The Kane Chronicles
#1464.16 of 664 ranked universes · full ranking
Books 3 books Status Complete 2010–2012 Reading commitment Medium Rick Riordan Last reviewed 2026-08-05
Overview
The Kane Chronicles (2010–2012) is Rick Riordan’s Egyptian-mythology trilogy, narrated in alternating first person by siblings Carter and Sadie Kane. It sits within the broader “Riordanverse” alongside Camp Half-Blood Chronicles, sharing three crossover short stories with it (collected in Demigods & Magicians) but otherwise standing as its own complete, independent continuity.
Mythic fantasy · For Middle grade
Core Canon: Reading Order (3 works) counts toward ranking
The Kane Chronicles Rick Riordan
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Red Pyramid | 2010 | 1 | core | 4.10 (432,921 ratings) |
 | The Throne of Fire | 2011 | 2 | core | 4.18 (232,913 ratings) |
 | The Serpent's Shadow | 2012 | 3 | core | 4.27 (185,223 ratings) |
Clean linear trilogy, Egyptian-mythology continuity, dual first-person narrators (Carter and Sadie Kane) throughout.
Library / Expanded (5 works)
The Kane Chronicles: Survival Guide (2012) ; Ghost-written reference guide credited to Mary-Jane Knight under the Riordan brand/series credit, matching the same tiering as Percy Jackson's equivalent guide volumes (all expanded).
From the Kane Chronicles: Brooklyn House Magician's Manual (2018) ; Written by Riordan himself, in-world narrated by Carter and Sadie Kane.
The Red Pyramid: The Graphic Novel (2012) 
The Throne of Fire: The Graphic Novel (2015) 
The Serpent's Shadow: The Graphic Novel (2017)
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Kane Chronicles? The Kane Chronicles's Core Canon is 3 books, plus 5 more in the wider Library/Expanded material.
- What is the reading order for The Kane Chronicles? Publication order, starting with The Red Pyramid. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is The Kane Chronicles finished? Complete (2010–2012).
- How much reading does The Kane Chronicles take? Medium reading commitment (estimated from 3 Core Canon books · ~1,386 pages).
- How is The Kane Chronicles ranked? #146 of 664 ranked universes on this site, based on 851,057 reader ratings across 3 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #146?
Ranked #146 of 664 ranked universes.
- Average reader rating of 4.16 across 3 core books.
- Backed by 851k reader ratings.
- Less than 0.01 behind #145, The Witcher (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Highly rated · 3 books · Complete · 851k ratings · Ranks #146 overall
Good choice if you want a moderate-length mythic fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (3 Core Canon books)
- The Red Pyramid (2010)
- The Throne of Fire (2011)
- The Serpent's Shadow (2012)
Documented internal/story chronology is recorded for every Core Canon book here, and matches publication order exactly, with no divergence to show separately.
Awards (verified)
- School Library Journal Best Book, 2010: honor: The Red Pyramid; Best-of-year list recognition, not a competitive juried win.
- Red House Children's Book Award (Older Readers), 2011: nominated: The Red Pyramid; Shortlisted; did not win.
- Children's Choice Book Awards (Book of the Year, Grades 5-6), 2011: won: The Red Pyramid
Related universes
- Crossover Camp Half-Blood Chronicles: Explicit in-story crossover: 3 short stories (“The Son of Sobek”, “The Staff of Serapis”, “The Crown of Ptolemy”) and their collection Demigods & Magicians bridge Camp Half-Blood and the Kane Chronicles; registered solely under Camp Half-Blood Chronicles per its own mirror-note obligation, not duplicated here.
- Same author Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: Both by Rick Riordan (the wider “Riordanverse”). Explicitly checked and confirmed to share no crossover material directly with each other: Demigods & Magicians (the Kane/Camp Half-Blood collection) contains no Magnus Chase content, and Magnus Chase's own Camp Half-Blood tie runs through its own novels, not through Kane Chronicles material.
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.16 across 851,057 ratings on 3 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: The Kane Chronicles admitted; crossover material stays registered under Camp Half-Blood accepted 2026-08-05
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
Related universes: see the Related universes section above.
Last reviewed: 2026-08-06
Rule: Core = 3 novels (2010–2012). Expanded = the Survival Guide, the Brooklyn House Magician’s Manual, and 3 graphic-novel adaptations, tiered identically to the equivalent Percy Jackson companion volumes. The Percy/Kane crossover shorts and Demigods & Magicians remain registered solely under Camp Half-Blood Chronicles and are deliberately not duplicated here.