The Serpent's Shadow by Rick Riordan

The Serpent's Shadow (Kane Chronicles, #3)

by Rick Riordan

CARTER AND SADIE KANE, descendants of the magical House of Life, are in pretty big trouble.

Despite their bravest efforts, Apophis, the giant snake of Chaos, is still threatening to plunge the world into eternal darkness. Now the Kanes must do something no magician has ever managed - defeat Apophis himself. No pressure there then.

Battling against the forces of Chaos, their only hope is an ancient spell - but the magic has been lost for a millennia. Will they find the serpent's shadow, or will they be led to their deaths in the depths of the Underworld?

Reviewed by jnikkir on

3 of 5 stars

Share
Solid three star rating for this one, no hesitation -- maybe even 2.5/2.75 rounded up -- mostly because as much as I wanted to love it, and as hard as I tried to ignore the many little things that bothered me, it just did not pull through. Way too predictable, WAY too much obvious foreshadowing... I kept feeling like I'd actually read the book and just forgot, because I felt like I knew what was going to happen way too often. I mean, it was entertaining, and had its moments, but this series really does not compare to the Percy Jackson books. In fact I probably got more joy out of the few allusions to the Greek gods / Camp Half-Blood than I did out of most of the rest of the book. Just not up to Riordan's PJO standard.

And for the record, as everyone else is mentioning, the "resolution" of that love triangle made me SO uncomfortable for SO many reasons. Just... No. Riordan made it perfectly clear through the entire rest of the trilogy that a god and his/her host are TWO PEOPLE. Yes they're cooperating and working together, but they are two distinct entities. I do not see how a couple of lines about "oh yeah Walt is really one new person now" makes his situation any different. Just... No.

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 30 July, 2012: Finished reading
  • 30 July, 2012: Reviewed