The Serpent's Shadow

Itzel

Kane Chronicles is a good series, I haven't found it as enjoyable as Percy Jackson and The Olympians, but it's still fantastic.

Monicap

THIS series needs a sequel! Make me a Heroes of Olympus for the Kane Chronicles, Riordan, please! (Something revolving around Felix and his colony of penguins, perhaps?)

Christine

lmao you think your love life is complicated? try being sadie kane

-◈ 4.25 STARS 

Absolutely enjoyable! Uncle Rick really never disappoints. I truly loved each and every adventures because the characters' adventures are never boring because, you know, action-packed and everything. And mind you, humurous in a very good way. So, yeah. 

PS. I am a bit in love with Anubis, sorry. He reminded me, a bit, of Nico di Angelo. I DO NOT KNOW WHY. Maybe because they are sort of related with darkness or death or underworld, or maybe because of the mysterious aura, idk!!

julia

to me this book differs a lot than the previous ones in the trilogy. preparations for the main fight lasted ever since the beginning of the series and i was very thrilled to finally read about it. furthermore i felt like this book focuses solely on reaching the conslusion of the series which made me even more excited. i wish it was paced differently though. the characters overcoming difficulties made reading as enjoyable as in the preceeding books of this series up until the point the main fight eventually starts. i was a little bit let down. many events that seemed important were passing by too quickly. i think more pages should have been spent to describe the main fight and the aftermaths of it and that one too many things were left untold. but despite of how i wish it could all be wrapped up better, in my opinion it's still worth reading.

★★★ // carter is likeable enough. sadie’s too young for that kind of romance.

Hannah Yang

There's a pattern now. Museums / nomes / whatever being bombed, relationship problems, siblings splitting up, lots of chaos, etc. For a lot of you, this will get boring. What can I say, the Kane Chronicles are my guilty pleasure and I'm pretty sure I will never get tired of them.

The Serpent's Shadow is the final installment on the Kane Chronicles trilogy, and at last Carter and Sadie are getting closer to defeating Apophis for good. It has the same lighthearted, fun humorous parts and also drama. There are plenty of "plot twists" but I think I might be biased since I read this book a couple years ago - I could predict everything. 

Even if I couldn't, this is basically super-similar to the previous two. The characters were still great, the story still kept me intrigued and turning the pages, I still adore the Kanes.

Since I don't have much to review without sounding like I've copy-pasted my first two reviews, here are some sparkling points in the book that will probably convince you that it's a great idea to invest your time in it. I promise, no spoilers.


  "So... the rebel magicians have a death warrant out for you. The gods can't help us. Apophis could arise at any time, and the last scroll that might've helped us to defeat him has been destroyed. But we shouldn't worry, because we have an empty box and a vague hunch about shadows."
"Why, Cleo," Bast said with admiration. "You have a catty side!"
(BTW: this is a pretty great summary of the whole book. Minus the details that make it fun.)


  "And what about you, Mr. Trash Tornado? We're preparing for war, and the most important thing you can do is keep people from waltzing?"


  "There's my baby!" I cried, quite carried away. "There's my Poochiekins!"
Ammit ran at me and leaped into my arms, nuzzling me with his rough snout.
"My lord Osiris!" Disturber lost the bottom of his scroll again, which unraveled around his legs. "This is an outrage!"
"Sadie," Dad said firmly, "please do not refer to the Devourer of Souls as Poochiekins."

The whole part about Sadie and Walt facing off Neith was great, so this will be the last (and longest) quotation. Or else, I might as well retype the whole book out for you.

  "Why once, in my bunker at Charing Cross Station, I stalked the deadly prey known as Jelly Babies."
Neith's eyes widened. "They are dangerous?"
"Horrible," I agreed. "Oh, they seem small alone, but they always appear in great numbers. Sticky, fattening-quite deadly. There I was, alone with only two quid and a Tube pass, beset by Jelly Babies, when... Ah, but never mind. When the Jelly Babies come for you... you will find out on your own."
She lowered her bow. "Tell me. I must know how to hunt Jelly Babies."
I looked at Walt gravely. "How many months have I trained you, Walt?"
"Seven," he said. "Almost eight."
"And have I ever deemed you worthy of hunting Jelly Babies with me?"
"Uh... no."
"There you have it!"

Actually, you've stuck around for so long, here's another part that made me giggle. 

  "I tried to tell her," Walt groaned. Anubis helped him sit up, though Walt still looked awful.
"I see," Anubis said. "Couldn't get a word in edgewise, I guess?"
Walt managed a weak smile. "You should've seen her talking to Neith about Jelly Babies. She was like... I don't know, a verbal freight train. The goddess never stood a chance."
"Yes, I saw," Anubis said. "It was endearing, in an annoying sort of way."
"I beg your pardon?" I wasn't sure which of them to slap first.
"And when she turns red like that," Anubis added, as if I were some interesting specimen.
"Cute," Walt agreed.

I hope that didn't spoil too much of anything for you, but all I can say is pick up this book now! (I mean, read the other two first if you haven't, because priorities.)

Maite Alarcon Leon

Some twists and turns I didn't expect. Some suspicions became true. Any other way, Carter gave me the 'aww's and Sadie the heart-racing scenes. Those two, seriously. Wonderful end.

Alexander Aguirre

** spoiler alert **
           I loved this book particullary, I really needed to know what was going to happen on everything! Like, what about the love Triangle Sadie-Carter-Anubis? Well, since this Rick Riordan is my hero, like, how can someone even imagine this resolution? Magic. Adventure, Gods, what else can you ask for?

I think it was pretty good, my favorite part was at the 75% mark. After that it wasn't as good, the ending was kinda mid.

I didn't like Zia's character in this book that much, she just felt very bland. In the first she was soo much more interesting and likeable.

I think this book had the most creative love triangle i have ever read about

Eszter Baranyi

I think it was pretty good, my favorite part was at the 75% mark. After that it wasn't as good, the ending was kinda mid.

I didn't like Zia's character in this book that much, she just felt very bland. In the first she was soo much more interesting and likeable.

I think this book had the most creative love triangle i have ever read about

Rachel Evans

(3.75/5) 3 hours 21 minutes - I enjoyed this book, very classic Rick Riordan story but no less fun to read. The characters are very likeable and the plot is engaging, but the subplot of Sadie's romance is at best unnecessary and at worst creepy. A love triangle between a 16 year old boy, a 5000 year old god and a 13 year old girl is something I definitely don't think should have been included, especially as it is never treated as anything but positive by any character, including adults/parental figures. This did detract from my enjoyment of the book. Aside from this, a good read.

Kirsten Simkiss

Well, I have to say that I thought this particular series was more predictable than others of Riordan's series of Earthly deities. That being said, I still enjoyed it quite a lot. I'm always in love with the diversity of the stories he writes. Especially in this one, where the main characters are two mixed race siblings and all the other characters have heritage dating back to the times of the Pharoahs of Egypt. Egypt was my THING as a kid, so I always enjoy reading stories regarding the topic. I was never a huge buff on the subject, but I loved it for the art style and the culture. I picked up a lot of interesting information from this book series that I either didn't remember from my interest as a kid or things that I learned anew.

I would definitely recommend this story to others, although it is vital to read the first two books to understand what's going on in this one. I know some of the Percy Jackson books did some recapping, which drove me up the wall. This book doesn't do that to the same extent. You definitely need to read the series in order.

This series is definitely a fun read for people of all ages. I 100% recommend it.

jess

all right so i’ve been off reading the entirety of the kane chronicles. now, i haven’t read it in a couple years. i haven’t even read the third book, which is why i was so anxious to get it. and i must say i enjoyed it a lot more this time around (or maybe it was because i read all three in a very short time period, i don’t know). 

so i’m just going to gloss over the first two, which were both really good. egyptian mythology is interesting and i understand that some liberties were taken to make the whole thing less incestuous, but reading it, you get a pretty good understanding of egyptian mythology. rick riordan knows what the hell he’s doing and he will make mythology seem like the coolest thing ever. 

okay, onto the serpent’s shadow. i thought that it was great, and it was definitely darker than the previous books. the plot kept heightening all through the book and rick riordan’s books take place in hammertime so there was a lot of tension. 

but one problem i have with rick riordan is that the characters never really sacrifice that much. sure, the kanes don’t have parents, but there are a lot of people that probably could have died (or maybe i’ve just been reading a song of ice and fire). amos could have died. walt could have died. (more on walt’s situation later.) at least a couple initiates could have died in the final battle, and the kanes didn’t seem too drained during that battle. um, bes. i liked him, but it wasn’t a sacrifice. 

so they don’t have to give up much, but they gain a lot. otherwise i found it really good. rick riordan really knows how to tell a story, i can say that. both carter and sadie had distinct voices. they weren’t too distinct, like sometimes i had to check to see who i was reading, but most of the time i could tell just from the writing, which is good. i have to say i liked sadie’s narration better. she’s snarkier. i like snark. 

the love triangle and the romance. okay, first the romance, because it’s easier. carter’s infatuated with zia. it’s mentioned that this is problematic for him, repeatedly, which is more than most young adult infatuations say. and i don’t blame him for it. he’s fifteen years old. but it never seems to cost him anything (or maybe i just want to see people suffer). and i like how they ended up together. it was a sweet romance, and while i don’t love them (like i love, you know, tragic romances) i liked them together and can’t think of anyone else that either of them could have been with. 

now, walt and anubis. the love triangle. i didn’t know who i wanted sadie to be with, but i wanted her to be with someone. so i just kind of read. an read. and then. the way it was solved gives me a headache, because it’s kind of polyamory, but then again, it’s kind of not, but she gets two boys, one five thousand year old and one fifteen year old, and what the frickle frackle we dont know. we dont know what the hell situation sadie is in but if she can accept it, so can i. 

and i liked the ominous sequel hook and the fact that it’s not a sequel hook from the egyptian pantheon, but the … greeks? and felix was interesting to me, because he could be a son of khione, i think, but rick’s going to do a norse series and norse … cold … so i’m excited for that, and i’m excited for the next thing rick riordan wants to do. like. especially since drew and lacy were there, they’re demigods, and the fact that percy jackson references are constantly popping up with this series. YOU’RE WORKING WITH FOUR PANTHEONS RICK RIORDAN THERE MIGHT BE A GIANT SEQUEL SERIES WITH ALL OF THEM. greek, egyptian, roman and norse. plus, the fact that the stories end around the same time - the heroes of olympus would end in august of 2011, i think, and the kane chronicles ends in september 2011. i’m anxious. i’m very anxious. and also, i don’t want percy jackson’s world to end. 

i give this a 9/10 and recommend it for anyone who liked rick riordan’s other books or egyptian mythology or middle grade fantasy

Penelope

Alost

its pretty good compared to throne of fire. though the writer says the series has ended, there is a chance for a second series featuring the kanes and brookleyn house, becuz 1 enemy escaped nothing mor5e read iot. we can look foprward for the second series as just happend in the case of percy jackson.

Josefina

Vanessa Egger

Leider sind die Kane- Chroniken nur eine Trilogie und dies ist somit der letzte Band einer spannenden Geschichte. Jedoch konnte mich Rick Riordan wieder einmal mit seinem Schreibstil und seinem Witz begeistern. 

Neben ihren ganz eigenen Problemen müssen Carter und Sadie gegen die verschiedensten Geschöpfe aus der Ägyptischen Mythologie bestehen, den Sonnengott Re wiedererwecken, sich ihrer eigenen Gefühle klar werden und die Welt vor Apophis retten. Natürlich stehen auch einige Überraschungen auf dem Plan.

Valentina dossi

OMG. I LOVED THIS BOOK!!! YOU SHOULD REALLY READ IT. UNCLE RICK, I LOVE YOU

Giulia Pianta

** spoiler alert **
           Ah questo libro, penso sia il migliore di questa trilogia.
I primi due libri mi sono piaciuti molto, ma sempre fino ad un certo punto. Penso che se li avessi letti da più giovane li avrei adorati. Non so se è perché questo è l'ultimo della serie, ma il pensiero di abbandonare i personaggi mi spiace davvero. Mi ci ero affezionata molto.

Adoro Sadie e Carter, e la loro relazione. è bello vedere come si sono riavvicinati, mantenendo comunque un rapporto fra fratello e sorella realistico.
Anche i personaggi secondari mi piacciono, Bes e Bast mi mancheranno davvero. Sono felice che Bes sia tornato in vita, e mi spiace che alla fine siano dovuti tornare nel Duat.

La relazione di Zia e Carter è stata carinissima, e quella di Sadie con Anubis/Walt inaspettata. Fa impressione l'idea che lei abbia ora un ragazzo che è un misto dei due, però se è felice lei meglio.

La trama è stata avvincente, e le varie avventure sono sempre interessanti. Lo stile di Rick Riordan è sempre divertente e leggero, i suoi libri non sono mai troppo pesanti o tristi, il che è un piacere. Anche la trama generale è comune a molti dei suoi scritti, ma le situazioni sono diverse e la mitologia è integrata benissimo nella storia. Non ne sapevo molto di mitologia egizia, ma le informazioni vengono spiegate molto bene e si impara molto senza accorgersene.

è stata una bella conclusione a una bella serie. Sono felice di continuare a seguire i personaggi nelle graphic novels, e non vedo l'ora di leggere le storie crossover con Percy Jackson.

Jessica Williamson

4.5 Stars

Cover ***** This cover perfectly portrays not only a scene of the book but also the tone of the book. Riordan covers are some of my favorites. 

Characters **** I love the Kane's, especially Sadie and Carter. They're so fun to read and I love being in their perspective. My only issue really with characters is that there's just so darn many of them! It's hard for me to keep up with everyone and considering this is a mid-grade, I can't imagine pre-teens would have an easier time of it. 

Plot **** I'm not sure what it was this time, but I just felt like something was missing. I think it was the final battle. It wasn't as anti-climatic as the end of Heroes of Olympus, but it also wasn't as grand as the end of Percy Jackson. Really that's my only plot complaint. I like the way Riordan weaves all of the different plot points together. It makes it an enjoyable read.

Pace ***** This one FLEW BY. I love when you're just hopping from one thing to the next, especially with mid-grade! It was fun and adventurous and I loved it.

Writing ***** I don't think I've ever given Riordan anything less than a 5 in the writing category. I love his stories and story-telling. He's easily one of my favorite authors. 

Enjoyment **** Like I said in the plot section, there was just something missing for me in this book. I would have liked a smidge more battle at the end. Some grand fight. To see Carter actually use his original weapon would have probably added the push it needed. Carter is more warrior oriented while Sadie is more word-oriented and it was just weird to me that the final battle came down fully to word magic vs. Carter taking up arms. 

No cry bonus.

Overall - HIGHLY enjoyed this whole trilogy. I doubt there are plans for more of this group in the future, due to its low performance in comparison to Riordan's other works but if there ever was more, I'd definitely read it. I liked Carter and Sadie and I'm kinda sad to see them go.

Mica

Dioses, no puedo creer que ya se terminó. Estuve toda la madrugada leyéndolo y sin querer me lo terminé.
Como siempre, Sadie y Carter tienen un límite de días para salvar al mundo del caos, pero sinceramente no se me hizo nada aburrido que esto se presentara en los tres libros, porque quieras o no, todo está relacionado.
Con respecto al final, creo que fue muy bueno, y le agradezco a Rick por no hacerme sufrir tanto XD.
Amé los problemas amorosos de Sadie, es que es imposible no encontrarlos un poco cómicos. 
También me gustó eso de que tuviera referencias a otros dioses y una gran cantidad de magia que percibían de Long Island, me pregunto qué será.
En resumen: el libro fue genial.

Jeni Enjaian

I have to admit that I didn't like this series as much as the Percy Jackson series mainly because Egyptian mythology is exceptionally confusing. On top of that I read the three books of the series a long time apart. I quickly forgot what was in the previous books. All that being said, I still really loved the book several times when I went to put it down I found that I had to read just a little bit further. Today for example I had to finish it even though the plan was to finish it tomorrow. :)

Cecilia Giordano

3.75*
Could not get over Sadie wanting to date Anubis and Walt, like girl choose one. And even though she says at the end that she doesn’t have to choose between them I feel like she does anyway.

The Serpent's Shadow

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