THE SERPENT’S SHADOW | RICK RIORDAN
Kindle edition | MG/YA | Fantasy | 406 pages
Released 1st May 2012
He’s b-a-a-ack! Despite their best efforts, Carter and Sadie Kane can’t seem to keep Apophis, the chaos snake, down. Now Apophis is threatening to plunge the world into eternal darkness, and the Kanes are faced with the impossible task of having to destroy him once and for all.
Unfortunately, the magicians of the House of Life are on the brink of civil war, the gods are divided, and the young initiates of Brooklyn House stand almost alone against the forces of chaos. The Kanes’ only hope is an ancient spell that might turn the serpent’s own shadow into a weapon, but the magic has been lost for a millennia.
To find the answer they need, the Kanes must rely on the murderous ghost of a powerful magician who might be able to lead them to the serpent’s shadow . . . or might lead them to their deaths in the depths of the underworld.
Nothing less than the mortal world is at stake when the Kane family fulfills its destiny in this thrilling conclusion to the Kane Chronicles. – GOODREADS
Book 3 of the Kane Chronicles, The Serpent’s Shadow, deals with the climax of the series. An end-of-the-world scenario that must be fixed by the Kane teens before the bad guy, Apophis, deals up a huge blow to life as we know it. It’s a recipe for high adventure and self-discovery for Carter and Sadie, who have been thrust into roles well beyond their wildest imagination in the first two books. Now it’s time to lay everything on the line and seal the deal.
This third book had been hiding in my To Be Read list for hundreds of years. In my reviews of books 1 and 2 I mentioned that, although I enjoyed those books, they didn’t set me on fire. The same could be said for book 3. Yes, it was an enjoyable read. Yes, it has some good characters in the mix. But, for some reason, I didn’t connect with the series as much as I expected I would (hence, the rather short review).
Some favorite quotes from The Serpent’s Shadow:
“The king tut masks flew off the penguins, revealing them to be gasping penguins.”
“So if you go to a King Tut exhibit someday and notice cracks or burn marks on the artifacts, or maybe a statue with its head glued on backward-well, sorry. That was probably our fault.”
That said, RR has a great imagination that can weave the complexities of Egyptian mythology into a story that can be understood and followed by readers. As evidenced in all of his books in this genre, he has found a way to cleverly blend the modern with the ancient, with splashes of dry wit and humorous sarcasm thrown in.
On the whole, I’m glad I’ve read the series, even though it took me 3 (cough) years to get through the 3 books. Recommended as a perfect book for RR fans. Maybe a miss if mythology isn’t your thing.
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S.W. Lothian - Author 
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