The Throne of Fire
Encyclopedia
The Throne of Fire is a 2011 fantasy
adventure novel
based on Egyptian mythology written by Rick Riordan
. It is the second novel in The Kane Chronicles
series, which tells of the adventures of modern day fourteen-year-old Carter Kane and his thirteen-year-old sister Sadie Kane, as they discover that they are descended from the ancient Egyptian pharaoh
s Narmer
and Ramesses the Great
. It was released on May 3rd, 2011. The book takes place roughly three months after the first one The Red Pyramid
.
—is rising. If they do not prevent him from breaking free in a few days' time, the world will come to an end.
The story begins with Carter and Sadie breaking in to the Brooklyn Museum during a wedding to search for a part of the Book of Ra, which will allow them to wake up Ra to help them imprison or kill Apophis, the lord of chaos. Along with them are Khufu the baboon, and their new trainees, Jaz and Walt. Instead, they find a papyrus scroll that is booby trapped with a series of fire traps. As Carter and Walt distract the demons that are a part of the booby trap, Jaz perform a spell that banishes the demons back to the Duat
, but Jaz ends up falling into a coma. Before she does, she manages to hand Sadie a wax statue to heal Carter.
Carter escapes from the museum with the griffin before the police arrive. When they arrive back in the mansion, Carter explains to the new trainees that they must find Ra, the sun god, before Apophis wakes in four days and swallows the sun as well as all of existence. They also find out that to do this, they must find the three scrolls that control the embodiments of Ra, one of them being the scroll that Sadie found in the museum. However, new enemies await, such as Vladimir (Menshikov) who serves Apophis and holds one of the key scrolls in freeing Ra.[5][6]
Sadie returns to London to celebrate her 13th birthday, but when she arrived, her grandparents were forced to host Nekhbet
, the vulture goddess, and Babi
, the baboon god, and hunting down Sadie, and her friends, Liz and Emma. While escaping the two gods she has a short conversation with Anubis. There she is given directions as to where she has to go next, a netjeri knife, and a sweet kiss from Anubis. After they are rescued by the dwarf god Bes
, who was able to use his extreme ugliness as a weapon. They met up with Carter and Walt along the way. When Bes
opens a portal, he insists for Walt to get out for reasons Sadie and Carter do not know. They teleported to Russia, Menshikov's Nome. They get inside Menshikov's headquarters, and found out that he was summoning Set. They get the scroll but were attacked by Menshikov's two-headed snake (tjesu heru). Sadie manages to destroy the snake, but not before it bites Carter. Set tells them the location of the last scroll: The Valley of the Golden Mummies
, and also the location of the real Zia, in exchange for his "secret name". After Sadie heals Carter with the statue, Sadie calls on Walt to help her with the scroll, while Bes and Carter go to find Zia.
Carter and Bes find some nomads to take them to The Place of Red Sands, Zia's birthplace and where she was hidden. Nephthys
, who was using Zia as a host, leaves Zia, but Mehsikov and Desjarins arrive. Carter finds the weapons of Ra, the crook and flail, and uses it to defeat Menshikov, but Menshikov attempts to curse him.while Bast is trapped in a cage. Meanwhile, Sadie and Walt arrives at the Valley of the Golden Mummies, meeting a Roman ghost called Appius Claudius Iratus (Mad Claude), who wants them to get the mummies' spirit to the Afterlife, as the rites were not done properly. When they cannot, Mad Claude got really angry and called on the other mummies to kill them. Sadie manages to find the last scroll, but they got trapped by mummies. Ptah
, a god, sends rats to help them and creates a portal to Carter and Bes. The portal destroys Bes' cage, and he scared them away. It turns out Walt is cursed and will die young, which was why Bes sent him away. Menshikov is preparing an army to attack Brooklyn House, so Walt and Zia goes back to protect it, while Sadie, Bes, and Carter goes into the Duat to free Ra and defeat Apophis.
There were 12 Houses, each representing an hour of the night. At the Gates of the Fourth House (Can only be entered before 4 O'clock), they find Khnum, the first part of Ra, who forgot what his secret name is. Using the Book of Ra, Sadie read out his secret name, returning his essence to the scroll. They enter the Fourth House, and it took them four hours to find Ra, who was really senile, with the help of Tawaret, who has history with Bes. The Eighth House can only be entered at 8 O'clock. They travel to the Seventh House, where Osiris, a.k.a, their dad, and the ghost of their mom, awaits them. They invite Khonsu, the moon god, who can add more time into the night, but you have to gamble for it. If they lose a round, their identity (Ren) will be consumed. They will have no memories. They have to win 3 rounds of senet
. In the end, they won the first round, but lost the second, causing Bes' identity to be lost. They won the last two, and given the extra time, they get into the Gates of the Eighth House and travel towards the Twelfth House. Menshikov was there, possessed by Apophis. They get Ra to merge with his last aspect, Khepri
the scarab god, but freed Apophis (they must in order to get Khepri). It turns out Desjarins witnessed it, and helped them banish Apophis, but got burned up using too much magic. He warned that Apophis will return in time.
They get back to Brooklyn House, found out that because of the power of Ra, they were able to hold the enemies and win the fight. But the gods were not happy with them, especially Horus and Isis, since bringing back Ra made Horus lose his throne. Walt is dying in a year unless they can find a cure, which was lost, since Menshikov was the last person to know it. Bes was sitting in the Fourth House, not having any memories, not knowing who and where he is. Apophis will return, and Ra is in no shape to fight him. The House of Life is still trying to crush them, as they think that Desjarins died by the hands of the Kanes, and Amos is the new Chief Lector.
It was released in the third week of April, 2011 in Indonesia
, via local bookstore Periplus. A preview was published in USA Today
.
The Throne of Fire debuted on the New York Times Bestseller List on May 22nd at #1, and has held that spot as of the week of June 12th.
Fantasy literature
Fantasy literature is fantasy in written form. Historically speaking, literature has composed the majority of fantasy works. Since the 1950s however, a growing segment of the fantasy genre has taken the form of films, television programs, graphic novels, video games, music, painting, and other...
adventure novel
Adventure novel
The adventure novel is a genre of novels that has adventure, an exciting undertaking involving risk and physical danger, as its main theme.-History:...
based on Egyptian mythology written by Rick Riordan
Rick Riordan
Richard Russell "Rick" Riordan, Jr. is an American author best known for writing the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. He also wrote the Tres Navarre mystery series for adults and helped to edit Demigods and Monsters, a collection of essays on the topic of his Percy Jackson series...
. It is the second novel in The Kane Chronicles
The Kane Chronicles
The Kane Chronicles is a fictional trilogy by Rick Riordan about the adventures undertaken by Carter and Sadie Kane, the two main characters, in their quest to awaken the sun god,Ra.He is the god of all the gods or the supreme god. It is set in the modern United States, in the same sort of universe...
series, which tells of the adventures of modern day fourteen-year-old Carter Kane and his thirteen-year-old sister Sadie Kane, as they discover that they are descended from the ancient Egyptian pharaoh
Pharaoh
Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...
s Narmer
Narmer
Narmer was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Early Dynastic Period . He is thought to be the successor to the Protodynastic pharaohs Scorpion and/or Ka, and he is considered by some to be the unifier of Egypt and founder of the First Dynasty, and therefore the first pharaoh of unified Egypt.The...
and Ramesses the Great
Ramesses II
Ramesses II , referred to as Ramesses the Great, was the third Egyptian pharaoh of the Nineteenth dynasty. He is often regarded as the greatest, most celebrated, and most powerful pharaoh of the Egyptian Empire...
. It was released on May 3rd, 2011. The book takes place roughly three months after the first one The Red Pyramid
The Red Pyramid (novel)
The Red Pyramid is a 2010 fantasy adventure novel based on Egyptian mythology written by Rick Riordan. It is the first novel in The Kane Chronicles series, which tells of the adventures of modern day fourteen-year-old Carter Kane and his twelve-year-old sister Sadie Kane, as they discover that they...
.
Plot
Ever since the gods of Ancient Egypt were unleashed in the modern world, Carter Kane and his sister Sadie have been in trouble. As descendants of the House of Life, the Kanes have some powers at their command, but the devious gods have not given them much time to master their skills at Brooklyn House, which has become a training ground for young magicians. The other branches of the House of Life are hunting the Kanes down once they left the safety of their branch, the Brooklyn House. And now their most threatening enemy yet—the chaos serpent ApophisApep
In Egyptian mythology, Apep was an evil god, the deification of darkness and chaos , and thus opponent of light and Ma'at , whose existence was believed from the 8th Dynasty onwards...
—is rising. If they do not prevent him from breaking free in a few days' time, the world will come to an end.
The story begins with Carter and Sadie breaking in to the Brooklyn Museum during a wedding to search for a part of the Book of Ra, which will allow them to wake up Ra to help them imprison or kill Apophis, the lord of chaos. Along with them are Khufu the baboon, and their new trainees, Jaz and Walt. Instead, they find a papyrus scroll that is booby trapped with a series of fire traps. As Carter and Walt distract the demons that are a part of the booby trap, Jaz perform a spell that banishes the demons back to the Duat
Duat
In Egyptian mythology, Duat is the underworld. The Duat is a vast area under the Earth, connected with Nun, the waters of the primordial abyss. The Duat is the realm of the god Osiris and the residence of other gods and supernatural beings...
, but Jaz ends up falling into a coma. Before she does, she manages to hand Sadie a wax statue to heal Carter.
Carter escapes from the museum with the griffin before the police arrive. When they arrive back in the mansion, Carter explains to the new trainees that they must find Ra, the sun god, before Apophis wakes in four days and swallows the sun as well as all of existence. They also find out that to do this, they must find the three scrolls that control the embodiments of Ra, one of them being the scroll that Sadie found in the museum. However, new enemies await, such as Vladimir (Menshikov) who serves Apophis and holds one of the key scrolls in freeing Ra.[5][6]
Sadie returns to London to celebrate her 13th birthday, but when she arrived, her grandparents were forced to host Nekhbet
Nekhbet
In Egyptian mythology, Nekhbet was an early predynastic local goddess who was the patron of the city of Nekheb, her name meaning of Nekheb...
, the vulture goddess, and Babi
Babi (mythology)
In Egyptian mythology, Babi, also Baba, was the deification of the baboon, one of the animals present in Egypt. His name is usually translated as Bull of the baboons, and roughly means Alpha male of all baboons, i.e. chief of the baboons...
, the baboon god, and hunting down Sadie, and her friends, Liz and Emma. While escaping the two gods she has a short conversation with Anubis. There she is given directions as to where she has to go next, a netjeri knife, and a sweet kiss from Anubis. After they are rescued by the dwarf god Bes
Bes
Bes was an Egyptian deity worshipped in the later periods of dynastic history as a protector of households and in particular mothers and children. In time he would be regarded as the defender of everything good and the enemy of all that is bad...
, who was able to use his extreme ugliness as a weapon. They met up with Carter and Walt along the way. When Bes
Bes
Bes was an Egyptian deity worshipped in the later periods of dynastic history as a protector of households and in particular mothers and children. In time he would be regarded as the defender of everything good and the enemy of all that is bad...
opens a portal, he insists for Walt to get out for reasons Sadie and Carter do not know. They teleported to Russia, Menshikov's Nome. They get inside Menshikov's headquarters, and found out that he was summoning Set. They get the scroll but were attacked by Menshikov's two-headed snake (tjesu heru). Sadie manages to destroy the snake, but not before it bites Carter. Set tells them the location of the last scroll: The Valley of the Golden Mummies
Valley of the Golden Mummies
The Valley of the Golden Mummies is a huge burial site at Bahariya Oasis in the Western Desert of Egypt, discovered by Dr. Zahi Hawass in 1996. Hawass and his Egyptian team found around 250 mummies over several seasons; however, the site has more than this number - according to the excavator even...
, and also the location of the real Zia, in exchange for his "secret name". After Sadie heals Carter with the statue, Sadie calls on Walt to help her with the scroll, while Bes and Carter go to find Zia.
Carter and Bes find some nomads to take them to The Place of Red Sands, Zia's birthplace and where she was hidden. Nephthys
Nephthys
In Egyptian mythology, Nephthys is a member of the Great Ennead of Heliopolis, a daughter of Nut and Geb. Nephthys was typically paired with her sister Isis in funerary rites because of their role as protectors of the mummy and the god Osiris and as the sister-wife of Seth.Nephthys is regarded as...
, who was using Zia as a host, leaves Zia, but Mehsikov and Desjarins arrive. Carter finds the weapons of Ra, the crook and flail, and uses it to defeat Menshikov, but Menshikov attempts to curse him.while Bast is trapped in a cage. Meanwhile, Sadie and Walt arrives at the Valley of the Golden Mummies, meeting a Roman ghost called Appius Claudius Iratus (Mad Claude), who wants them to get the mummies' spirit to the Afterlife, as the rites were not done properly. When they cannot, Mad Claude got really angry and called on the other mummies to kill them. Sadie manages to find the last scroll, but they got trapped by mummies. Ptah
Ptah
In Ancient Egyptian Religion, Ptah was the deification of the primordial mound in the Ennead cosmogony, which was more literally referred to as Ta-tenen , meaning risen land, or as Tanen, meaning submerged land, though Tatenen was a god in his...
, a god, sends rats to help them and creates a portal to Carter and Bes. The portal destroys Bes' cage, and he scared them away. It turns out Walt is cursed and will die young, which was why Bes sent him away. Menshikov is preparing an army to attack Brooklyn House, so Walt and Zia goes back to protect it, while Sadie, Bes, and Carter goes into the Duat to free Ra and defeat Apophis.
There were 12 Houses, each representing an hour of the night. At the Gates of the Fourth House (Can only be entered before 4 O'clock), they find Khnum, the first part of Ra, who forgot what his secret name is. Using the Book of Ra, Sadie read out his secret name, returning his essence to the scroll. They enter the Fourth House, and it took them four hours to find Ra, who was really senile, with the help of Tawaret, who has history with Bes. The Eighth House can only be entered at 8 O'clock. They travel to the Seventh House, where Osiris, a.k.a, their dad, and the ghost of their mom, awaits them. They invite Khonsu, the moon god, who can add more time into the night, but you have to gamble for it. If they lose a round, their identity (Ren) will be consumed. They will have no memories. They have to win 3 rounds of senet
Senet
Senet is a board game from predynastic and ancient Egypt. The oldest hieroglyph representing a Senet game dates to around 3100 BC. The full name of the game in Egyptian was zn.t n.t ḥˁb meaning the "game of passing."- History :...
. In the end, they won the first round, but lost the second, causing Bes' identity to be lost. They won the last two, and given the extra time, they get into the Gates of the Eighth House and travel towards the Twelfth House. Menshikov was there, possessed by Apophis. They get Ra to merge with his last aspect, Khepri
Khepri
This article is about the Egyptian god. For the type of robot, see Khepera mobile robot.In Egyptian mythology, Khepri is the name of a major god. Khepri is associated with the dung beetle , whose behavior of maintaining spherical balls of dung represents the forces which move the sun...
the scarab god, but freed Apophis (they must in order to get Khepri). It turns out Desjarins witnessed it, and helped them banish Apophis, but got burned up using too much magic. He warned that Apophis will return in time.
They get back to Brooklyn House, found out that because of the power of Ra, they were able to hold the enemies and win the fight. But the gods were not happy with them, especially Horus and Isis, since bringing back Ra made Horus lose his throne. Walt is dying in a year unless they can find a cure, which was lost, since Menshikov was the last person to know it. Bes was sitting in the Fourth House, not having any memories, not knowing who and where he is. Apophis will return, and Ra is in no shape to fight him. The House of Life is still trying to crush them, as they think that Desjarins died by the hands of the Kanes, and Amos is the new Chief Lector.
Major characters
- Carter Kane: He is fourteen and was a host of HorusHorusHorus is one of the oldest and most significant deities in the Ancient Egyptian religion, who was worshipped from at least the late Predynastic period through to Greco-Roman times. Different forms of Horus are recorded in history and these are treated as distinct gods by Egyptologists...
. Since he was 8, when his mother died, he traveled with his father, Julius Kane. He is Sadie's brother. - Sadie Kane: She turns thirteen in this book and was a host of IsisIsisIsis or in original more likely Aset is a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. She was worshipped as the ideal mother and wife as well as the matron of nature and magic...
. She loves gum and has lived with her grandparents since the age of six. She was stubborn. She had a cat who was actually Bast, the Egyptian goddess of cats, who protected Sadie in her cat form her until Sadie found out about the Egyptian gods. - Amos Kane: Their uncle who is a very powerful magician, he also is a jazz musician. He used to be the host of SetSet (mythology)Set was in Ancient Egyptian religion, a god of the desert, storms, and foreigners. In later myths he was also the god of darkness, and chaos...
. - Walt: One of Sadie and Carter's initiates at the Brooklyn House, which is a part of the House of Life that urges magicians to return to the path of the gods to battle Apophis. Walt is a descendent of the pharaoh, AkhenatenAkhenatenAkhenaten also spelled Echnaton,Ikhnaton,and Khuenaten;meaning "living spirit of Aten") known before the fifth year of his reign as Amenhotep IV , was a Pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt who ruled for 17 years and died perhaps in 1336 BC or 1334 BC...
who exiled all the gods except the god Aten. Therefore, Akhenaten's descendents have been cursed and the more they practice magic, the faster it progresses. The curse causes it's victims to die at a very young age. Walt suffers from this curse. Sadie is in love with him. - Jaz: A cheerleader from Nashville, Tennessee, she is one of Sadie and Carter's initiates at the Brooklyn House. She is a healer. She accompanies them to the Brooklyn Museum to find a scroll from the Book of Ra, but falls into a coma after stopping the Arrows of Sekhmet when they were accidentally unleashed. She comes out of her coma just in time to fight some magicians attacking the Brooklyn House.
- Vladamir Menshikov: Grandson of the great Generalissimo of the Russian Empire, Alexander Menshikov 18th. Nome, Russia. He has been (willingly) enslaved by Apophis. He tries to become the host of the Apophis to release him and let chaos rule for ever. Sadie and Carter go on a quest to stop him.
- Zia Rashid, a fourteen year-old girl who is a fire specialist in House of Life. She was hosting Nephthys, a water goddess, which can be fatal for a fire specialist. The former Chief Lector Iskandar hid her in the Nile to protect her from Apophis and replaced her with a shabtiUshabtiThe ushabti was a funerary figurine used in Ancient Egypt. Ushabtis were placed in tombs among the grave goods and were intended to act as substitutes for the deceased, should he/she be called upon to do manual labor in the afterlife...
to cover her absence in the first book. In this book the real Zia is finally awakened by Carter. - Bes, the dwarf god, although very ugly, he has a fun, brave and great personality, he helps Carter and Sadie in their quest until his 'ren' is devoured by the moon god, Khonsu.
- Anubis, the Egyptian god of death and funerals, Sadie Kane appears to have a double crush on him and Walt.
Release
Rick Riordan announced that there will be a sequel coming out on May 3, 2011. The title, The Throne of Fire, was announced in a blog post by Riordan on January 13, 2011. The book was released worldwide on May 3, 2011.It was released in the third week of April, 2011 in Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, via local bookstore Periplus. A preview was published in USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
.
The Throne of Fire debuted on the New York Times Bestseller List on May 22nd at #1, and has held that spot as of the week of June 12th.