Den röda pyramiden har många av dessa element, men inte alla. (Hjälten är bror och syster, Anubis verkar som en snygg pojke, inte en doberman ...).
The novel opens with Carter and their father Julius Kane to visit Sadie, who has been living with her maternal grandparents since the death of the siblings' mother, Ruby Kane. Julius, who is secretly a magician but posing as a simple egyptologist, takes the siblings to the British Museum, where he tries to bring Osiris (the Egyptian god of the Underworld) back into the mortal world. Julius's magic has the unintended side effect of also summoning the gods Horus, Isis, Nephthys, and Set; and alerting the magicians Zia Rashid and Michel Desjardins to his actions, which are illegal within the magical community. Set, a god of chaos, captures Julius and destroys the museum. Unbeknownst to Carter and Sadie, each of the gods chooses a mortal host from the humans in the room.
Carter and Sadie are taken to Brooklyn by their uncle Amos, who explains to them that they are descended from a long line of magicians, beginning with the Egyptian pharaohs Ramesses the Great and Narmer. He also explains the grave danger Set poses to the world, and goes to find the loose god. While he is away, the mansion is attacked by minions of Set. With help from Sadie's cat Muffin, who is host to the goddess Bast, and Zia Rashid, they escape to Cairo. Once there, Carter and Sadie discover that they are hosts to the gods Horus and Isis, respectively. They train in magic until the magicians' leader Iskandar dies and Michel Desjardins orders their deaths for illegally collaborating with gods. The siblings escape and formulate a plan to defeat Set - hoping to both rescue their father and clear their names within the magical community.