I'm definitely not as into the Kane Chronicles, which is what I'm working on currently. This in part might of course be due to the fact that the characters are younger at ages 12 and 14. The age gap between myself and the people I'm supposed to be identifying with is getting larger.
The Percy Jackson books began with young characters, too, but the age was for some reason easier to overlook. All the kids in the Olympian's series give you a sense of having a circumstantial maturity. When Percy was 14, I could easily read him as being much older. One of the side-affects of demigod-dom is a bit of an independent streak and a self reliance that makes the age line easier to blur as you're reading.
In the Kane Chronicles, however, Sadie and Carter Kane have lived rather sheltered lives with seemingly no side-affects from their families very important role in the history of the Egyptian Gods. They are very much swept along with little to no control over the adventure story that they are unwillingly a part of. Their approach to the problems that arise in the story is very much age-appropriate and so, although I can recall being a 12 year old with 12 year old problems, my entire outlook on life as grown so far past where I was at that time, so that it is very hard to identify.
Mind you, I'm only on the first book. I don't know if the characters are going to grow with the stories, I don't know how this story is going to end. It's just one of the things that registers as something I don't like about these books at this time. I'm definitely going to keep reading, because the whole age thing is really just a little irritating fact that stays in the back of my mind during the entire reading experience. It's not like, something Rick Riordan is doing wrong - I chose to pick up a book intended for a young audience, so I think it's my own problem if I think some of the content is mind-numbingly juvenile.
The story itself is compelling. Classically Riordan in it's addictive nature. You are always eager for the conclusion. He leads you on through the whole story. In the end, when you have all your answers, you are always satisfied, but sometimes the reading itself is frustrating. The answers don't come quick enough. They are all sort of clumped together at the end. I'm not sure if that's good or bad. I guess if I keep coming back, it's good, but when I'm reading, it sometimes aggravates me. Every scene is just another action bit, another leg up towards "The Answers".
Some of the scenes are funny or charming, but mostly they are just bland pieces to a greater puzzle. I suppose for the type of book, it works, but I like stories with a bit of poetic explanation for everything. But then, those stories (*cough*
Anyone who knows of a good book right at this moment with both gritty poetic texture, and a fluid storyline, please do suggest. My own suggestion for anyone looking for a book that fits that description is Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen. Or any of the Sherlock Holmes short stories!
Because I'm really Lydia Bennett, I have to add in my thoughts about the only romantic figure in the Kane Chronicles - Anubis. When he's not formed into a giant Jackal, or keeping the gates to the underworld, he's a sixteenish looking, tall, dark and handsome guy with a dark sense of humour that appeals to the sarcastic, witty Sadie.
Of COURSE I remember being 12 and liking guys who were 16, and not feeling like the age gap was that prolific, but now it's just plain creepy in my mind. This is one of those moments where I concentrate extra hard to fast forward everyone a few years (this is made extremely difficult by the fact that Sadie's flirtation methods are so very, very 12 years old.). The only fail-safe way to do this, I advise twenty-something readers such as myself, is to picture Anubis as being the 36 year old footman with an attitude problem -Rob James-Collier.
Dude, I promise. It works.
I don't know how to conclude this review, since I haven't actually finished the book, but perhaps I will follow-up later.
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