The Kane Chronicles

The Kane Chronicles

The US and UK logo for The Kane Chronicles
The Red Pyramid The Throne of Fire The Serpent's Shadow
Author	Rick Riordan
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Fantasy novels
Publisher	Disney Hyperion and Puffin Books
Published	2010–2012
Media type	Print (hardback and paperback)

The Kane Chronicles is a series of novels by Rick Riordan. Based on Egyptian mythology, the story follows characters Carter and Sadie Kane in their quest to discover the truth about their family, and save the world. It is set in the modern day United States and United Kingdom, in the same universe as Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus. The first book, The Red Pyramid, was released on May 4, 2010. The second, The Throne of Fire, followed on May 4, 2011. The third and last volume, The Serpent's Shadow, was released on May 1, 2012.

The novels are narrated alternately by the two protagonists, siblings Carter and Sadie Kane, who discover that they are part of a magical line descended from Pharaohs Narmer and Ramses the Great. They learn of the existence of Egyptian gods and goddesses, and mythical beings such as magicians and shabti. Riordan explained his inspiration in an interview:

“In my classroom, there was only one thing that was more popular than Ancient Greece, and that was Ancient Egypt,” said Riordan, who taught middle-school Social Studies and English for 15 years. “This was a matter of listening to a lot of fans, and a lot of young readers.”

Plot

Book One: The Red Pyramid

The book is written as a recording made by the Kane siblings, Carter and Sadie. The story begins when Carter Kane and his father, Julius Kane, go to London to visit Sadie, Carter's sister who lives separately from them. Julius takes them to the British Museum to "study" the Rosetta Stone. He actually has deeper motives, and he tries to summon Osiris, the Egyptian god of the Underworld, with the stone as an anchor. It goes wrong when all the other four major gods are brought out, and Set, the Egyptian god of storms and chaos, imprisons Julius (now a host of Osiris) in a coffin.

Carter and Sadie were taken to Brooklyn by their uncle, Amos. He goes to find Set, leaving the two near-stranger siblings alone with a baboon called Khufu who only eats things that end in the letter -o (e.g. Jell-o [in which he will eat anything], flamingo, Oreos, tacos, etc). In the library of the Brooklyn mansion, they begin to discover signs that they are descended from famous pharaohs. Julius' side of the family was descended from Narmer while their dead mother, Ruby, had a family originated from Ramesses the Great. The term is blood of the pharaohs. When Sadie and Carter reach New York, they talk about how in Egypt people lived on the East side of the river because the sun rose in the east and they buried their dead in the west. Sadie asks why they cannot live in Manhattan. Amos replies that there are other gods, and they should stay away. This is a link between this book and the Percy Jackson Series.

Just then, the mansion is attacked by serpent leopards, also known as serpopards. Sadie's cat, Muffin, turns out be the cat goddess Bast. She makes quick work of the serpopards, but the three are forced to run when the carriers tails them. They go into Manhattan. At the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bast attempts to have them go in the Duat – a magical realm right underneath the mortal realm. Instead, the goddess of scorpions, Serqet, fights Bast and supposedly overpowers her.

In the museum, Carter and Sadie find Zia Rashid. She is the scribe of the First Nome, the main nome of the House of Life, that had magicians trying to protect people and fight gods. Carter develops a massive crush on Zia in the book. Zia combats Serqet and bans her from her host by using the Seven Ribbons of Hathor spell.

Zia takes the two to the First Nome, where Chief Lector Iskandar, the House of Life leader, and Desjardins, the second-in-command, brought up the assumption that they were both hosts of gods. Sadie and Iskandar have a talk, and the old Chief Lector tells her about the hosts. They were mortals who the gods inhabited to leave the Duat and be in the mortal realm.

The next day, the two siblings begin their training. Zia teaches them the concept of casting hieroglyphs to use magic. Carter surprises Sadie and Zia by summoning a combat avatar – it is magic that Bast used to fight Serqet – of Horus, the falcon war god. Their training is disrupted when a magician informs Zia that Iskandar is dead and Desjardins is next in line for the throne. Sadie creates a portal and they escape to Paris because Desjardins would want to kill them because they are hosts, but not before bringing sphinxes with them. Bast, who is fine, takes care of them, and all of them infiltrate Desjardins' house so they could take a book to fight Set.

At Washington, D.C they are chased by the Set animal, who Carter named Leroy. Carter stays back at the airport to fight it and manages to wound it with his combat avatar. He throws Leroy in his Duat locker – a short opening to the Duat – and manages to catch the airplane to Memphis, Tennessee, where the wisdom god Thoth is.

When they finish Thoth's test, they learn that they were supposed to have a Feather of Truth from the Underworld/Land of the Dead. They also needed Set's true name, which contained the person's identity and life. Because Sadie is attracted to Anubis (god of funerals), he gives the Feather of Truth to her. They then continue from New Orleans to Texas, where Carter fights Sobek. He is hopelessly outmatched and outclassed even with the combat avatar. Amos saves them, but Bast and Sobek are expelled to the Duat.

They go to New Mexico, as Zia wanted Carter there and the earth god Geb told Sadie to. It turns out that Desjardins had known this, and a fight occurs. Thanks to Zia's plan, they defeat Sekhmet, the lion goddess of battle, and they drive onwards to Arizona. They spot the Red Pyramid, which is Set's main host. When they arrive, Amos collapses, and Set reveals he was also hosting Amos all along.

Carter merges completely with Horus and becomes the eye of the war god. He puts up a good fight, but Set's strength grows when dawn approaches and the desert glows. Sadie learns from a dying Zia that Set's secret name is Evil Day. She combines with Isis, the magic goddess inside her, and she transports Carter and Sadie along with herself to Washington, D.C. Sadie banishes Set to the Duat, reading the book and using the Feather of Truth along with his secret name.

Just then, Set's servant appears. He is the host of Apophis, the Serpent of Chaos itself. Even though Carter kills the servant, it is Sadie who rubs the picture of the snake in the sky. They come back for Zia, who turns out to be a shabti – a ceramic doll. This urges Carter to find the real Zia Rashid.

They return to Brooklyn House and rebuild the place with magic. Amos leaves for the First Nome to be healed from being possessed by Set. Carter and Sadie are visited by Osiris, who was bonded with their father. They also see the ghost of their mother who was accompanying Julius. The god of the dead gives them his djed amulet to attract other things. The siblings give up Horus and Isis, who vanish away into the Duat but not before preserving a quarter of their power in the amulets Julius had given them a long time ago. Carter and Sadie store the amulets in Carter's Duat locker and put the djed amulet with it. Once kids began to come, they would teach them divine magic or the path of the gods, which involved channeling a god's power. In the end, Carter and Sadie find their father. Julius decides that he would like to stay with his wife; Carter and Sadie now live with their uncle Amos in Brooklyn House.

Book Two: The Throne of Fire

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 New York 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 Apophis—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 into 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 performs 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 scroll 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 arrives, her grandparents have been forced to host Nekhbet, the vulture goddess, and Babi, the baboon god, and hunt 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 kiss from Anubis. They are then rescued by the dwarf god Bes, who is able to use his extreme ugliness as a weapon. They meet 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 teleport to the Eighteenth Nome, in St. Petersburg, Russia, which is Menshikov's home. They get inside Menshikov's headquarters, and find out that he is summoning Set. They get the scroll but are 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 and also the location of the real Zia, in exchange for his "secret name". After Sadie agrees to give Set back his secret name, she still remembers his secret name, which is "Evil Day", but doesn't know how to use it. After Sadie heals Carter with the statue by using his secret name, Sadie calls on Walt to help her with the scroll, while Bes and Carter go to find Zia.

Carter and Bes find some men to take them to The Place of Red Sands, Zia's birthplace and where she is hidden. Nephthys, who is using Zia as a host, leaves Zia, but Mehsikov and Micheal Desjardins arrive. Carter finds the weapons of Ra, the crook and flail, and uses it to defeat Menshikov, but Menshikov attempts to curse him while Bes is trapped in a cage. Meanwhile, Sadie and Walt arrive 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 gets angry and calls on the other mummies to kill them. Sadie manages to find the last scroll, but they get 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 scares 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 go back to protect it, while Sadie, Bes, and Carter go into the Duat to free Ra and defeat Apophis.

In the Egyptian version of the underworld, the Duat, there are 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 has forgotten what his secret name is. Using the Book of Ra, Sadie reads out his secret name, returning his essence to the scroll. They enter the Fourth House. With the help of Tawaret, who has history with Bes, and it takes them four hours to find Ra, who is senile. Ra acts like a madman, throwing ice cream bananas into the air, and talking about weasels and zebras. Because the Eighth House can only be entered at 8 O'clock, they travel to the Seventh House, where Osiris, who is being hosted by their dad, and the ghost of their mom await them. They invite Khonsu, the moon god, who can add more time into the night, but they 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. They win the first round, but lose the second, causing Bes' identity to be lost. They win the last two, and with the extra time, they get into the Gates of the Eighth House and travel towards the Twelfth House. Menshikov is there, possessed by Apophis. They get Ra to merge with his last aspect, Khepri the scarab god, but free Apophis (they must in order to get Khepri). Desjarins witnesses this and helps them banish Apophis, but combusts from using too much magic. He warns them that Apophis will return in time.

They return to Brooklyn House and find out that because of the power of Ra, they were able to hold the enemies and win the fight. However, the gods are not happy with them, especially Horus and Isis, because bringing back Ra has caused Horus to lose his throne. Walt is dying in a year unless they can find a cure, which is lost, because Menshikov was the last person to know it. Bes is 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 Desjardins died by the hands of the Kanes, and Amos is the new Chief Lector. In the end, Sadie is left with nothing but a crush on both a person who is about to die, and a 5000 year old god named Anubis.

Book Three: The Serpent's Shadow

The Serpent’s Shadow is the third book of the trilogy and has been released on 1 May 2012. Carter and Sadie, the main characters, travel to Dallas, Texas the 51st nome, with their initiates, and meet J.D. Grissom, the leader of the nome. They tell him that they need a heavily guarded magic scroll from the king Tut exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art, or his nome will get attacked and destroyed by the forces of Apophis, the chaos snake, who in three days will rise, swallow the sun, and destroy the world. Sadie sees a face in the wall, which tells that they will not understand the scroll and they instead need a golden box. However, the nome is attacked, and the scroll is destroyed. To save everyone from getting killed, Sadie summons Ma'at, repulsing the forces of chaos but almost losing her life. They discover that the entire 51st nome has been destroyed, including all of the magicians. At the 21st nome in Brooklyn, they discover that the box is a shadow box, and it holds the shadow of King Tut.

Horus visits Carter as a pigeon and hints a connection between shadows and statues. Carter suspects that there is a better way to execrate Apophis and decides to consult Thoth. He tells everybody at dinner and Sadie makes him go to their school dance. During the dance, Sadie meets Anubis and he suggests that the sheut is like a computer backup drive, but Shu breaks them up later. Sadie gets an idea about using Bes's sheut to give him back his ren.

The Russian magician they met last year, Leonoid, comes with bad news. Sadie takes him to the First Nome to meet Amos. He tells them that the rebels, led by Sarah Jacobi and Kwai, have teamed up with Apophis. Amos tells Zia and Sadie to visit Bes. Meanwhile, Carter and Walt go visit Thoth. Thoth is being attacked by demons. Walt and Carter repulse them, and Thoth helps them understand who Setne is. They realize they have to visit the Land of the Dead at his trial and persuade Osiris to help them.

When Zia and Sadie are visiting the House of Rest, Sadie realizes that Amos is calling on the Path of Set, who he once hosted. Tawaret tells them where Bes once hid his sheut. Carter, Sadie, Zia, and Walt meet and exchange information. They meet Osiris and persuade him to let Setne go with them. Sadie and Walt go to look for Bes's sheut, while Zia and Carter go with Setne to find The Book of Thoth.

They go to the serapeum of Apis, and later Setne tricks them by giving orders to Bloodstained Blade to kill them. Meanwhile Sadie and Walt visit the goddess Neith, who tells them she will help them if they can survive her hunt till sunset. They survive by using their shen amulets to split up and transfer to each other's side, and then in the end right before sunset Sadie tricks Neith by mesmerizing her with tales of hunting Jelly Babies and Ribena. Walt uses the rest of his energy to revive Bes's sheut, and then he survives by becoming the host of Anubis.

He realizes Setne's plan and tells Sadie to go help Carter and Zia. Meanwhile they enter the Land of the Demons, and Carter and Zia kiss. Carter realizes that Zia has become the host of Ra. They find the sheut and Setne binds them by turning the glamour charm used to disguise them into binds. Sadie comes to help and they bind Apophis's shadow to the statue. The shadow sends a distress call to all forces of Chaos, and they arrive.

Tawaret arrives with the gods from the Fourth House and saves them. When they return to the mortal world, the Brooklyn House is at the First Nome, helping Amos and the others protect it. Ra is reborn with Zia as his host and is not senile anymore. The other gods come to help them, while Ra gives Carter the pharaoh's throne. He orders the other gods to help. They enter the First Nome to help protect Amos against the rebels. Apophis eats Ra, and then Sadie and Carter execrate his shadow. He regurgitates Ra and dies. Ra and the rest of the gods retreat from the world.

Carter and Sadie go to see their father to report Setne's escape. Their father is just happy that they're alive and succeeded in saving the world. Sadie talks to her mother who asks her to be careful because her gift of prophecy has shown her visions of "other gods" and "rival magic". And there is also the fact that Setne will have to be dealt with sooner or later too.

Carter takes Zia out on a date in the Mall of America. She tells him that she will be staying in Brooklyn House. They share a passionate kiss and start a relationship. Meanwhile, Bes and Tawaret finally get together after many centuries. Walt, now the host of Anubis, dances with Sadie and the pair also have a romantic kiss.

The book ends with an invitation to anyone with pharaoh's blood to join the House of Life. Sadie also mentions having to check out "unexplained magic" in Long Island. This coupled with a warning of rival magicians and gods as well as the mention of Manhattan having its own gods, it would appear to point towards a Kane chronicles - Percy Jackson and the Olympians meeting in a future book.

Companion books

The Kane Chronicles Survival Guide

Somewhat similar to The Ultimate Guide from the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, but with facts related to Egyptian mythology and The Kane Chronicles. It was released on March 20, 2012.

The Kane Chronicles: The Red Pyramid (graphic novel)

A graphic version of The Red Pyramid, similar to The Lightning Thief graphic novel. It was released on October 2, 2012

Characters

Main characters

Main article: Carter Kane

• Carter Kane (Age 14, Red Pyramid and Throne of Fire; age 15, Serpent's Shadow) — a descendant of Narmer and Ramses the Great through both sides of his family. He is one of the main protagonists, and is initially described as always dressing "impeccably" in dress shirts and pants, but relaxes into a more modern style as the series progresses. He has dark skin, curly dark brown hair and brown eyes. After the death of his mother, he spent six years travelling with his father and, as he put it, "living out of a suitcase". His specialty is combat magic and his preferred weapon is a khopesh, an ancient Egyptian sword, though in The Serpent's Shadow, he uses the crook and flail of the pharaoh. He becomes the host of Horus at the end of The Red Pyramid. He has feelings for Zia Rashid and they start a relationship at the end of The Serpent's Shadow. At the end of the series, Carter becomes pharaoh of the House of Life and briefly leader of the gods and is now the most powerful magician in the world next to his uncle .

• Sadie Kane (Age 12, Red Pyramid; age 13, Throne of Fire and Serpent’s Shadow) — Carter's sister. She bears little resemblance to Carter or her father, Julius Kane. She shares her brother's magical abilities and Pharaoh bloodlines. Raised by her grandparents in England after her mother's death, she speaks with a British accent. Sadie loves bubble gum and listening to her iPod, and frequently wears combat boots. She’s always been 'precocious', as she puts it, a troublemaker with a sharp tongue. A natural spell caster, she can read hieroglyphics and translate the Egyptian language. Serves as host for Isis, and is attracted to, Anubis, who is shown to return her feelings. In The Throne of Fire, she develops a crush on Walt, one of the new trainees at Brooklyn House, and later states that she is 'torn' between Walt and Anubis who both like her back. This is settled when Walt becomes the host of Anubis, allowing her to be with both guys at once. At the end of the series, Sadie is the second most powerful magician in the world.

• Zia Rashid (Age 14, Red Pyramid and Throne of Fire; age 15, Serpent's Shadow) — A magician who has mastered fire magic and serves as a scribe for the House of Life. Her family died when her village was destroyed by Apophis, the chaos snake. She is reluctant to trust Sadie and Carter in the first book because of her loyalty to the House of Life, but eventually befriends them. In the end of the first book, it is revealed that the Chief Lector Iskandar, who was very much like a father to Zia, had hid her to protect her from the House of Life, who would have been found "guilty" for (unwillingly) hosting the goddess Nephthys, and replaced her with a shabti who helps Carter and Sadie. Carter develops feelings for the shabti before discovering the true nature. Distraught, through most of the second book, he searches for her hiding place. Her feelings for Carter are confused by memories sent to her by her shabti counterpart, and by nightmares she experienced while asleep under the Nile, on top of her preexisting thoughts on the Kane family. She is described as very pretty, with dark hair cut to her jawline, amber eyes described as "either really beautiful or really scary", olive toned skin, and vaguely Arabic features. She isn't much taller than Sadie. A prophecy from The Throne of Fire states that Zia must play a big role involving the senile sun god, Ra, which is fulfilled when Zia becomes the Eye of Ra in The Serpent's Shadow. At the end of The Serpent's Shadow she moves into Brooklyn House to experience being a real teenager, and starts a relationship with Carter.
• Walt Stone — One of Sadie and Carter's initiates at the Brooklyn House; a descendent of the pharaoh Akhenaten, who exiled all of the gods except Aten. He is thus subject to a curse that was placed on Akhenaten's descendents, which causes its victims to die at a very young age and progresses more rapidly when they practice magic. Walt will die unless he gets a cure. Walt is a natural charm-maker and through The Throne of Fire and The Serpent's Shadow is indicated to be planning something with Anubis who, like Walt, has feelings for Sadie Kane. Walt also has an affinaty for death magic, able to turn things to dust with a touch which is eventually revealed to be channeled from Anubis. In The Serpent's Shadow, despite being close to death, Walt goes with Sadie to retrieve Bes' sheut and use it to restore him. By the time they find it, Walt is near death and Anubis appears to him, telling him its the last chance they have to put their plan into action. Walt agrees, saying he can't leave Sadie and Anubis concures with him though neither explain what they mean to a confused Sadie. Walt, using the last of his energy, is able to capture the sheut and give Sadie instructions for returning it to Bes and capturing and destroying Apophis'. Walt dies, but returns to life moments later and warns Sadie that Carter is in trouble. A confused Sadie realizes Walt and Anubis' plan: Walt is now the host of Anubis who is protecting him from his curse and keeping him alive. This causes great confusion for Sadie, having both guys she likes in the same body. Walt/Anubis participates in the final battle, protecting Sadie and dispatching two evil magicians with Anubis' powers and later fighting Apophis himself. After the battle, Walt/Anubis disappears with the other gods, leaving Sadie worried as the gods are exiling themselves from the Earth. As Anubis is using Walt as a permanent host, Anubis is allowed to stay on Earth in Walt. Ruby Kane helps Sadie see she now has a chance to love both of the guys she loves at once. According to Ruby, this allows Walt and Anubis a chance at a normal life which had been denied to them both before. However, Anubis can never leave Walt or Walt will die again. In the end, Walt/Anubis start a relationship with Sadie while allowing Anubis to experience a mortal life through him.

• Bast — Ancient Egyptian goddess of cats. Imprisoned with Apophis to continually kill him after he resurrects himself she was released upon Ruby Kane's death. She has promised Julius that she would watch over Sadie, and eventually also takes charge of Carter. She is hosted in the first book by Sadie's cat, Muffin, and later transformed to human form. She usually travels with Sadie and Carter, holds her own classes for the trainees, and always maintains a facial expression of either concern or amusement. During the final battle in The Serpent's Shadow, Bast fought Apophis off single-handedly in the beginning and along with Bes, was the only god to stay in the fight the whole time. When the gods leave the Earth except Anubis, she goes with them after saying a sad farewell to Carter and Sadie.

• Amos Kane — Carter and Sadie's uncle. Described by Carter as looking "like one of those jazz guys that my dad would drag me in to see in concert." In The Throne of Fire it is revealed that he was the second most powerful magician in the world before Michel Desjardins' death, and therefore, in line to become the Chief Lector. This angers many magicians of the House of Life. He is possessed by Set in The Red Pyramid and allows Set to use him as a host in The Serpent's Shadow though Amos is in control this time.

Other characters

• Jaz Anderson — A healer in The Throne of Fire, who follows the path of Sekhmet. From Nashville, Tennessee; does not like to be called by her given name, "Jasmine". She is said to have light blond hair and bright blue eyes. An attempt to banish evil spirits leaves her in a coma, from which she is awakened by Ra's power. Despite being in a coma, she appears as a spirit to help save Carter from poisioning and later in The Serpent's Shadow, she fights against the evil magicians and Apophis.
• Set — Ancient Egyptian god of evil, chaos and deserts. Amos Kane unwillingly acted as host to him. He is associated with the color red. In the Duat, he is a tornado made of sand and fire. His true name is given as "Evil Day". The main antagonist of The Red Pyramid, and a minor supporting character in The Throne of Fire and The Serpent's Shadow where Amos Kane hosts him again to battle Apophis.
• Horus — Ancient Egyptian god of warfare. His host is Carter Kane; his symbol is the Eye of Horus. Leader of the gods until Ra's return and then again afterwards when Ra abdicates the throne after Apophis is destroyed.
• Isis — Ancient Egyptian goddess of magic. Her host is Sadie Kane; her symbol is the Knot of Isis. Known to have a biting personality.
• Osiris — Ancient Egyptian god of the dead. His host is Julius Kane; his symbol is the Spine of Osiris.
• Nephthys — Ancient Egyptian goddess of night and lamentation. Wife of Set and mother of Anubis. Zia was her host but after Zia's rescue, she leaves Zia for the Nile River which Bes says is where she belongs.
• Julius Kane — Carter and Sadie's father, he holds a PhD in Egyptology. Julius has dark brown skin with piercing brown eyes, a goatee, and is bald. He becomes the host of Osiris, and is imprisoned in a golden sarcophagus by Set, though he is later resurrected. His symbol is the djed.
• Bes — Egyptian god of dwarves. He is Carter's and Sadie's driver in The Throne of Fire. Has a wonderful personality, but is extremely ugly and embarrassing. Able to scare monsters and magicians with a “Boo!” while wearing Speedos emblazoned with the words ‘Dwarf Pride’. His ren is returned during The Serpent's Shadow after being lost at the end of The Throne of Fire. After his ren returns he leads an army of senile gods into battle to help his friends and battles Apophis to buy Sadie and Carter time to destroy him. Afterwards, he leaves Earth with the other gods and starts a relationship with Tawaret.
• Serqet — Egyptian goddess of protection and Arachnids.
• Anubis — God of funerals. Appears to Sadie as an "incredibly hot" teenaged boy with black hair, a leather jacket, jeans, and combat boots. According to Shu and Ruby Kane, Anubis is actually as young as he appears, being referred to as a child by god standards. Unlike other gods, Anubis doesn't need a host to appear on Earth as he can appear in places of death or mourning. Anubis likes to treat Sadie as a child, and enjoys responding to her with sarcastic comments when she talks back to him. Sadie falls for him as well as Walt Stone and Anubis is shown to return these feelings, kissing Sadie on her birthday (her first kiss) and dancing with her. These feelings eventually lead to a ban on seeing Sadie. In The Throne of Fire he assists Sadie, and tries to help ease Walt's pain. In The Serpent's Shadow, Anubis shows up at Sadie's school dance and explains the sheut, a forbidden topic, in order to give her the best chance of surviving and is dragged away by Shu and banned for pursuing a romantic relationship with a mortal with no host. Anubis later appears when Walt is near death to enact the plan he and Walt had formed: once Walt dies, Anubis takes him as his host, allowing him to pursue a relationship with Sadie. Anubis/Walt fights in the final battle, killing one of the two evil magician leaders when she tries to kill Sadie and takes down the other leader. He battles against Apophis and as he has a permanent human host, Anubis is allowed to stay on Earth and live a mortal life when the other gods leave. This allows him to explore the normal life he has never had and along with Walt, start a relationship with Sadie.
• Michel Desjardins — Appointed Chief Lector of the House of Life after Iskandar dies. Has a strong hatred of Carter and Sadie for their association with the gods, but finally forgives them at his death. He dies in the second book, when he sacrifices himself to imprison Apophis, the chaos snake. Apophis gets killed by Carter and Sadie at the end of book 3.
• Iskandar — Chief Lector from the time of Alexander the Great to the present day; 2,000 years old at death.
• Thoth — Ancient Egyptian god of wisdom, scribes, baboons, ibises, and magicians. Founder of the "Per Ankh," the House of Life. He lives in Memphis, Tennessee and is a professor at the University of Memphis, but thinks he lives in Memphis, Egypt. In The Red Pyramid, he explains the book of banishing Set after a challenge in Graceland. In The Serpent's Shadow, he is under repeated attacks by demons and explains about the Book of Thoth which contains a spell that can be used to destroy Apophis.
• Ruby Kane — Carter and Sadie's mother, who sacrificed her life to help save the world. She released Bast. Appears occasionally as a ghost, getting kidnapped by Apophis' sheut and then later giving Sadie advice on her relationship with Walt/Anubis.
• Sobek — Egyptian god of the river and crocodiles. His sweat is said to have made the rivers of the world. Appears as a villain in The Red Pyramid and later aids Ra in battling Apophis in The Serpent's Shadow.
• Sekhmet — Egyptian goddess of war, battles, and lions. Her opposite, gentle side is Hathor, goddess of cows and turquoise. She was the Eye of Ra, but became too bloodthirsty.
• Hathor — Egyptian goddess of joy, motherhood, cows, turquoise, and love. Her fierce, destructive opposite side is portrayed as Sekhmet.
• Tawaret — Egyptian goddess of hippopotami, pregnancy and childbirth. She is quite fond of Bes, and runs the Sunny Acres Assisted Living Community, located in the Fourth House of Night. During The Throne of Fire, she helps locate Ra and takes care of Bes once he loses his ren. In The Serpent's Shadow she informs Sadie of the location of Bes' sheut in hopes of restoring him and leads the other senile gods under her care into battle to protect the Kanes and Zia Rashid. She later starts a relationship with Bes.
• Khufu — Amos' pet baboon. Khufu enjoys basketball, and always wears a Los Angeles Lakers jersey. He only eats things ending in O, such as Cheerios, Oreos, and flamingos.
• Philip of Macedonia — Amos's pet albino crocodile. He fell into the East River while fighting enemies who ambushed the New York mansion, but survived. Is revealed to be a shabti. Later takes part in the battle at Brooklyn House and transports Sadie and Walt to where they need to go on the Nile River.
• Doughboy — Julius Kane's shabti. His legs are taken away because he hates his master, and tries to run away or even kill him.
• Leroy- The Set animal. So named by Carter, but Leroy does not like his new name. He is put into Carter's "magic locker" in the Duat, where Carter and Sadie hope he stays for the foreseeable future. The name "Leroy" is a frequently-occurring joke of Rick Riordan's.^{[citation needed]}
• Freak- Carter's pet griffin. He is initially a rock in the Brooklyn Museum until Sadie finds the first section of the Book of Ra which activates all of the Egyptian magic in the museum, bringing him to life. Carter names him Freak because that's what his screeches sound like. Initially he goes on a rampage, wrecking the museum and eating an evil spirit, but Carter is able to control him once Freak recognizes him as the former host of Horus who griffins serve. Freak provides an escape from the museum and to Carter's surprise, sticks around Brooklyn House rather than taking off. Carter ends up building Freak a roost and makes Freak a member of the Brooklyn House family. Freak participates in defending Brooklyn House from enemy forces and helps clean up afterwards. Throughout The Serpent's Shadow, Freak acts as the house's main mode of transport around the globe and later carries Carter on his first date with Zia Rashid, being last described as sitting on the roof of the Mall of America with a pile of frozen turkey's while his master enjoys his first date.
• Nut — Ancient Egyptian sky goddess; mother of Osiris, Isis, Horus, Set and Nephthys. Wife of Geb, the Egyptian god of the earth. Free-form goddess who has no host.
• Geb — God of the earth. Father of Osiris, Isis, Horus, Set, and Nephthys; husband of Nut.
• Shu — God of the wind; father of Nut and Geb. Separates Nut from Geb because of the curse placed on them by Ra, as told in The Red Pyramid. Later appears in person when Anubis is dancing with Sadie. He is disgusted that Anubis is consorting with a mortal with no mortal form and enforces a ban on him not seeing Sadie again, dragging Anubis away. However, he transports young Russian magician Leonid to the dance at his request. When Sadie later dances with Walt/Anubis, he assures her Shu won't intervene as he's now mortal, but believes Shu will continue to keep an eye on him.
• Ra — Sun god. Retired to the heavens due to senility, but is revived in The Throne of Fire, as he is believed to be the only one who can defeat Apophis. Its also realized that he's needed as he's the Lord of Ma'at (Order) and the other gods are fading without him. He is revived senile and remains that way through most of The Serpent's Shadow though he resumes his nightly journey protected and guided by the other gods and resumes his throne to much anger. After picking up Carter, Sadie and Zia on his nightly journey, Ra merges with Zia and is finally reborn with his mind intact. Ra battles Apophis and is swallowed, but is released when the Kanes destroy Apophis. Afterwards, he orders all the gods except Anubis to exile themselves from the world for a very long time as with Chaos gone so must Order to maintain a balance. Ra once again abdicates his throne, but this time willingly and allows Horus to resume leadership of the gods.
• Nekhbet — Egyptian goddess of the vultures. Takes Sadie's grandmother as her host.
• Babi — Egyptian god of savage alpha male baboons, and of the darkest side of primates. Takes Sadie's grandfather as host.
• Vladimir Menshikov — Evil sorcerer who owns the middle scroll of the book of Ra; the main antagonist of The Throne of Fire. Became disfigured when he tried to awaken Ra using only one part of the book. He then attempts to raise Apophis for purposes of revenge, in hopes that Apophis will swallow the sun. He becomes Apophis's host, but is destroyed when Apophis is cast from his body by Desjardins. Was the only person who knew how to cure Walt's curse.
• Felix (Age 9, Throne of Fire; age 10, Serpent's Shadow) — A trainee who is not particularly proficient at magic, apart from summoning the penguins with which he seems to be obsessed. He eventually develops an ability for cold magic.
• Apophis — God of chaos, a massive serpent. His true name is "The Hated One". He is the true enemy of the saga, possessing a demon named Face of Horror to manipulate Set into releasing him and then working with Vladimir Menshikov towards the same goal. Breaks free of his prison in The Throne of Fire, but is temporarily banished again by Michel Desjardins with an execration, a spell that destroys all beings but gods who it just banishes. The banishment only lasts a few days to weeks and by The Serpent's Shadow six months later, Apophis is free again, planning to rise into the world on the fall equinox while magicians working with him destroy the House of Life. He destroys all copies of Setne's version of the Book of Overcoming Apophis as the knowledge there could destroy him and offers Carter Kane a deal: safety for his family when Apophis rises in exchange for Ra. At the same time, his sheut or shadow absorbs the souls of the dead including Ruby Kane to increase his power. The Kanes come up with a plan to destroy him by execrating his sheut and travel to the Land of Demons where they capture it. Apophis rises and many gods and magicians battle him, including the reborn Ra, but Apophis proves too powerful for them all and swallows Ra. However, Sadie and Carter Kane, augmented by the power of Horus and Isis, cast the execration on his shadow and Apophis is destroyed.
• Ptah — God of workmen and of the "opening of the mouth" ceremony performed by priests at funerals to release souls from their corpses. Is summoned by Sadie and Walt while trying to get past a blocked wall to reach the last section of the Book of Ra. Unleashes an army of rats to destroy an army of mummies and then opens a portal to Carter's location, warning that he is in trouble. Host is a date farmer who had been coming to kill Sadie and Walt.
• Setne - An evil magician and son of Ramses the Great. Setne stole the Book of Thoth and used it to create many spells, including one capable of destroying gods by execrating their sheuts. Appears in The Serpent's Shadow as an evil ghost who is on trial for many crimes after having escaped punishment many times before. Setne makes contact with Sadie to warn her to save King Tut's shadow box and that he can help her but it has to be before he goes on trial. Its revealed that he stole the Book of Thoth and was able to create a spell capable of destroying any being (including the gods and Apophis) with it which he planned to use to blackmail the gods into making him immortal. As they need that spell, the Kanes travel to the Underworld to try to get his help. At his trial, Setne uses the fact that he is needed to not be immediately destroyed and "proves" he's telling the truth by holding the Feather of Truth as he talks. Much of what he said is later shown to be exaggerations or outright lies which should have caused the Feather to destroy him. Setne promises to help retrieve Apophis' sheut and gives Sadie and Walt the information they need to restore Bes. Controlled by the Seven Ribbons of Hathor, Setne leads Carter and Zia to the Book of Thoth and then betrays them by ordering a demon to kill them in an attempt to get the sheut for himself to blackmail Apophis with. The demon is killed and Setne is recaptured, however, Carter and Zia have no choice but to trust him as they need their help. After Zia summons Apophis' sheut, Setne betrays the two again, but is stopped by Sadie. When an army of demons arrive, Setne somehow escapes the Ribbons and disappears with the Book of Thoth. He later reappears to Carter with the Book to congratulate him on destroying Apophis and disappears again before he can be recaptured. The Kanes are left worried as he is a threat and could do a great deal of damage with the Book of Thoth, though, as a ghost, he can't cast most of the spells inside.
• Sarah Jacobi- Leader of the rebel magicians and a very powerful evil magician. Before The Throne of Fire, she was banished to Antartica for causing the Indian Ocean tsunami. She is described as a woman in white robes with spiky black hair. With Kwai, she led the attack on Brooklyn House, but was defeated when the Kanes returned with Ra. Jacobi retreated in the end and swore to continue resisting the Kanes and reveal the "truth" of how they killed Chief Lector Michel Desjardins. Jacobi goes on to lead a rebellion against new Chief Lector Amos Kane from the Eighteenth Nome in Russia and is ruthless, killing anyone allied with the Kanes and blaming it on Apophis or the Kanes. Jacobi is successful in gathering a massive following and secretly allies with Apophis, presumably for power. At the end of The Serpent's Shadow, Jacobi leads an attack on the First Nome and battles Amos Kane who is hosting Set. She defeats him and uses him as a hostage to force the other magicians to surrender. However, when she tries to kill Sadie, she infuriates Walt/Anubis who summon spirits which drag her to the Underworld.
• Kwai- An evil magician and Sarah Jacobi's right-hand man. He is described as an Asian man in blue robes and was banished to North Korea for killing a fellow magician. Kwai helps lead the attack on Brooklyn House and is defeated and forced to retreat and becomes one of the leaders of the rebellion that follows. He and Jacobi secretly ally with Apophis for power and attack the First Nome. Kwai helps defeat Amos Kane and is infuriated when Walt/Anubis dispatches Jacobi. Carter and Sadie manage to make the rebels see that Kwai and Jacobi were working with Apophis and they turn on him so Kwai allows himself to be possessed by Apophis to become stronger. Kwai defeats everyone but Carter, Sadie, Walt and Amos with one hit as they are hosting gods and is finally overpowered when Walt/Anubis summons jackals to attack him, allowing Walt/Anubis to give him a devastating blow. Refusing to give up, Kwai uses up all of his life force to cast a curse to bring down the Hall of Ages and kill his foes and dies as a result, however, Sadie Kane manages to thwart his efforts.
• Leonid- A Russian boy that is friends with Sadie. Appears for a bit in The Throne of Fire, and follows the Path of Shu in The Serpants Shadow. He realizes the Kanes are not evil and warns Amos of an impending attack and also of the rebels allying with Apophis. Leonid fights in the final battle and is seriously wounded, but survives.

External links

• Official USA website
• Official UK website
• The Kane Chronicles Wiki
• The Red Pyramid preview chapters
• http://www.rickriordan.com/my-books/kane-chronicles/books/red-pyramid.aspx
• http://disney.go.com/official-sites/kane-chronicles/index