Sometimes the best at something are those who came to it first. Even amid the flash mob of all the new writers eager to stake a claim on the young adult territory taken by the likes of Suzanne Collins’ “The Hunger Games,” it should come as no surprise that Rick Riordan, who constructed the successful Percy Jackson and the Olympians franchise—featuring five best-selling novels and a motion picture adaptation—remains one of the most formidable YA talents in the field.

Evens as the second Percy Jackson movie is set to screen in 2012, Riordan has already moved on to other projects, the most prominent of which is a new series, now tackling Egyptian mythology instead of Greek. The second volume, “The Kane Chronicles Book Two: The Throne of Fire” (Disney.Hyperion, New York, 2011, 452 pages) has arrived—and it shows that Riordan remains better than ever.

The teenaged Kane siblings Carter and Sadie are now training their own protégés in Brooklyn, even as they continue with their plan to raise the all-powerful sun god Ra to prevent the resurrection of the evil snake god Apophis, who will wake in mere days.

The Kanes must now steal and put together the ancient Book of Ra, part by dangerous part. “I began to wonder exactly what we’d stolen—if it was even the right object, or if it would make our problems worse,” Carter said. “Either way, I had a feeling we’d finally pushed our luck too far.”

“Throne” is like a fresh batch of coals being stoked into fire, as the book starts off slowly because of all the exposition required.

Complex mythology

While unique and fascinating, Egyptian mythology, with its shabtis and bas, is much more complex, and while readers familiar with 2010’s “The Kane Chronicles Book One: The Red Pyramid” should have no problem, visitor new to these ideas will find the going a bit intimidating.

But once you overcome that, readers will be gifted with a fast-paced and enjoyable novel, full of smart humor and energetic ideation. There is a battle in the middle of London that has Sadie using her powers against an army of menacing baboons that is as inventive and energetic as something that came from J.K. Rowling’s hat.

There’s also a creepy attack by mummies. The supernatural places the Kanes visit—such as the titular throne— are vividly imagined, and the gods and mortals they encounter are memorable. The Kanes remain immensely entertaining and effective narrators, as well as funny, believable, constantly-bickering brother and sister.

The overall plot actually gains momentum at the end of “Throne,” as the Kanes find out just how big the challenge before them is, something to await for in next years’ third book, just as Carter reminds himself: “We were the Kanes, which meant everything would go wrong.”

Yet this is only one of three YA franchises the multi-tasking Riordan is working on; the other two are “Heroes of Olympus,” his follow-up to Percy, and Scholastic’s 39 Clues sequel, “Vespers Rising.” Yet of all his three projects, it is the Kane Chronicles which is the most refreshing and the most well-crafted.

It would be safe to assume then that here, at the early chapters of the Kane Chronicles, would be the best place to savor in full the exotic flavor and otherworldly action of “The Kane Chronicles Book Two: The Throne of Fire,” Rick Riordan’s dynamic take on Egyptian mythos.

Available in paperback from National Book Store.