I’m going to skip the blurb for now and just include the first page, which might be the best story beginning I’ve heard in a long time. It reminded me of those choose your own adventure books, and definitely caught m attention.

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 the 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 those numbers mean. Just remember the story we’re about to tell you isn’t complete yet. How it ends will depend 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 possess 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 did for you. Then be prepared for your life to get very interesting.

Okay, Sadie is 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.

Interested? Now here’s the blurb:

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.

My thoughts:

I really enjoyed the first page of this book, and the second half of this book. The first half was just overwhelming. I couldn’t connect with the characters at first because there was so much going on, and so many characters and settings, and world building stuff thrown at me that I just didn’t care all that much.

But I persisted because I remember having the same problem with the first Percy Jackson book, and now I love that series. Riordan is a fantastic writer, but beginnings that engage me don’t seem to be his strong suit. It’s hard to get invested in a character or their world when you don’t understand it. Granted, his characters don’t get his worlds either at first, but I don’t know them well enough to be good agents into the story. I’m glad I stuck with it because the second half of the book was amazing. The protagonists, siblings Sadie and Carter Kane did grow on me and I can’t wait to see what happens next.