Review: #285
Title: The Serpent's Shadow
Series: The Kane Chronicles - 3rd and final book
Author: Rick Riordan
Read Before: no
My Comments: A satisfying ending to The Kane Chronicles, but in my opinion, the series didn't really lift off too much (probably because you don’t get the same rush seeing less familiar Egyptian mythology taking on a modern form). If you have read the author’s other works, you would have felt that The Serpent’s Shadow was a bit overshadowed by them, relying on the same structure and tactics. There’s only so much of saving the world from apocalypse that you can take. Add that to styles of combat that doesn't seem completely original and it doesn't exactly suck you in. I loved it when you get up to the point where you realised what the title meant, for some reason, it just resonated against me, and it seemed very suitable. I didn't find that much difference between the two alternating viewpoints of Sadie and Carter. Oftentimes, I found myself being confused when I thought it was Sadie’s narrative and she just mentioned speaking to herself, and then I realised, oh, it’s Carter’s viewpoint (and vice versa). The tidbits exchanged between the siblings under the guise of a ‘recording’ were funny. Not all jokes worked, as some seemed to try a little too hard to be funny (and it didn't work). While the pacing was brisk, and the characters are always doing something useful, having an objective, it only ever became intense near the end, when the final climatic began. There were a few more references to The Heroes of Olympus, even to the point where, depending on how you view it, might hint (very vaguely) on a possible sequel or crossover… Well, that might be hopeful, but cameos appeared (Drew and Lacy!! I didn't pick this up until later) and who knows, the author might worked into explaining that at the same time Sadie and Carter were fighting against Apophis as the same time Percy was defeating Kronos or even during the final encounter in The Heroes of Olympus series. Hey, if the author specifically referenced unexplainable magic occurring at Long Island, one can dream. Speaking of Apophis, how he was tackled and battled was fine, and worked well. The journey there wasn't done as great; I felt the whole Setne and Bloodstained Blade episode to be fairly formulaic. I also hated how the author kept some of the most interesting bits until literally the last moment, especially when he kept teasing you with characters just about to say it and then something else happens. It happened so often that it becomes unbearable, annoying and frustrated (in other words, the author succeeded). The relationships were only fully justified and worked out in the end, which was just fine (in the case of Sadie, while it’s a bit freaky and unnatural, not to mention weird, it worked, sort of). There was a good balance between the more important preparations for the battle of the world than the love subplots. As expected, it’s a happy ending, that’s a good thing. I loved reading how everything turned out and went back to normal, the author made it interesting. There were one or two things that were specifically left unresolved, so I do hope one day we’ll get to see them resolved. While you could have guessed some of the more ‘shocking’ elements, this was a good book to read, if not really an instant classic.
Rating: 7/10