In the second Kane Chronicles novel, Carter and Sadie Kane have established Brooklyn House and begun training a new generation of young magicians, but the chaos serpent Apophis is poised to break free of his millennia-long imprisonment in the Duat. Convinced that the only way to counter Apophis and restore Ma'at, the cosmic order, is to awaken the long-retired sun god Ra, the siblings embark on a worldwide race against the clock. To work the spell they must recover the three scattered sections of the Book of Ra, retrieve the sun god's boat, and journey through the underworld to find Ra himself, who abdicated his throne eons ago and now drifts in senility. Standing against them are the gods of chaos and the suspicious magicians of the House of Life, who consider following the path of the gods heresy. As before, the story unfolds as alternating first-person narration transcribed from the siblings' recordings. Alongside the central quest, Riordan deepens the characters' personal stakes: Sadie is caught between her feelings for the gifted but cursed initiate Walt Stone and the death god Anubis, while Carter searches for the real Zia Rashid, hidden away in an enchanted sleep. Packed with portal-hopping travel, inventive combat magic, mythological monsters, and Riordan's trademark humor, the book builds the conflict between order and chaos toward the trilogy's finale.