After the immense success of his Percy Jackson series, Rick Riordan didn’t wait long before creating another mythological masterpiece for us fans. The Kane Chronicles is a new series by the bestselling author, with The Red Pyramid featured as its debut novel. Only published a month ago, it’s just as fast-paced, god-filled, and adventurous as the Percy Jackson novels we’ve come to know and love, though much lengthier. (Some spoilers ahead.)

Carter and Sadie Kane are siblings—a big variance from our dynamic love-struck duo in PJ. That doesn’t make them any less interesting, though. Carter is a bit conservative (at least in the way he dresses), while Sadie is a bit of a punk. Her character reminds me of a tamer version of Natalia Tena’s Ellie character in the About a Boy film. There is a similar aspect that the two have in common with Percy and Annabel, too; both seem like pretty normal teenagers. And while that’s okay, I was kind of disappointed. You might think that Carter, who travels with his father all over the world, would be a bit more knowledgeable than he is; and while Sadie is quite adventurous and rebellious in action, in her speech—after the first few chapters—she doesn’t differ far from her brother. This was something that always was a bit of a downer for me in the PJ series as well, since I thought Annabel at least should have been a bit more brainer (perhaps a lot more…) than she was portrayed. Still, Riordan keeps his cast accessible for his target audience.

Fans of Riordan’s fast pace and use of mythology will not be disappointed—though instead of the Greek pantheon, Egyptian gods and goddesses are used. Monsters, enchantments, betrayals and more abound, and provide the kind of excitement we expect from Riordan. There is even a nod to the PJ series, if you look for it! However, the humor we know and love from the author—while still present—isn’t nearly as prevalent as it was in Percy’s books. And the somewhat annoying “finding out stuff in our sleep” tactic is once again used quite a bit.

That said, it’s still well worth the read. Fans are likely to read it in one setting, and to be on their toes, ready for the sequel. Unfortunately, if you’re like me and you read all of the Olympians series one after another when the last book was published, you’re out of luck this time; according to Riordan, the sequel won’t be out until spring 2011.