Monday's Muse, 51st edition.

Current Theme Song (aka what's playing on my ipod right now): Dangerous and Sweet by Lenka.





The idea of Monday's Muse is to introduce you to unknown, forgotten, or overlooked fiction that has been lost from regular radar. I am WriterGirl. I am in the business of saving lives, one book at a time.

What I do is go to one of several places, narrow it down to a YA field and type in a random word, any word that comes to mind. I then take a sampling of some I have never heard of before, or only vaguely heard of (and hopefully you as well). No infringement is intended for any description I take for the books. It's purely for promotional reasons. I will try and cover as many genres as possible that are fitting for the random word. Simple but it really uncovers some incredible gems. I will be doing this every other Monday. If there are any words you want to prompt me with, go ahead and fire away.

Today's random word:
Mythology - Egyptian.

Hoo boy, this is a much smaller field. If you know of any guys, feel free to shoot them out at me. Or if you're writing, there is a definite void in this whole mythology here.






Red Pyramid (Kane Chronicles) by Rick Riordan.

Since their mother's death, Carter and Sadie have become near strangers. While Sadie has lived with her grandparents in London, her brother has traveled the world with their father, the brilliant Egyptologist, Dr. Julius Kane.

One night, Dr. Kane brings the siblings together for a "research experiment" at the British Museum, where he hopes to set things right for his family. Instead, he unleashes the Egyptian god Set, who banishes him to oblivion and forces the children to flee for their lives.

Soon, Sadie and Carter discover that the gods of Egypt are waking, and the worst of them —Set— has his sights on the Kanes. To stop him, the siblings embark on a dangerous journey across the globe - a quest that brings them ever closer to the truth about their family and their links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs.




The Summoning (Sisters of Isis series) by Lynne Ewing.

Three fifteen-year-old girls living in Washington D.C. learn that they are the direct descendants of Egyptian pharoahs, with special powers that will allow them to battle demonic members of the Cult of Anubis, who are trying to return the universe to the chaos from which it sprung.






Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos (Theodosia series) by R. L. LaFevers.

Theodosia Throckmorton has her hands full at the Museum of Legends and Antiquities in London. Her father may be head curator, but it is Theo—and only Theo—who is able to see all the black magic and ancient curses that still cling to the artifacts in the museum.

When Theo’s mother returns from her latest archaeological dig bearing the Heart of Egypt—a legendary amulet belonging to an ancient tomb—Theo learns that it comes inscribed with a curse so black and vile that it threatens to crumble the British Empire from within and start a war too terrible to imagine. Intent on returning the malevolent artifact to its rightful place, Theo devises a daring plan to put things right. But even with the help of her younger brother, a wily street urchin, and the secret society known as the Brotherhood of the Chosen Keepers, it won’t be easy . . . she quickly finds herself pursued down dark alleys, across an ocean, through the bustling crowds of Cairo, and straight into the heart of an ancient mystery. Theo will have to call upon everything she’s ever learned in order to prevent the rising chaos from destroying her country—and herself!




The Ugly Goddess by Elsa Marston.

Princess Meret, only 14, has been promised by her father, the Pharaoh, to be the next Divine Wife of Amun, in order to save his kingdom. He has commissioned a statue of Taweret, protector of women, to accompany her and keep her safe. Meret does not want to leave her father, and she has recently developed a crush on a young Greek soldier, Hector. When the master who is crafting the sculpture suddenly falls ill, his dying words instruct Bata, his errand boy, to finish his work. The lives of the three young people become intertwined when Bata tries to find the princess in order to take the statue to her, Hector decides to follow his love, and Meret is kidnapped by soldiers. The teens are guided and aided by Taweret, who magically comes to life from her stone statue. Mystery, adventure, ancient religion, and romance all figure into this fictional re-creation of the Persian takeover of Egypt in 525 B.C.E. Marston alternates the voices of the male and female characters. Accurate historical details with only an occasional lapse into modern language combine with a fast-paced story and interesting characters. The devotion to statues and the pantheon of ancient gods may confuse readers unfamiliar with mythology, but all in all, this is a decent story for budding Egyptologists. –-Angela J. Reynolds, Washington County Cooperative Library Services, Hillsboro, OR, School Library Journal.




The Oracle Betrayed (Oracle Prophecies trilogy) by Catherine Fisher (a stretch admittedly. But it does sound good).

Between what I speak and what people hear yawns a vast divide," says the voice of the god to Mirany, a trusted servant, in Welsh author Fisher's sprawling, atmospheric adventure. Set in an ancient culture that blends elements of Greece and Egypt, the novel shifts between the third-person narratives of Mirany, one of the Nine young women who serve the Oracle, and Seth, a scribe who has promised a map of a royal tomb to a vicious gang of thieves. Archon lives a life of seclusion, receiving commands from the god and passing them on to the people through his Speaker—he has no other human contact. Before the Archon dies in a sacrificial ceremony, he passes a note to Mirany, warning that the Speaker is fabricating the words of the god in order to manipulate the masses and tells Mirany she can trust his musician, Oblek. Meanwhile, the people and the land suffer through a crippling season of drought. As Mirany boldly strikes out on her own to find Oblek, she crosses paths with Seth. Fisher constructs a fascinating cosmology, doubly so because of the gravity she grants it. This is no cautionary yarn about the perils of blind faith: Mirany begins as a doubter, despite her placement in the role of priestess of the Oracle, while the corrupt Seth believes there is a god, contrary to his dark actions. Mirany's journey to faith leads her to realize that the rituals do have meanings beyond the symbolic. A crisp, quick-moving narrative and fully fleshed out characters will keep readers hooked to the remaining installments in this trilogy. --Publisher's Weekly.