The Red Pyramid: Chapters 1–6

by Rick Riordan
In the first volume of The Kane Chronicles, siblings Carter and Sadie must use their newly discovered magical powers to defeat an ancient Egyptian god.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–6, Chapters 7–15, Chapters 16–23, Chapters 24–31, Chapters 32–41

Here are links to our lists for the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan: The Lightning Thief, The Sea of Monsters, The Titan’s Curse, The Battle of the Labyrinth, The Last Olympian

Here are links to our lists for The Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan: The Lost Hero, The Son of Neptune, The Mark of Athena, The House of Hades, The Blood of Olympus
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. exude
    make apparent by one's mood or behavior
    Usually he exudes so much confidence that he dominates any room he walks into, but sometimes—like that afternoon—I saw another side to him that I didn’t really understand.
  2. fedora
    a hat made of felt with a creased crown
    He had long braided hair and wore a black fedora pulled down low over his dark round glasses.
  3. mystified
    totally perplexed and mixed up
    I shook my head, just as mystified.
  4. obelisk
    a stone pillar tapering towards a pyramidal top
    In case you’ve never seen it: the Needle is an obelisk, not a needle, and it doesn’t have anything to do with Cleopatra.
  5. amulet
    a trinket thought to be a magical protection against evil
    When we were little, right before Sadie went to live with our grandparents, Dad had given us both Egyptian amulets.
  6. curator
    the custodian of a collection, as a museum or library
    Anyway, the museum was closed and completely dark, but the curator and two security guards were waiting for us on the front steps.
  7. ominous
    threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
    It was ominous at night. Dim light from the glass-domed ceiling cast crosshatched shadows across the walls like a giant spiderweb.
  8. glean
    gather, as of natural products
    “Though I can’t imagine what new information you could glean from it. It’s been studied to death—our most famous artifact, of course.”
  9. chisel
    carve with an edge tool
    The flat surface of the stone was chiseled with three distinct bands of writing.
  10. convey
    serve as a means for expressing something
    Then an Englishman named Thomas Young proved that the Rosetta Stone’s three languages all conveyed the same message.
  11. brandish
    move or swing back and forth
    Sure enough, when Dad raised his hand, he was brandishing a curved white stick.
  12. chide
    scold or reprimand severely or angrily
    “An old trick, Julius,” the fiery man chided.
  13. sarcophagus
    a stone coffin, usually bearing sculpture or inscriptions
    With another flick of his hand, he conjured a glowing coffin around our dad. At first it was transparent, but as our father struggled and pounded on its sides, the coffin became more and more solid—a golden Egyptian sarcophagus inlaid with jewels.
  14. superimpose
    place on top of
    It was as if someone had superimposed two different faces on top of each other—one almost human, with pale skin, cruel, angular features, and glowing red eyes, the other like an animal with dark fur and sharp fangs.
  15. cretin
    a person of subnormal intelligence
    So when I woke up, the police were rushing about as you might expect. They separated me from my brother. I didn’t really mind that part. He’s a pain anyway. But they locked me in the curator’s office for ages. And yes, they used our bicycle chain to do it. Cretins.
  16. fancy
    have a particular liking or desire for
    I suppose she doesn’t fancy the smell of museums. She hissed and disappeared under the bed.
  17. ashen
    pale from illness or emotion
    He wore a lint-colored suit that matched his gray hair and his ashen face.
  18. erratic
    liable to sudden unpredictable change
    “We’ve made calls to some of your father’s associates. I understand his behavior had become erratic since your mother’s death. He’d become withdrawn and obsessive in his studies, spending more and more time in Egypt—”
  19. extremist
    a person who holds radical views
    There are extremist groups in Egypt that object to Egyptian artifacts being kept in other countries’ museums.
  20. seethe
    be in an agitated emotional state
    Inspector Williams held up his hands apologetically, but I was still seething.
  21. askance
    with suspicion or disapproval
    As much as Carter annoyed me, I hated it when people assumed we weren’t related, or looked at my father askance when he said the three of us were a family—like we’d done something wrong.
  22. doily
    a small round piece of decorative linen or paper
    I looked at Gran for support, but she was staring at the lace doilies on the table as if they were suddenly quite interesting.
  23. quay
    wharf usually built parallel to the shoreline
    Down at the quayside, a boat was docked.
  24. tiller
    lever used to turn the rudder on a boat
    It was an Egyptian reed boat, with two torches burning in the front, and a big rudder in the back. A figure in a black trench coat and hat—possibly Amos’s—stood at the tiller.
  25. lurch
    move abruptly
    “Hang on, everyone!” He nodded to the steersman, and the boat lurched forward.
  26. dissipate
    cause to separate and go in different directions
    The noises stopped, and the fog dissipated.
  27. furrow
    make or become wrinkled or creased
    Amos’s brow furrowed as he looked across at the Empire State Building.
  28. threshold
    the entrance for passing through a room or building
    Sadie tried to go inside first, but as soon as she stepped on the threshold, Muffin wailed and almost clawed her way out of Sadie’s arms.
  29. primal
    having existed from the beginning
    “The gods could appear in many forms—usually fully human or fully animal, but occasionally as a hybrid form like this. They are primal forces, you understand, a sort of bridge between humanity and nature. They are depicted with animal heads to show that they exist in two different worlds at once. Do you understand?”
  30. clamber
    climb awkwardly, as if by scrambling
    I thought he’d sneezed, because Khufu is a weird name, but then a little dude about three feet tall with gold fur and a purple shirt came clambering down the stairs.
  31. gingerly
    in a manner marked by extreme care or delicacy
    Amos took it gingerly, as if it were full of explosives.
  32. barge
    a flatbottom boat for carrying heavy loads
    My stomach tingled as it had earlier that night on Amos’s barge.
  33. grovel
    show submission or fear
    The two creatures fell to the ground, groveling in the dirt, and I prayed like crazy that I really was invisible.
  34. sterile
    free of pathological microorganisms
    “Phoenix. How appropriate! And the desert so much like home. All it needs now is to be scoured of life. The desert should be a sterile place, don’t you think?”
  35. muse
    reflect deeply on a subject
    “Phoenix,” the fiery man mused. “I like that very much.”
  36. impeccable
    without error or flaw
    “Carter, you’re getting older. You’re an African American man. People will judge you more harshly, and so you must always look impeccable.”
  37. generic
    relating to or applicable to an entire class or group
    “Any god in particular?” I asked casually. “Or did he just order a generic god?”
  38. primeval
    having existed from the beginning
    “By the end of the ancient times, Egyptians had learned that their gods were not to be worshipped. They are powerful beings, primeval forces, but they are not divine in the sense one might think of God. They are created entities, like mortals, only much more powerful. We can respect them, fear them, use their power, or even fight them to keep them under control—”
  39. brethren
    the lay members of a male religious order
    “Oh, I’m sure he didn’t mean to break it,” Amos said. “That would’ve horrified him. In fact, I imagine my brethren in London have repaired the damage by now. The curators will soon check their vaults and discover that the Rosetta Stone miraculously survived the explosion.”
  40. intervene
    get involved, so as to alter or hinder an action
    But the House intervened and made sure your grandparents got custody of you, Sadie. If you and Carter were raised together, you could become very powerful.
Created on Thu Aug 01 10:05:06 EDT 2019 (updated Wed Aug 07 10:04:13 EDT 2019)

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