on with the story. Fine.
I guess it started in London, the night our dad blew up the British museum.

TO READ THE COMPLETE FIRST CHAPTER Read chapter one

TRANSCRIPT OF RICK'S VIDEO INTRODUCTION OF THE BOOK FROM KANES CHRONICLES HOME SITE

We have Carter and Sadie Kane brother and sister who were raised apart. Sadie was raised in London as a British school girl by her grandparents. Carter traveled the world with his father Julius Kane famous Egyptologist. At least, that is his cover story.

Every temple in Ancient Egypt had something called the House of Life, which was their branch of magicians which were trained to call upon the power of the gods and when necessary even fight the gods. And as Carter and Sadie Kane find out they are the most powerful magicians to be born in many centuries.

When the Eyptian gods are unleashed into the modern world, Carter and Sadie are the only ones who can set things right.

SET - THE GOD OF CHAOS finds a lot he likes and a lot more he wants to destroy. He decides the great place to start would be to obliterate most of the civillized world. And unless the powers of order can come and stop him, meaning Carter and Sadie Kane, he has a very good chance of achieving his goal. The other gods no one really knows which side their gonna go on.

Carter and Sadie Kane's first challenge is to figure out whose their allies and whose their enemies.
Go see the video on the Kane home site with Rick. It is great with visual and sound effects.

FROM THE NYC LECTURE ON MARCH 14
Rick goes on to Egyptian mythology and explains basic Egyptian gods to the audience. He tells how The Red Pyramid begins in London at the British Museum, but he had to bring Sadie and Carter Kane to New York and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

NEW excerpt from THE RED PYRAMID Read by Rick Riordan to audience
Rick Riordan Carter and Sadie had a tough day. In Brooklyn, they were attacked by monsters. They had come over to Manhattan chased by a strange woman in brown, who they believe is patron scorpion goddess, Cirket, and her army of scorpions. They had taken refuge in the Met. Everyone else had run away and they were alone in the museum.They were trying to find a good place to hide. They had already been attacked in the British Museum and now they were having even more trouble. Soon they were helplessly lost.

Sadie narrating:

As far as I can the Egyptian part of the museum was designed to be as confusing as possible. hieroglyphic scrolls, golden jewelry, sarcophagi, and huge chunks of limestone. Why would anyone display a rock! Aren't there enough of those in the world already? I backed smack into someone and as I stumbled into Carter and we both fell onto our bums in a most unflattering way.

The girl standing in front of us was a bit taller than I was. Her black hair trimmed her jaw bone a little longer in the front so it swept over her eyes. She had dark tan skin. She had pretty vaguely Arab features. Her eyes had the black coal outlines on them Egyptian style. her eyes were a strange golden color that were either quite beautiful or scary, I couldn't decide which. She had a back pack on her shoulder and wore sandals and loose fitting linen clothes like ours. She looked like she was on her way to a marshal arts class. Oh god, come to think of it we probably looked the same way. How embarrassing! Slowly I began to realize I had seen her before. She was the girl with the knife from the British Museum! Before I could say anything, Carter sprang to his feet and jumped in front of me and brandishes his sword, as if to protect me. Can you believe the nerve. "Get Back!" he said. The girl reached into her sleeve and produced a curved white piece of ivory, an Egyptian wand. She flicked it to one side and Carters sword flew out of his hand and onto the floor.

"Don't embarrass yourself," the girl said sternly. "Where's Amos?" Carter was stunned. The girl looked at me. Her golden eyes were both scary and exciting and I didn't like her a bit. "Well!" she demanded. I didn't want to answer, but I felt a pressure building up inside me and I heard myself say, "Amos is gone. He left this morning." Carter unfroze and stepped for his sword and pointed it at her again. Full credit for persistence I suppose. "Who are you?" he demanded. "What do you want?"

" My name is Zia, she said tilting her head. Right on cue the entire building rumbled and plaster started falling from the ceiling, and the slithering sound of scorpions doubled in sound. "And right now," Zia said, she sounded a bit disappointed, "I have to save your miserable lives, let's go!" I suppose we could have refused, but the choices were Zia or the scorpions. So, we ran after her and entered this enormous room. Carter said,"WHOA!" I couldn't help agreeing. The place was definitely, WHOA! The room was the size of a football stadium. One wall was completely made out of glass, and looked out onto the park. In the middle of the room on a raised platform an ancient building they reconstructed. A free standing stone gateway about eight yards tall, and behind a built-in stone courtyard, and a square structure made of uneven sandstone blocks bathed in eerie light. "An Egyptian Temple," Carter guessed. "The Temple of Dendur," Zia said. "Actually it was built by the Romans." "Oh, that was when they inhabited Egypt!" Carter said. Like this was vital information. "Fascinating," I said. "Would you two like to be alone with a history textbook!"




Excerpt from Publisher's Weekly 4/1/10
Earlier this month, Riordan visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art—a location featured in both the Percy Jackson and Kane Chronicles series. On March 14, he talked to a sellout crowd of 700—about half kids, half adults—in the Met's auditorium. "He spoke about what it was like to get to know these gods and heroes as he was growing up," said Met spokesman Elyse Topalian. He also showed covers of his books from around the world and read an excerpt from the Kane Chronicles.
The Kane Chronicles stars Carter Kane, 14, and his sister, Sadie, 12—descendants of Egyptian magicians who battle gods accidentally released in the present. From chapter to chapter, the siblings tag team as first-person narrators. "I didn't know how that would be, telling a novel from a first-person point of view from a 12-year-old British girl," said Riordan. "She's just endeared herself to me." She isn't based on anyone he knows, though, he said, "I certainly have strong-minded women in my life—my mom, my wife, my editors!"

Update: there is a new article posted on MN that you might want to check out.

The Red Pyramid AUDIO BOOK INFORMATION available on CD or MP3 - narrated by Kevin R. Free and Katherine Kellgren - listen to a portion preorder to ship on 5/4

Summary of audio book - from AudiobookStand dot com YOUNG ADULT: Since his mother’s death six years ago, Carter Kane has been living out of a suitcase, traveling the globe with his father, the brilliant Egyptologist Dr. Julius Kane. But while Carter’s been homeschooled, his younger sister, Sadie, has been living with their grandparents in London. Sadie has just what Carter wants — school friends and a chance at a “normal” life. But Carter has just what Sadie longs for — time with their father. After six years of living apart, the siblings have almost nothing in common. Until now. On Christmas Eve, Sadie and Carter are reunited when their father brings them to the British Museum, with a promise that he’s going to “make things right.” But all does not go according to plan: Carter and Sadie watch as Julius summons a mysterious figure, who quickly banishes their father and causes a fiery explosion. Soon Carter and Sadie discover that the gods of Ancient Egypt are waking, and the worst of them — Set — has a frightening scheme. To save their father, they must embark on a dangerous journey — a quest that brings them ever closer to the truth about their family and its links to the House of Life, a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs.

If you hear of new information please let us know so we can add it to this post. Thanks.

PLEASE SEND ME A PERSONAL MESSAGE WITH THE INFORMATION OR THE TRP INPUT THREAD.

Carter Kane


Residence
The world's airports, hotel rooms, and dig sites.
Never seen without:
Dad's mysterious work duffel.
Why so special?
Encyclopedic knowledge of history, especially as it pertains to Egypt.

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  Sadie Kane
  
  
  Residence:
  London England, East End (Gran's flat)
  Never seen without:
  Headphones and combat boots (and, of course, Muffin).
  Why so special?
  Really good with 'glyphs, a natural born spell-caster
  

Bast


Representing:
Felines, large and small.
Symbol:
cat, lioness, sistrum, Udjat (Eye of Horus)
Why so special?
Imagine if you had every living and breathing cat, large and small, at your beck and call — that's Cat Power.

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CHECK THIS OUT IT IS VERY COOL. SOMEONE HAS TAKEN SMALL BITES OF THE BOOK ON CD AND POSTED THEM

Friday, April 16, 2010


Messages from the Kane Family?



This is kind of odd. Yesterday someone brought these Carter and Sadie posts to my attention. Apparently there’s a few of them out there but here is one example ... If anyone has stumbled across more of these, please post them as I'd like to get some more info.



Posted by Rick Riordan at 7:38 AM

THIS WAS UP THIS MORNING!!! INTERESTING!

Friday, April 23, 2010


Messages from the Kane Family?




Here is another video of the Kane family “tapes” that are circulating online. This one includes an image of the actual “tape" that some people have received in the mail, plus a track of Carter and a separate track of Sadie. It looks like the person who posted it has really taken their time to dissect the content. Let’s keep any eye on this. It must all mean something.

THIS INTERVIEW CAME FROM THE PUFFIN PUBLISHERS IN THE UK.

Q&A with Rick Riordan on THE KANE CHRONICLES
After immersing yourself in Greek mythology for many years, what appealed to you about switching to Egyptian mythology?
Egyptian mythology is a constant source of fascination for kids and adults – mummies, pyramids, curses, hieroglyphics – there is just so much great material. The gods of Egypt are quite complex, and I welcomed the challenge of modernizing a mythology that is not as well known or understood as the Greek, but every bit as colourful.
How do the Egyptian deities compare to the Greek gods? If it came to a battle between the two camps, how would they fare?
The Egyptian gods were harder to pin down, as they were always changing form and combining attributes with one another. They were very powerful, but Egyptians believed you could actually battle gods or threaten them to grant your wishes if you were powerful enough at magic. I think the Greek gods would be confident of victory, but the Egyptian gods would be quite sneaky and might just pull of an upset.
Who is your favourite Egyptian god and why?
I like Bast, the goddess of cats, probably because I’m a cat lover. She was a popular protective goddess, and Egyptians wore her amulets during the unlucky Demon Days at the end of the year. I can appreciate the way Egyptians revered cats. They are fascinating creatures, and they know it!
How did you research Egyptian mythology and magic for the new sequence?
I did a great deal of reading and visited several museums, including the British Museum (of course), the Metropolitan Museum in Manhattan and the Brooklyn Museum.
Have you been to Egypt? If not, do you plan to?
I haven’t been to Egypt but then again I had never been to Greece when I wrote Percy Jackson. I don’t think you have to visit those countries to appreciate their stories and the impact they’ve had on modern civilization, but of course it helps! I’d love to visit Egypt someday.
Were you surprised to find so many pyramids and obelisks scattered around the world? How did this feed into your storytelling?
It is amazing how far Egypt has spread! Its artifacts are everywhere. This was important to my story, as the characters use artifacts to cast magic. I found I could send them almost anywhere in the world because there are artifacts all over. Every country wants to associate itself with historical successful empires. That’s why so many modern countries have Greek and Roman architecture for their important buildings, and why they collect Egyptian obelisks and other symbols of Egypt. My son suggested I set a scene in Russia for the next book. I was dubious, but I did some research and sure enough, there are numerous sphinxes and obelisks even in Russia.
Can you tell us a little about Carter and Sadie Kane, heroes of your new sequence?
Carter is fourteen, and has traveled the world with his father, an Egyptologist, for six years since his mother died. He has never known a regular school or a regular home, but has lived out of a suitcase. He reads a lot, and is very knowledgeable about Egypt, but he doesn’t real know much about being a normal kid. Sadie was raised in London by her maternal grandparents, and sees Carter and her father only twice a year. She has been raised as a normal British schoolgirl, but envies Carter’s travels. The two siblings hardly know each other, and have little in common, but they are thrown together and must find out how to work together.
Carter is home-schooled. What made you want to work this into the story?
My own son Haley was home-schooled for two years, so I was drawing on personal experience. Home-schooling can be an amazing positive endeavor. My son learned so much, and we became quite close during those two years at a time when most adolescents are pulling away from their parents. However, it can be an isolating experience as well, and it tends to yank the child out of the mainstream experience of their peers, which is both good and bad. I thought it would be interesting to use the background for Carter, especially since home-schooling continues to grow ever more popular.
How does it feel having two kid heroes at the heart of this sequence rather than one in the PERCY JACKSON books?
The alternating narrators, Carter and Sadie, are so fun to work with, because they don’t always agree, and they bicker back and forth. It’s quite refreshing to switch between their voices and let them argue their way through the story.
You rather cheekily explode the British Museum at the start of the story. What do you have to say for yourself, to the good people of the UK, on this matter?
To be fair, I did put the museum together again afterwards, mostly. I do tend to cause destruction wherever I go, but the British Museum is in good company. I’ve trashed the New York Met several times, blown a hole in the Saint Louis Arch, relocated Hades under Los Angeles – I could go on and on. I suppose I only explode places I truly respect.
You've been called "The Myth Master" on account of your amazing ability to open portals into ancient myths for contemporary readers. What is it about myth that attracts and intrigues you?
Myth is timeless, ancient, and surprisingly relevant. I love taking characters that are eons old and making them seem like best friends to modern young readers. We can laugh at the gods or get angry at their jealous, selfish ways, but ultimately we understand them, because they are very human.
How hard or easy is it for you to make such ancient myths real and relevant for young readers today?
It’s actually easy for me, which I suppose is why I keep doing it, and why I love my job so much. Writing down the stories and polishing them up is a challenge, but coming up with ways to modernize the characters and events is a snap. I suppose that speaks to how timely the myths still are.

Elliot wrote:Ah, my series!

I did not read all of the text, since I'm assuming I've already seen it elsewhere. But, if you have not already added it, you may want to add that the estimate length of the first book is 520+ pages.

This youtube user has also uploaded several excerpts from the books.
(with horrible dubbing, nonetheless.)
GROPHERDITE

*Is still irritated about Khnum not being in the first book.*

THANKS ELLIOT FOR THIS INFORMATION. THIS IS THE FIRST POSTINGS OF THE MESSAGES FROM CARTER AND SADIE.

RICK IS POSTING INFO ON EGYPTIAN GODS ON HIS TWITTER SITE.





10 days until Kane Chronicles #1: The Red Pyramid, arrives in bookstores. More god tweet previews tomorrow ...




Egyptian god #3: Set, god of deserts, evil and chaos. The Red Lord. Strongest of the gods. Killed brother Osiris. Did I mention he's evil?


Egyptian god #2: Osiris, lord of the dead. Pharaoh until killed by Set and chopped to pieces. Revived by his wife Isis to rule Underworld.


Egyptian god #1: Isis, goddess of magic. Queen of Egypt until Set overthrew her husband. Specialized in tricking ppl of their secret names.

God #6: Horus, god of war. "The Avenger." Son of Isis and Osiris, he took revenge on Uncle Set and reclaimed Egypt. The patron of pharaohs.


God #5: Ra, god of the sun. 1st king of the gods. His sun boat sailed the sky and underworld. At last got old and retired into the heavens.


Egyptian god #4: Bast, goddess of cats. Protector of innocents. Ra's warrior, wields wicked knives. Egyptians (and my family) love cats!

Horus


Representing:
The sky, the air, and everything contained therein.
Symbol:
hawk/falcon, bull, Double Crown, Winged Disk, Udjat, Sphinx, weapons, iron, blacksmiths
Why so special?
Everybody is counting on this guy. No pressure, kid but you're supposed to like ... save the universe.









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God #7: Thoth, god of knowledge, creator of writing and magic, patron of magicians. Sacred animal: the wise and colorfully-bottomed baboon!


God #8: Sobek, god of crocodiles, horrible and strong, both worshipped and feared in Egypt. His sweat created the rivers of the world. Eww!

God #9: Anubis, god of death and funeral rites. Sacred animal: the jackal. Invented mummification and guides souls through the Underworld.

God #10: Serqet, goddess of scorpions, w/a giant scorpion for a crown. DO

God #11: Nut, goddess of the sky. Yes, that's really her name, and no nutty jokes, plz! Her skin is blue with constellations. Osiris' mom.

God #12: Geb, earth god, his wife is a nut (er, I mean Nut). Ra kept them apart b/c a prophecy said their children would overthrow him.

For everyone interested in celebrating the release of Rick's new book.

"The Red Pyramid" Release Party

Saturday, May 8 2:00p
at Borders | Corporate Headquarters, Ann Arbor, MI

All Borders stores are inviting kids to a 2 p.m. May 8 party with activities to celebrate the first in a series of ancient Egyptian-themed books by author Rick Riordan. Learn how to write hieroglyphics and create your own Cartouche, ancient Egyptian artwork, to hang on your walls at home. To find participating Borders location, visit Borders. read more
Price: Free
Phone: (734) 997-8884
Age Suitability: Kids and up
Tags: children, detnews_family

God #13: Sekhmet, the lioness. Ra sent her to punish humanity, until she was tricked into drinking blood-colored beer and passing out!

God #14: Hathor, the gentle goddess of motherhood. When Sekhmet passed out, she transformed into this kindly cow-headed goddess. Go figure.

God #15: Khons, the moon god. Nut once gambled with him and won enough moonlight to create 5 extra days at the year's end. Why? You'll see!

The reviews are beginning to come in, and they are very favorable.

The Ultimate Book Guide




Here you'll find the book musings
of three people:
Leonie Flynn, Daniel Hahn and Susan Reuben - editors of the Ultimate Book Guide series







30 April 2010


Book of the Week (58): "The Red Pyramid (The Kane Chronicles, vol.1)" by Rick Riordan



This is a brilliant, funny and thrilling novel, full of strange magic and mind-blowing adventure. There is never a dull page - the only thing that stopped me reading it cover to cover was school!

Carter and Sadie Kane suddenly find that they have magical powers and their father has been locked in a sarcophagus. They embark on a dangerous quest to save their father and find that not only are the Egyptian Gods real but they are much closer than they ever could have imagined.

Comic in places, really absorbing, tense and exciting – this is even better than ‘Percy Jackson’!

Recommended by Andrew Lewis, Aged 12

News‎ > ‎

THE RED PYRAMID Receives STAR Rating in Review from American Libraries Association
posted
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3 hours ago by Suzanne Koch [ updated
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10 minutes ago ]

BOOKLIST ONLINE the American Library Association online book review and book listing site today gave a STAR rating to The Red Pyramid, Rick Riordan's first book in his new Kane Chronicles series that will be released on Tuesday, May 4, 2010. Rick announced this rating on his Twitter site earlier this afternoon. <TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=441 align=center> <TR> <td height=42 width=419></TD></TR> <TR> <td vAlign=top><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"> <TR> <td colSpan=3> </TD></TR> <TR> <td vAlign=top width=14> </TD> <td vAlign=top width=29> </TD> <td> The Red Pyramid. Riordan, Rick (author). May 2010. 528p. Hyperion, hardcover, $17.99 . Grades 5-8. First published April 30, 2010 (Booklist Online). <TABLE style="CLEAR: left" border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0> <TR> <td width="50%"></TD> <td width=300 align=right></TD></TR></TABLE> Since their mother’s death, six years ago, 12-year-old Sadie Kane has lived in London with her maternal grandparents while her older brother, 14-year-old Carter, has traveled the world with their father, a renowned African American Egyptologist. In London on Christmas Eve for a rare evening together, Carter and Sadie accompany their dad to the British Museum, where he blows up the Rosetta Stone in summoning an Egyptian god. Unleashed, the vengeful god overpowers and entombs him, but Sadie and Carter escape. Initially determined to rescue their father, their mission expands to include understanding their hidden magical powers as the descendants of the pharaohs and taking on the ancient forces bent on destroying mankind. The first-person narrative shifts between Carter and Sadie, giving the novel an intriguing dual perspective made more complex by their biracial heritage and the tension between the siblings, who barely know each other at the story’s beginning. The first volume in the Kane Chronicles, this fantasy adventure delivers what fans loved about the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series: young protagonists with previously unsuspected magical powers, a riveting story marked by headlong adventure, a complex background rooted in ancient mythology, and wry, witty twenty-first-century narration. The last pages contain a clever twist that will leave readers secretly longing to open their lockers at the start of school.— Carolyn Phelan </TD></TR></TABLE></TD></TR></TABLE>

Thank you alot suz for all the infomation

New Gods from Rick's Twitter:
Crazy day, but 1 more Egyptian god for you: Apep, the great chaos serpent. Also called Apophis. Ra's mortal enemy, wants to swallow the sun.

Egyptian god of the day: Khnum, ram's-headed god of artisans and craftsmen. He created 1st humans out of clay on his potter's wheel.

Isis


Representing:
The mothers and children of the world.
Symbol:
tiet (the "Knot of Isis"), throne, kite, scorpion, sistrum
Why so special?
You have to wake up pretty early in the morning to outsmart the sun god, Ra. Isis is as smart as she is beautiful.

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From a USA today article on Rick


Their adventure begins, as Carter says, "the night our dad blew up the British Museum." As dad disappears, a scary lineup of Egyptian gods awake.

It's up to Carter, with new surges of strength, and Sadie, who's suddenly able to translate hieroglyphics, to save their dad.

The 516-page plot is filled with as many twists as the Nile. Carter and Sadie's quest includes London, New York, Paris, Washington, D.C., Memphis, New Mexico and Cairo.

Riordan employs figures from Egyptian mythology, including Set, god of evil, chaos and darkness (how's that for a portfolio?), and Nut, the "sky goddess," who prompts Sadie to quip, "a goddess named Nut? Is her last name Case?" Mentioned in passing is the kids' multi-racial background: Dad is black, mom was white. "I was always the different girl," Sadie says.

She and her brother take turns as rivals and wise-cracking, skeptical narrators: "So, yeah, our cat was a goddess," Carter reports. "What else is new?"

Riordan, a former teacher, blends page-turning action with mini-lessons in mythology and history. Who knew about Hatshepsut, the female pharaoh who wore a fake beard and ruled Egypt as a man?

Carter and Sadie learn the Egyptian word for writer, shesh, also can mean magician, and that magic, at its most basic, turns words into reality.

Riordan, who practices his own magic, will continue Carter and Sadie's adventures in at least two more books in the series. He shows no signs of running out of ideas.

From the Wall Street Journel by Chris Farley

We spoke with the 45-year-old author about New York, extraordinary stories, and his most important readers.

The Wall Street Journal: Why do so many New York landmarks and institutions like the Metropolitan Museum of Art pop up in your books?
Rick Riordan: The Met is such a powerful place for me because it's a natural connection between the ancient world and the modern world. And when you're dealing with ancient mythology, trying to put a modern spin on it, you really can't do much better than to call on the Met. It's this vibrant cultural institution right in the middle of New York which I always considered the pulse of American society.If I were a god, whether Greek or Egyptian, that's where I would want to make my headquarters.

WSJ: You were born in San Antonio, Tex. and you still live there. What inspired you to write about places outside your home base?
Mr. Riordan: I've always liked the idea that writing is a form of travel. And I started my writing career as a mystery novelist for adults. My first book was published in '97 and it was a mystery novel set in my hometown, San Antonio. I have done seven books in that series. So by the time I got to Percy Jackson, I had already done a pretty good tribute to my home territory. That freed me up to go to different places and to explore through my writing for kids. I still see my sons [Patrick, 12, and Haley, 15] as my main audience. So I pick places that we've traveled to as a family so my kids can visualize what's happening…The idea of a hero's quest, of traveling to someplace, is really a powerful one.

WSJ: "The Kane Chronicles" has two narrators: a boy, Carter, who identifies as African-American, and his sister, Sadie, who sees herself as multiracial. Very rarely in fantasy books do you have multicultural heroes.
Mr. Riordan: They're actually based on two siblings that I taught when I was in San Francisco. It's hard enough to be a middle-school kid, because you're dealing with so many facets of your identity—you're changing socially, you're changing physically, you're changing emotionally, everything is in flux, and to put race on top of that as well and have to figure out your racial identity is extremely hard.
When you're dealing with Egypt, [it's] a very ancient multicultural society…The European tradition has sort of appropriated Egypt and said "Oh that's not really Africa," and I think by firmly putting Egypt back into the realm of African history, I think that's important.

WSJ: What kind of an effect do your kids have on your writing?
Mr. Riordan: "The Lightning Thief" [the first "Percy Jackson" book] began as a bedtime story for Haley when he was nine and struggling with learning disabilities. He had just been diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia. Percy Jackson is ADHD and dyslexic because Haley is, and as I was telling him this story as a bedtime story I wanted him to have a character that he could relate to. And a character with learning differences who was put in a heroic situation and cast in a positive light, where learning disabilities were treated as signals that you were, in fact, very special and very important rather than treated as a stigma.
Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page A28

The last of the portraits on the Kane Chronicles website.

Set


Representing:
Evil, chaos, and darkness.
Symbol:
Seth-animal, pigs, donkeys, fishes
Why so special?
He owns the record for most "coffin captures". He just can't help himself — he's brimming with jealous rage.







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