siblings Carter and Sadie Kane are being drawn deeper and deeper into the intrigue surrounding the Egyptian gods and their modern day followers in this second volume of The Kane Chronicles.

After defeating Set in the first back, the siblings have been working to build up a team of teens with magical abilities to take on Apophis, the snake god of chaos, before he is able to return from his prison in the Duat, the underworld realm, to destroy everything they know. As a result, the Kane home in Brooklyn has become a school for sorcerers in the ancient Egyption tradition.

According to prophecy, they have just five days, to reach Ra, the comatose god of order, and bring him back in order to confront and defeat Apophis. The result is a journey through various place around the globe and in Duat with the help of Bes, the ugly dwarf god; Bast, the cat goddess; and some of their sorceror initiates.

Sadie and Carter are still getting to know each other after having been raised apart, but that doesn't stop them from the usual bickering that so many siblings practice. That lends a lot of humor to the tale, but also a nice subplot of a growing trust between the two of them. Besides being forced into leadership roles, the two teens are still getting a handle on their own magical powers as the weight of the world rests on their shoulders.

Sometimes, Sadie and Carter are distracted by traditional concerns of teens even as they fight the ultimate forces of evil. Carter is drawn to save Zia, another magical acolyte from an opposing sect, because he has fallen in love with her shabti, a clay duplicate meant to serve her every need. Sadie also has her romantic troubles, though hers take the form of a love triangle as she is torn between her attraction to the hunky Anubis, the jackal god of the dead, and Walt, one of their trainees who suffers from a curse.

As with Riordan's earlier Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, this book (and the series as a whole) is filled with action and humor. The characters are endearing while also presenting a mythology and gods/goddesses that take on a new modern and anthropomorphized presentation that is fun. Fans of Riordan's books will have no trouble diving through this one, which is the second volume in an intended trilogy.

Since I am pretty into ancient Egypt and know a lot about the culture, history, and folklore, this really is a fun presentation! I do find the book got a little bogged down since there is so much talking about what might happen, what is going to happen, and what the characters can and should do about it, but it doesn't prevent things from being a lot of fun. I am really looking forward to the next and final book in the series.