The Throne of Fire

The Throne of Fire, is a 2011 fantasy/adventure by Rick Riordan, and the second book in the Kane Chronicles. It was released on May 3rd. The book takes place roughly 3 months after the first one.

Plot
To prevent the rise of chaos, Carter and Sadie Kane decide to attempt reviving the sun god Ra. They're forced to isolate themselves from the initiates of Brooklyn House. They have already successfully stolen one of the scrolls by infiltrating the Brooklyn Museum. The second is unknown while the other is claimed to be with Russian assassin Vlad Menshikov (A.K.A evil ice-cream guy) who is targeting the Brooklyn House. Before setting off, though, Sadie decides to enjoy her birthday in London with her two best mates, Liz and Emma.

It turns out Sadie had walked into a trap made by Nekhbet the Vulture Goddess and Babi the Baboon God, who are hosting Sadie's grandparents.Sadie runs with her mates and she's trying to think of a way to get Nekhbet and Babi to go to the Duat without hurting/killing her grandparents. Sadie and her two best friends, Liz and Emma, are pursued throughout London. And in a graveyard,Sadie meets the "hot" god of death, Anubis, who gives a divine knife (and her first kiss), a useful tool to resurrect Ra. Sadie is saved by Bes, the Dwarf God, who wears a Dwarf Pride speedo to scare enemies, afterwards is joined by Carter as the three plunge into St. Petersburg, Russia. Sadie and Carter then split up: Sadie and Walt to find the third portion of the Book of Ra, and Carter and Bes to rescue Zia Rashid in her home village, The Place of Red Sands.

Carter and Bes find Zia at Red Sands and find out that she had been buried with the crook and flail of Ra. They are suddenly attacked by Desjardins and Vlad, and are forced to use the sacred artifacts to fight. Desjardins and Vlad trap Bes in a glowing cage. Meanwhile Sadie finds out that Walt is dying from an ancient family curse brought on by priests of Amun-Ra. They are attacked by golden Roman mummies but are saved by the God of Creation, Ptah. With the scroll in hand, Sadie and Walt depart for Cairo along with Carter, Bes and Zia. In a ba dream Carter finds that Brooklyn house is under siege from the House of Life. Walt and Zia leave to Brooklyn to help while Carter, Sadie and Bes descend into the Duat to find it.

They come across gods and lakes of fire but Bes finds a woman from his past in a nursery home: Tawaret the Hippo Goddess. With her help they track down Ra and awaken him. Unfortunately, they find they have already lost and Menshikov had closed the gates to the prison of Apophis and is now loosening the giant snake's bonds. The trio, along with Ra, come across Carter and Sadie's parents and gamble with the Moon God for a few extra hours for them to catch up to Vlad. Bes gives up his ren for the two to succeed. Carter and Sadie come face to face with Vlad who is now hosting Apophis. Desjardins arrives and banishes Apophis for at least a few days, weeks, or,hopefully, months to give the Kanes a little more time, yet dies doing so. Carter and Sadie arrive at Brooklyn House to end the battle. Bes ends up at the nursery home in a vegetative state and Tawaret blames Bast for Bes' condition. Amos becomes Chief Lector and tries leading the magicians into a new age of embracing the gods. Sadie vows to cure Bes and Walt. Ra once again becomes the leader of the Gods, although he needs a while to "clean up his act". Zia and Walt are going to make a huge difference in the upcoming war.

Humans

 * Alyssa
 * Cleo one of the students that is following Thoth and is their skilled librarian.
 * Emma
 * Jaz
 * Julian
 * Liz 
 * Amos Kane Brother to Julius Kane, described as dressing in a classy suit with sunglasses, and has the appearance of a barrel shaped Jazz musician. He is a powerful magician. He was the temporary host of Set ,until he was done with using him.
 * Carter Kane Age 14, Carter is the descendant of Ancient Egyptian Magicians; he is one of the main protagonists. Described as always dressing 'impeccably' in khaki pants, dress shoes, and a button-up shirt. The host of Horus, his main weapon is a khopesh, an Ancient Egyptian sword favored by guards of the Pharaoh. His specialty is combat magic.
 * Sadie Kane Age 12 (turns 13), Sadie is Carter's sister, and shares his magical ability. She was raised in England by her grandparents after her mother died. She has light skin, caramel colored hair with one red streak on the left side, blue eyes, and never goes anywhere without combat boots. She is a powerful and natural magician who can read hieroglyphics and understand Ancient Egyptian. She becomes the host of Isis.
 * Vladimir Menshikov
 * Zia Rashid A powerful magician who Carter Kane has affection for. Considered the most promising student in the First Nome. She is the unknowing host to Nephthys.
 * Sean
 * Walt Stone
 * Felix

God/Goddess

 * Anubis God of funerals and assistant of Osiris, takes the form of a human with a jackals head, or an attractive teenaged boy. He and Sadie show strong and mutual feeling towards each other.
 * Apophis
 * Babi God of baboons; hosted and took over Gramps.
 * Bast Goddess of cats, her host is Muffin, Sadie Kane's cat. Also a deadly combat mage. She is sworn to protect the Kane siblings.
 * Bes
 * Horus Falcon-headed son of Osiris, destined to reclaim the Throne of Ma'at. His host is Carter.
 * Isis Goddess of magic and wife of Osiris. Her host is Sadie Kane, formerly her mother Ruby Kane.
 * Khepri
 * Khnum
 * Khonsu
 * Nekhbet Vulture goddess, the host of Gran
 * Nephthys
 * Osiris God of the dead. His host is Julius Kane. Father of horus.
 * Ptah
 * Ra
 * Set God of evil and chaos, represented by the colour red. Possesses Amos Kane when he is Set's captive.
 * Sobek
 * Tawaret
 * Thoth God of wisdom and thought, illustated as a 'mad scientist' character.

Others

 * Freak
 * Khufu Amos's pet baboon and ally to the Kane family
 * Philip of Macedonia  Amos's pet crocodile. It is a shabti.
 * Mad Claude

Chapter List

 * 1) Fun With Spontaneous Combustion
 * 2) We Tame a 7000 Pound Humming Bird
 * 3) The Ice-cream Man Plots Our Death
 * 4) A Birthday Invitation To Armageddon
 * 5) I Learn To Really Hate Dung Beetles
 * 6) A Birdbath Almost Kills Me
 * 7) A Gift From The Dog Headed Boy
 * 8) Major Delays At Waterloo Station (We Apologise For The Giant Baboon)
 * 9) We Get A Vertically Challenged Tour of Russia
 * 10) An Old Red Friend Comes To Visit
 * 11) Carter Does Something Incredibly Stupid (and No One Is Surprised)
 * 12) I Master The Fine Art of Name Calling
 * 13) I Get a Demon Up My Nose
 * 14) At the Tomb of Zia Rashid
 * 15) Camels Are Evil...
 * 16) ...But Not as Evil as Romans
 * 17) Menshikov Hires a Happy Death Squad
 * 18) Gambling on Doomsday Eve
 * 19) The Revenge of Bullwinkle the Moose God
 * 20) We Visit the House of the Helpful Hippo
 * 21) We Buy Some Time
 * 22) Friends in the Strangest Places
 * 23) We Throw a Wild House Party
 * 24) I Make an Impossible Promise

Trivia

 * Carter catches a glimpse of a winged horse flying around Manhattan, and recalls what Amos said about Manhattan and its gods. The winged horse is likely Blackjack from the Percy Jackson series. (Page 91)
 * Carter at one point wishes he had the powers of the sea god, another reference to the Percy Jackso n series.