Shadow Grail
fantasy
Series · fantasy
The Kane Chronicles
The Kane Chronicles series by Rick Riordan has 5 known books (5 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with The Red Pyramid (2010). The latest book with a fully recorded publication date is Demigods & Magicians.
- Books
- 5 known books (3 novels + 1 companion + 1 collection)
- Published
- 5
- First published
- 2010
- Status
- completed
- Shelved under
- Fantasy
- Last checked
Start here: The Red Pyramid (2010) — then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
The Red Pyramid
The Red Pyramid (2010) opens The Kane Chronicles: siblings Carter and Sadie Kane, barely acquainted since their mother's death split the family apart, are thrust into a battle against the god Set after their Egyptologist father vanishes -- narrated in alternating chapters as a transcribed warning the Kanes leave behind.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Red Pyramid - Book 2:
The Throne of Fire
The Throne of Fire followed The Red Pyramid a year later, continuing The Kane Chronicles as its second entry and deepening Carter and Sadie's battle alongside the secretive House of Life.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Throne of Fire - Book 3:
The Kane Chronicles Survival Guide
Following The Throne of Fire, The Kane Chronicles Survival Guide is a nonfiction-style companion published in 2012, expanding the world's Egyptian mythology without continuing the trilogy's plot.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Kane Chronicles Survival Guide - Book 4:
The Serpent's Shadow
The Kane Chronicles continues with The Serpent's Shadow, the third and final entry, released in 2012, closing the House of Life's crisis and Carter and Sadie's alternating-narrator trilogy.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Serpent's Shadow - Book 5:
Demigods & Magicians
Demigods & Magicians (2016, 384 pages) collects crossover short stories teaming Carter and Sadie Kane with Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase -- best read after both this trilogy and the original Percy Jackson series, since it spoils plot points from both.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Demigods & Magicians
Our shelf-tested path for first-time readers.
- Book 1:
The Red Pyramid
The Red Pyramid (2010) opens The Kane Chronicles: siblings Carter and Sadie Kane, barely acquainted since their mother's death split the family apart, are thrust into a battle against the god Set after their Egyptologist father vanishes -- narrated in alternating chapters as a transcribed warning the Kanes leave behind.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Red Pyramid - Book 2:
The Throne of Fire
The Throne of Fire followed The Red Pyramid a year later, continuing The Kane Chronicles as its second entry and deepening Carter and Sadie's battle alongside the secretive House of Life.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Throne of Fire - Book 3:
The Serpent's Shadow
The Kane Chronicles continues with The Serpent's Shadow, the third and final entry, released in 2012, closing the House of Life's crisis and Carter and Sadie's alternating-narrator trilogy.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Serpent's Shadow
About The Kane Chronicles
Siblings Carter and Sadie Kane have barely known each other since their mother's death split the family apart -- until their father, an Egyptologist, accidentally unleashes the god Set at the British Museum and vanishes. The explosion also wakes something in the Kane children themselves: they are the last blood of the pharaohs, capable of hosting the power of Egyptian gods, and the only line of defense as ancient deities and the secretive House of Life drag them into a battle to stop Set from reshaping the world.
Rick Riordan brings the same modern-mythology formula that powers Percy Jackson to ancient Egypt, but changes the structure meaningfully: Carter and Sadie narrate in alternating first-person chapters, bickering siblings whose different upbringings (Carter raised traveling with their father, Sadie raised by grandparents in London) give the voice real texture. The trilogy is presented as a transcribed audio recording the Kanes leave behind as a warning, a framing device that lets Riordan slip in real playfulness about the storytelling itself.
Three novels tell one complete story, closing the House of Life's crisis fully, with companion materials -- crossover short stories with Percy Jackson, and a nonfiction-style Survival Guide -- extending the world without continuing the plot.
Frequently asked questions
How many books are in The Kane Chronicles?
Three novels -- The Red Pyramid, The Throne of Fire, The Serpent's Shadow -- plus the crossover story collection Demigods & Magicians and the nonfiction companion The Kane Chronicles Survival Guide.
What order should I read The Kane Chronicles in?
Publication order: The Red Pyramid, The Throne of Fire, The Serpent's Shadow. No other Riordan reading is required first.
Is The Kane Chronicles connected to Percy Jackson?
They share a universe and cross over in the short-story collection Demigods & Magicians, but The Kane Chronicles trilogy itself is a self-contained story about Egyptian mythology, not a sequel to Percy Jackson.
Is The Kane Chronicles finished?
Yes, the trilogy concluded with The Serpent's Shadow (2012) and no further main-sequence novel has been announced.
If you like The Kane Chronicles
Reading order last verified .