The Kane Chronicles

Today's special is the Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan. Already slightly busy with the Percy Jackson series, and its sequel – The Lost Hero, plus organizing and writing part of the 39 Clues series, Riordan somehow found time to work on yet another successful and excellent juvenile series - the Kane Chronicles.

With the first two books done and the third, and supposedly final book due in the Spring of 2012, Riordan must not have much time for hobbies like flyfishing or golf. The series is supposed to be a trilogy, but I'll believe that when I don't see a fourth book. Riordan's characters seem to go on forever – part of what makes me very happy!

Where the Percy Jackson series embraced the world of the Greek Gods, the Kane Chronicles does the same for Egypt. Carter and Sadie Kane, a brother and sister who are complete opposites, share the telling of the story with each taking charge of the microphone for different chapters. Carter, raised by their father, is black, American, and ultra responsible. He grew up in hotel rooms as their father, an archaeologist, home schooled him and moved them between dig sites and lectures – always living out of a suitcase and never staying in one place for very long. Sadie, the younger of the two, was raised by their maternal grandparents, is white, English, and a bit of a rebel. Their mother died in an accident when Carter and Sadie were little, and after a bitter custody dispute (at least that's what they were told), the two were split up and only see each other at Christmas.

Of course, what they don't realize, is that they are really "blood of the pharaohs" and they come from a long line of Egyptian magicians. Actually, they come from two long lines of Egyptian magicians – which means double the trouble and the real reason they were kept apart as children – too many explosions! After their father is abducted to the underworld during an explosion at the British Museum, the two set out on a quest to rescue him. Plenty of monsters, more explosions, magic, Egyptian mythology, and the uncovering of their ancient Egyptian lineage ensue. Great fun!

The narration is a bit unusual as Kathrine Kellgren voices Sadie and Kevin R. Free voices Carter. The two switch off covering different chapters in the story. The premise is that the story is actually a recording they are going to hide at a later date for future young magicians who are discovering their powers. These students will be drawn to the location of the recording, which will then explain what's going on.

Love the series, love Rick Riordan, love these two readers. Enough said!

I downloaded both books from Library to Go. You can listen to samples there, or at the Brilliance Audio links below.

Listen Up!

The Red Pyramid, 15 hours, Brilliance Audio, (2010)

The Throne of Fire, 13 hours, Brilliance Audio, (2011)
The third book comes out in the Spring of 2012

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Percy Jackson is what I call a 'go to series' – I have the entire series (5 books that aren't too long) on my MP3 player and whenever I'm between books they are like old friends I can visit and listen to again and again. I have real human friends who mock me for my ability to listen to the same book, or watch the same movie, again and again. I just ignore their jeers and turn the volume up to drown out their taunts.

The series, by Rick Riordan, starts with The Lightning Thief. It follows the adventures of Percy Jackson – a dyslexic young teen who discovers his missing father is really the Greek god Poseidon, and that he is considered a demi-god or halfblood (half god / half human). After spending a good deal of his childhood being chased by monsters, he ends up at Camp Halfblood, a summer camp where he and other halfbloods learn archery, chariot racing, Pegasus riding, and basic survival skills that include how to fight monsters. While at camp Percy is given a quest and if he succeeds he will save the world. If he fails we are all doomed – this pretty much happens in each of the books. His best friends Annabeth, a daughter of Athena, Grover, a Satyr - half goat / half human, and his half brother Tyson, a cyclops, join him on his adventures. I won't go into the plot of each of the books but by the end of the last book Percy and his campmates must save Mount Olympus, which currently resides on top of the Empire State Building, and the rest of the world in a giant battle of good vs. evil.

All of Rick Riordan's books are a great read / listen. They are full of excellent characters, plenty of action, and in this case – excellent lessons on Greek Mythology. Riordan successfully takes Greek myths out of the past and makes them a bit more immediate and relevant.

The relationships between the characters are also outstanding. I liken this series to the Harry Potter books and many people who like Harry Potter are also fans of Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Jesse Bernstein, who narrates the series, is one of the few American readers I really enjoy. He voices the characters with amazing consistency and  switches so effortlessly between characters that I forget I'm listening to someone reading to me. I'm actually lulled into believing I'm listening to the characters themselves. I think this is the ultimate test of an audiobook reader – do I forget I'm listening to an audiobook? I've even started looking for other things Bernstein has read.

In 2010 Rick Riordan started a new series, The Heroes of Olympus, that starts where the previous one left off. I'll review that one later. Jesse Bernstein doesn't read it.

I downloaded all five books for free through the BC Public Library's Library to Go site. You can download excerpts from there, or from the Random House Audio / Listening Library links below.

Listen Up!

The Lightning Thief, (10 hours, 2 minutes), Listening Library, (2005)
The Sea of Monsters, (7 hours, 56 minutes), Listening Library, (2006)
The Titan's Curse, (8 hours, 48 minutes), Listening Library, (2007)
The Battle of the Labyrinth, (10 hours, 33 minutes), Listening, Library (2008)
The Last Olympian, (11 hours, 0 minutes), Listening Library, (2009)