The Serpent's Shadow

The Kane Chronicles #3

by Rick Riordan

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.

Genres: Fantasy, Mythology, Young Adult, Middle Grade, Fiction, Adventure, Percy Jackson

406 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2012

About the author

Rick Riordan is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of many books, including the Percy Jackson series.

Reviews

[Jayson · Rating 3 out of 5]

(B) 75% | More than Satisfactory
Notes: Perfunctory, like playing video games with cheat codes. Characters are empty shells of quirky garb and stock clichés.

[Jayson · Rating 3 out of 5]

(B) 75% | More than Satisfactory
Notes: Depth-deprived, it's too contrived, its romance short of sparks, no pulse (robotic), ends chaotic, hardly leaves a mark.

*Check out progress updates for detailed commentary:

Progress updates:

09/17/2023 - Preamble
(1) People wonder why I rated this series so low the first time I read it. Well, for several reasons, but I'll speak to one that came to mind just now.
- I just finished "The Throne of Fire," and for the life of me, I wouldn't be able to explain the plot.
- I understand they want to resurrect Ra to defeat Apophis, but how? and why? The logic of the adventure is as much a mystery now as it was before I started.

09/18/2023 - Chapters 1-9
(1) Carter: "It seemed incredible that not even a year had passed since Sadie and I first arrived at Brooklyn House, completely clueless about our heritage and our powers. Now we were running the place—training an army of young magicians."
- I know this is meant as a humble-brag, but it's one of my biggest problems with this series.
- I mean, even Harry Potter was five years in before he got to train his army.

09/20/2023 - Chapters 10-14
(1) The Apis Bull is just an excuse for characters to say "bull" repeatedly.
- Better than schist, not as good as dam.
(2) "[Zia] started muttering, and I could've sworn she said, "Dung balls. Time to roll the dung balls."'
- At a certain point, possibly this is it, Riordan stopped making current pop culture references and went strictly early 1980s.
- "Time to make the donuts" is a Dunkin' Donuts tagline, FYI.

09/21/2023 - Chapters 15-22
(1) Middle East accents must be hard to do.
- Kevin R. Free's Zia voice sounds Jamaican and Katherine Kellgren's sounds South Asian.
(2) Carter, Sadie and Zia are the only humans with any personality. We don't really spend time with the others.
- So, what deaths we get don't mean anything.
- All we know of Amos is he dresses like a jazz musician.
- The only reason to care about Walt is because Sadie likes him.

[Ellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

*edit, a few years later* Please excuse the unrestrained, hysterical ranting below. It was late and I was twelve.

--------

AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! WHY DOES THIS HAVE TO BE ONLY A TRILOGY?!?!?!?!? DARN DARN DARN DARN DARN!!!!!!!!!!! 5 OR AT LEAST 4 BOOKS PLEEEAAAAAAAAAZEEEEEE RICK RIORDAN!!!!!!!!!!!!! MORE MORE MORE!!!!!!! S&A S&A S&AS&AS&AS&AS&AS&AS&A ARGH ARGH ARGH ARGH ARGH ARGH!!!!!!!! "The Kane Chronicles is currently set to be a trilogy, making this the final installment. It is currently untitled and is set to release in Spring of 2012." ARGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FOLLOW UP SERIES!!!!!!!! NEED ONE!!!!! BAD!!!!!!!

May first! May first! Maaayyyyfiiiirrrrrrst!!!!!

So is anyone Team A? A lot of people are Team W, and I admit, that does seem the likelier of the two.

IT CAME OUT TODAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, please, please, please, please, PLEASE let me read this soon!!!!!! D: D: D:

I'M READING IT I'M READING IT I'M READING IT I'M ACTUALLY READING IT!!!!

*UPDATE: READ*

So....it's been about a month since I've read the book. Terrible. And I have yet to write a review! (A real review, I mean, not like the gibberish up there. *cringes*) Well, I WAS in Seattle with limited internet connection. And there would have been no time to sit down and write a review. So I guess that's my excuse.

But I'm back and I don't have an excuse now! So here goes.

This was the last book of the trilogy, and also the shortest one. I was moaning over that to other people (mainly my unsympathetic parents) as I read it. Still, it was reaaallly good. It was also probably the darkest of the Kane Chronicles, perhaps even darker than the Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus books, as it mentioned lots of deaths (most of them very minor characters) and even some torture, which wasn't graphic in any way--it wasn't narrated, just mentioned--but which served to give a darker feeling overall.

I've mentioned before somewhere that I never give Rick Riordan books any less than five stars, (unless they're really and truly awful, and I haven't come across any like that yet) even if they're more of a four stars. I'd give this a 4.5.

I liked how certain characters--mostly Walt--were made more 3D. (Does that make any sense?) In The Throne of Fire, the book before this, one of the reasons I hated the possibility of Sadie and Walt together was because Walt seemed so...not real. Predictable. Boring. But Uncle Rick apparently worked on making him more believable, because I was able to sympathize a lot more with him.

The plot seemed to be mostly the same as other books--you know, the enemy threatens Carter and Sadie, they try and find a way to destroy him, which takes most of the book, and then there is a fight at the end that temporarily destroys--or wipes out--the enemy. All of this was the same, except for the battle at the end. There was so much focus on other things that happened in the book (quite a bit of it was love triangle drama) that when the battle to get rid of the enemy finally rolled around, and they defeated the serpent (what? You knew they would!), I felt kind of...cheated. I thought, "Really? It just happened? Wait, wasn't there something more?" Because the two books before had a lot more tension and drama (drama relating to the battle, I mean) leading up to the climax, it just seemed a lot less impressive.

The end of the book made it so obvious that Rick is leaving the door open for a follow-up series, like he did with Percy Jackson. In fact, it was even more obvious in this book than in the last Percy Jackson book. The Serpent's Shadow ends on pretty much the same notes as The Red Pyramid, now that I think about it, except with a less obvious threat.

The love triangle. Aargh. How I hate those. If only Riordan didn't put it in. (But that'd erase, like, fifty pages of the book.) But, oh well, he did. And I must say, I wasn't entirely satisfied with the way it concluded. It seemed so predictable. I won't say any more, because I know if I was reading this, I would be freaking out. "Oh NO! Does that mean that ___ gets Sadie??!" (Sadie would probably hate that way of telling it, but really, what other ways are there to describe it?) (Actually, there are several, but that's the one I'm going to use. Sorry, Sadie.) So, no more. But it really wasn't an awful way of dealing with it, just a bit...weird. And predictable.

(ZIP IT, ME!)

Minor spoiler ahead--a sort of easter egg not important to the plot in any way, but I liked discovering it for myself.

*SPOILER AHEAD!*

There was this really funny part in the book where Sadie is at a school dance (I know--"school dance?!" It's not as bad as it sounds, really) and she runs into an enemy of hers, a classmate at school, named Drew. This Drew is a total fashion diva/mean girl pretending to be nice girl/makeup-obsessed...person. She's the sort of girl that calls you "hon" and "sweetie" after lots of not-so-subtle insults pretending to be disguised as compliments are hurled your way. She also has long curls and pink eyeliner.

Does any of that sound familiar? If you've read The Lost Hero, it should be! This Drew is the exact same Drew that Piper McLean from TLH disagreed with at Camp Half-Blood. (She doesn't seem to have changed much. Or at all.) Sadie also finds a friend of hers from the same school named Lacey, with blonde pigtails and braces. The same Lacey from the Aphrodite cabin! I was about halfway through the scene, wondering, "is this the same Drew? Is it?" when Lacey mentioned some disagreement with Drew at a summer camp, and I knew it had to be the same ones. Hilarious.

Oh, wait, and did I mention Anubis shows up at the dance? I nearly died laughing. Again.
*SPOILER OVER*

Winding down, finally, this was, on the whole, a very good conclusion. Especially with the almost-promise of another series! It wasn't everything I hoped for, but it was pretty darn close.

Oh my gosh, this review is insanely long.

[Ninzy Flores · Rating 5 out of 5]

can't believe this is the last !
*puts an Imperius curse on Riordan*
*Imperio! don't end the Kane Chronicles series!*

--> hahaha =) well that sounded really lame .

[Isa Cantos (Crónicas de una Merodeadora) · Rating 5 out of 5]

“For what it’s worth: trust your feelings. I can’t promise that you’ll never get hurt again, but I can promise you the risk is worth it".

¡Amé muchísimo esta trilogía! ¡Dioses del Oli...Duat! Terminé de leer este libro hace días, pero aún sigo pensando en Carter, Sadie, Zia, Anubis y Walt. Me encantó leer cómo empezó todo en La Pirámide Roja, con ellos dándose cuenta de que descendían de poderosos faraones egipcios, y cómo terminó todo en La Sombra de la Serpiente, con ellos enfrentándose a las fuerzas más oscuras del caos de la mitología egipcia mientras, además, intentaban descifrar cómo sobrevivir al encuentro con Apofis y cómo salvar a Walt de su maldición inminente.

No saben lo que sufría con cada una de las misiones en las que Carter y Sadie tenían que separarse. Estaban preparando todo para esa batalla final, pero ninguno de los dos sabía si su energía sería suficiente para detener a Apofis y lanzar el hechizo final que lo despojaría de su sombra. ¡Y mueren personajes! ¡Hace mucho tiempo no sufría con una muerte en un libro de Rick Riordan! Bueno... no desde Beckendorf. Ay.

Creo que, como siempre, lo que más disfruté de todo el libro fueron los problemas amorosos de Sadie con Anubis y Walt. Todo es tan absurdo en medio del apocalipsis que están intentando evitar, pero aún así me encantaba verla confundida porque le gustaba muchísimo Walt, pero se estaban quedando sin tiempo antes de que la maldición se lo llevara. Y luego está Anubis, a quien los dioses le han prohibido acercarse a Sadie, pero él sigue buscándola y apareciéndose en los lugares más absurdos... ¡como un baile de secundaria! ¡LO AMO! Y nada, NUNCA, me hubiera preparado para la resolución de este pequeño triángulo amoroso. ¡ES TODO TAN DISPARATADO QUE HASTA TIENE SENTIDO AL FINAL! ¿Para qué escoger entre walt y Anubis CUANDO PUEDEN FUSIONARSE Y CONVERTIRSE EN UNO? Lo mejor de dos mundos. Gracias, Hannah Montana, jajajaja.

En fin, creo que la batalla final del libro fue absolutamente épica y muy bien escrita en términos de tensión e incertidumbre. ¡Y lo mejor de todo es que Rick Riordan deja muy clara la posibilidad de que puede volver al mundo de los Kane en otra saga!

[Lee (the Book Butcher) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great conclusion to my favorite Riordan series which is saying a lot over the Percy Jackson, Apollo, and Magnus chase series.

The Kane Chronicles finishes with a fight between order, the kane's/Egyptian gods and apophis egypt's chaos snake. This added a lot of depth to the story. The Kane have fully taken over Brooklyn house with young students learning the magic of the gods. Both Sadie and Carter are caught in strange love stories that are advanced for high school literature. The Kanes have to get on the same page with the gods. Bring back Dwarf god bes and defeat apophis. Then they can settle their love life with Zia and Walt.

This series is a fun, exciting, and fast paced read. From one of my favorites Rick Riordan. I still think Riordan outlandishly funny.

[destiny ♡ howling libraries · Rating 3 out of 5]

#1 The Red Pyramid ★★★★☆
#2 The Throne of Fire ★★★☆☆
#3 The Serpent's Shadow ★★★☆☆

“A person's shadow stood for his legacy, his impact on the world. Some people cast hardly any shadow at all. Some cast long, deep shadows that endured for centuries.”

Ahh... and finally, the series comes to an end. What a roller coaster ride of a trilogy, my friends. I spent the first book falling in love, the second book gradually feeling less and less pleased with this series, and the final book wishing it would just finish already. That said, I should preface this by saying that The Serpent's Shadow was slightly better for me than The Throne of Fire, so if you've read the first 2 books and are uncertain as to whether or not you want to finish the series, let me be the first to tell you that you absolutely should. Besides, you've already come this far, right?

Anyways, this book was much of a repeat for the second for me as far as the romances went — still not buying Carter and Zia as an even remotely possible couple, and still super uncomfortable with Sadie's interest in boys at all, much less ones who are thousands of years older than her — but the pacing was a lot better and I enjoyed the action scenes tremendously. I think battle scenes must be tough to write, but every RR book that I've read has featured one whether big or small, and I always walk away thinking Rick has a serious talent for scripting them out.

I might not have loved this series overall, but I'm glad I picked it up and I feel like any fan of Rick Riordan's should give it a chance. If you're feeling hesitant, I highly recommend the audiobooks, as the narrators did a fantastic job. That said, I 100% recommend that this is not your introduction to RR's series, because the PJO series is frankly a million times better than this one, and I would warrant a guess that all of his other series are, too.

———

Buddy read with Ellyn! ♥

[Josie J · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good ending to an alright series. I really liked how things were wrapped up. I was satisfied with all the character arcs, they all felt right. I love Sadie, she is my favorite. She has grown so much and she has learned so much along the way. She is a very impressive character. I was a little confused by Walt's story line, I wish he would have communicated to Sadie his plan to live. But no, he just decided to become one with Anubis and not tell Sadie. I liked Carter a lot more in this book. I think he's going to be a great leader, he already is. I loved seeing Zia get slowly more comfortable with Carter. It was very sweet. I liked how everything was wrapped up, it felt very right if that makes any sense.

[Helen 2.0 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reread 2023: Liked it a lot better this time. Sadie is a riot.

---------

More like 2.5 stars. Good, but not great. I was underwhelmed by the ending and thus don't really have much to say.

I will comment on the final relationship between Sadie, Walt, and Anubis. Sadie being torn between the two was a pretty big conflict since the last book, but her just taking BOTH felt like no resolution at all. Does it count as polyandry if Walt/Anubis are more like 1.5 people than 2 people?

[♠ TABI⁷ ♠ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, now I have to wait for this too!?! Still waiting till the The Son of Neptune comes out!
Well, not that too many months away I guess. I wonder if there will be anymore hints about the Manhattan side of the river.....
My brother thinks it would be pretty cool if the Kanes met Percy....


WOW!!!! Just saw the COVER!!!! BEST. ONE. YET. CANNOT WAIT!!!!!

AWESOMEAWESOMEAWESOME!!!!! Rick Riordan has done it again. Really wraps up this trilgoy...with hints to a possible follow-up.

[Daelyn Bentley-Gottel · Rating 5 out of 5]

AMAZING!!!!! as usual. Not as much split-your-side humor in this one, but the chapter titles are still hilarious and there are some awesome one-liners in here. Oh, and don't even forget the Sadie-Walt-Anubis triangle. Can you say PLOT TWIST? Definitely didn't see that coming, but I loved it. There are several twists that will make you devour the book, and it's totally worth it.5 stars, no doubt.

[Aj the Ravenous Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing finale to a series I've come to love. Although I will miss Sadie and Carter so bad, I know they belong to characters I certainly will not forget. I wouldn't mind reading the series all over again to be reminded. :)

[Ryan Buckby · Rating 4 out of 5]

actual rating: 4.5/5 stars

For what it’s worth: trust your feelings. I can’t promise that you’ll never get hurt again, but I can promise you the risk is worth it.

Well its safe to say that i'm really satisfied with how this trilogy ended and that all the loose ends were all tied up and that this story is finally finished for me.

Plot: This last book starts off with a bang *literally* Sadie and Carter get themselves into a spot of trouble when trying to get one of the missing pages which results in the deaths of some trusted allies. I can say out of all three books this one was the one that has kept me interesting from beginning right up until the last page which i found the other two books lacked a little.

Over the course of this series Sadie and Carter have matured so much from when we first meet them right up until them starting this final quest. I love how close these two have become and it's so nice to finally see a sibling duo work together to fight evil and kick some ass. These two characters are both flawed and unique in their own ways and its something that has drawn me to these characters but also i did take me the course of the 3 books to finally like these two.


One thing that i love about Rick's books is that every riddle and question has an answer or multiple answers to it and it's always a game for me to try and find out what it is before its revealed but i'm yet to figure out a lot of things.

I really didn't see Walt and Anubis working together and its one of the major things that i didn't pick up at all and i'm really kicking myself. It was kind of bittersweet and sad at the same time with how things ended but also lucky for Walt who was able to stay alive and host Anubis at the same time so i'm happy for Sadie.

Everything was wrapped up really nicely in this last book and it went the way were i wanted things to go with everyone getting somewhat of a happy ending. Carter and Zia are finally starting the relationship that i was expecting to happen all the series same with Sadie and Walt being now able to start a relationship.

I would actually like to see a cross over with Percy and these two characters and i'm not sure if it exists but if it does i will definitely getting my hands on that one!

[Ludodreamer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una degna conclusione per una saga spettacolare.
È così che si scrivono i volumi conclusivi, bravo zio Rick!
La trilogia di The Kane Chronicles è ufficialmente tra le mie preferite dell'autore, insieme a Percy Jackson e Magnus Chase.
Sì, l'ho detto.
Ho amato tutte le avventure che hanno vissuto i nostri personaggi per prepararsi allo scontro finale con Adophis. La trama è solida e ben strutturata, ma al tempo stesso vengono riprese storyline dei volumi precedenti e ogni arco narrativo trova una sua chiusura. Inoltre, abbiamo ulteriormente approfondito la mitologia egizia senza appesantire la narrazione. Ho apprezzato molto il concetto di "ombra", già presentato nel secondo, ma ulteriormente analizzato qui.
Poi i colpi di scena!
Ce ne sono stati un paio che proprio non mi aspettavo, ma che hanno senso per il percorso di quei personaggi. Infatti, sono proprio felice di come si sono concluse le storie di Sadie, Carter, Ziah e Walt.
La battaglia finale mi ha tenuta col fiato sospeso e l'autore è stato in grado di gestire i ruoli dei vari personaggi in maniera eccellente, ognuno di loro è stato fondamentale.
Ci sono tanti rimandi al resto della saga, cameo di personaggi già apparsi, e per me questi aspetti sono sempre importantissimi in un ultimo libro, perché ti trasmette la sensazione di essere alla fine.
Il meraviglioso rapporto tra Sadie e Carter rimane un pilastro portante dell'intera trilogia, e qui ne abbiamo la conferma.
È un finale giusto, in parte dolce amaro, ma che mi ha lasciata con un sorriso.
Un cerchio si chiude, però la Brooklyn House sarà sempre lì per noi.

[Nels Paulson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The one and only issue with the book is that we know from the very beginning that we win. It basically starts saying sorry, but at least we stopped doomsday. Even that, because of the tone of the books, really isn't that big of a deal. The series is fun and entertaining. It is chalked with brother sister relationship fun.

And best of all they hint at the End that there are other gods out there that they might encounter. As in the series, they already hinted that this is the same exact world Percy is a part of, (Book one had a comment about other Gods residing across the bridge in Manhattan, and Cater swearing he saw a flying horse near the Empire State building), it makes for what might happen in the future. One could only hope that the two (or is it now three with rome?) groups will unite for awesomeness to come. I have a feeling it will have to do with Aristotle, the first Greek Pharaoh. Somehow I hope that if they are in another series, that there unique perspective can remain. It is entertaining to have comments from the peanut gallery while the book moves on.

I should add because I didn't catch this but Sophie and the rest of the Kids at Brooklyn house go to a private school were the popular clique seems to be kids from the Aphrodite cabin and Sophie also tries to set up carter with another girl from camp half blood.

[Saimi Vasquez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Los Kane se enfrentan a la peor amenaza que puedan imaginar. La serpiente Apofis esta apoderandose cada vez mas del mundo. El dios Ra (a quien despertaron con la esperanza de que los ayudara) no esta en sus "cabales". Su amigo el dios Bes, se encuentra en la Casa de Dioses Jubilados, catatonico. Su amigo Walt esta a un paso de la muerte. Y ellos apenas tienen suficientes magos apoyandolos para mantener a raya a los magos rebeldes.
Pero una vez mas, deben hacer lo imposible, deben buscar la forma de derrotar a Apofis y mantenerse con vida. Quizas si no fueran solo unos chicos de 13 y 14 años sus vidas serian mas faciles?

Este libro es un buen final para la saga, es entretenido, lleno de accion y responde a todas las preguntas que quedaron pendientes en los libros anteriores. Tambien se ve que el autor estaba previendo un cross-over con Percy Jackson, y/o otros Magos de sus otras sagas, asi que sabemos que en otros libros volveremos a saber de ellos. En cuanto a lo que no me gusto, para ser unos niños de 13 y 14 años son demasiado "maduros", afrontan los problemas como jovenes de mas de 18 años. Y si, se que es una serie middle-grade, pero me parece que algunos de los temas que se tocan en este libro son mucho mas avanzados para el publico al que va dirigido.
En fin, es una buena saga, que nos trae nuevos dioses y un universo muy parecido a otras de sus sagas, pero aun con un toque diferente, y que no solo nos entretiene, sino que nos permite abrir la mente a otras mitologias que no son tan conocidas en los tiempos modernos.
Es totalmente recomendada como una lectura para el publico joven, quizas hasta aquellos que esten comenzando en el mundo de la lectura.

[Ardent Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

And the series is finished.
Glad to finish this trilogy.
Didn't enjoy as the percy jackson series.
Since I'm a big fan of Riordan's books, I'll recommend the series to read.

[tappkalina · Rating 2 out of 5]

The soul of this entire series was Sadie. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was amazing, she gave her so much life.
And the Anubis + Walt thing was such a nice twist on love triangles!

[P · Rating 3 out of 5]

อ่านจบทั้งสามเล่มแล้วในหัวเรามีแต่ภาพหุ่น Transformer พระเอกเข้าไปฟิวชั่นกับบัมเบิ้ลบีไรงี้ คือระหว่างเคนกับเ���อร์ซีย์จะมีจุดที่ค่อนข้างต่างกันชัดเจนคือเคนจะให้เทพเจ้ามาสิ่งร่าง ถ้าไม่ใช่พลังจากเทพเจ้า จะให้อารมณ์การวาดรูนเหมือนตัวละครใน The Mortal Instruments เลย ส่วนเพอร์ซีย์จะได้รับพลังมาจากเทพเจ้า สิ่งที่เราแอบขัดใจเล็กๆคือความบังเอิญในเนื้อเรื่องที่ดูเหมือนว่าจะบังเอิญเกินไปหลายครั้งจนน่าหมั่นไส้ 555 แบบกำลังเข้าตาจน ความช่วยเหลือจะมาพอดี พยายามคิดอยู่เสมอว่านี่เป็นหนังสือ Middle Grade อ่านแล้วเหมือนดูการ์ตูร ที่อะไรก็เป็นไปได้ทั้งนั้น ขนาดออโรร่า(Sleeping Beauty)เจอเจ้าชาย 3 วิ ยังสามารถชวนกลับกระท่อมได้เลยเนอะ 555

The Serpent's Shadow สนุกในระดับหนึ่ง การดำเนินเรื่องให้โทนคล้ายๆกับเล่มที่ 2 ไม่ได้ตื่นเต้นเร้าใจเหมือนเล่มแรก ซึ่งนี่เป็นตอนจบแล้ว... เรื่องที่ชอบมากที่สุดในเล่มนี้ก็คงเป็นประเด็นระหว่างวอลต์และอะนูบิส ที่ให้อารมณ์คล้ายๆ(ย้ำว่าแค่คล้าย)กับ Clockwork Princess เสียดายที่นิยายของริคไม่ได้เน้นโรมานซ์เลย อย่างมากก็เขียนคำว่า 'จูบ' แล้วก็ไปบรรยายอย่างอื่นแล้ว เราเลยรู้สึกว่าลำดับความสัมพันธ์ระหว่างตัวละครไม่ใช่สิ่งที่น่าโฟกัสสักเท่าไร

ที่น่าเสียดายคือเล่มจบไม่ได้ทำให้เราประทับใจมากมายอะไร ถือว่าอ่านเพลินๆฆ่าเวลาได้ แต่ไม่ได้อยู่ในลิสต์นิยายที่เราโปรดปรานแน่ๆ เนื้อเรื่องยังไม่แน่นพอ ตัวเอกเสียท่าไปกับกลอุบายงี่เง่าของผู้ร้ายบ่อยเกินไป กว่าจะรู้ทันก็ตอนมีดมาจ่ออยู่ที่คอหอยแล้ว อีกเรื่องนึงคือผู้แต่งพยายามจะทำให้หนังสือดูตลก แต่เราก็ไม่ค่อยจะขำ บางทีอ่านผ่านมุกตลกไปสองย่อหน้าเพิ่งจะรู้ตัวว่าตัวเองควรจะขำตั้งแต่ย่อหน้าที่แล้ว งั้นก็ขอหัวเราะย้อนหลังละกันได้มั้ย ฮ่าๆ โดยรวมทั้งสามเล่มดูเหมือนจะจืดไปหน่อย แต่ก็อ่านได้เรื่อยๆนะ...



เมื่อคัมภีร์ที่จะใช้ปราบอโพฟิสถูกทำลายลง และวันที่พญางูจะกลืนกินโลกได้ใกล้เข้ามา หนทางเดียวที่คาร์เตอร์และเซดี้มีอยู่คือการทำลายเงาของพญางู แต่นั่นอาจจะต้องแลกมาด้วยชีวิตของพวกเขา การที่จะตามหาข้อความในคัมภีร์ที่ถูกทำลายไปแล้วคือการไปพบกับผู้วายชนม์อย่างเซตเน่ ผู้ที่เป็นคนร่างคัมภีร์นั้นขึ้นมาในโถงแห่งการตัดสินที่โอซิริสประทับอยู่ ซึ่งก็คือพ่อของคาร์เตอร์และเซดี้นั่นเอง เมื่อพวกเขาได้ตัวเซตเน่และออกตามหาคัมภีร์แห่งธอธเพื่อร่ายคาถาลบเลือนเงา เซดี้และวอลต์ก็เดินทางไปเอาเงาของเบสกลับมาเพื่อคืนชีวิตให้กับมิตรของพวกเขาเช่นเดียวกัน

การเดินทางเพื่อตามหาเงาของอโพฟิสนำทางให้คาร์เตอร์และเซียมายังแดนแห่งปีศาจ ส่วนเซดี้กับวอลต์ก็ช่วยเบสได้สำเร็จแต่ต้องแลกกับการที่วอลต์ใช้พลังจนตัวตาย โชคดีที่อะนูบิสและวอลต์ได้วางแผนโดยที่ไม่มีเวลาบอกเซดี้มาก่อนหน้าแล้ว และนั่นทำให้วอลต์และอะนูบิสรวมร่างเข้าด้วยกันหลังจากนั้นสำเร็จ เมื่อเซดี้และคาร์เตอร์ตามหาเงาของอโพฟิสจนเจอ ก็ถึงเวลาที่พญางูเปิดศึกเพื่อทำลายล้างโลก คาร์เตอร์และเซดี้จึงต้องร่ายมนตร์ต่อหน้าพญางู เมื่อทั้งคู่ทำได้สำเร็จ...อโพฟิสได้กล่าวไว้ว่า เมื่อความโกลาหลหายไป เหล่าเทพก็จะหายไปเช่นเดียวกัน...

คาร์เตอร์และเซดี้ได้มีโอกาสมาเยี่ยมเพื่อนเก่าอย่างเบสและบาสต์เป็นครั้งสุดท้ายก่อนที่เขาจะเดินทางกลับ ฮอรัสได้ขึ้นครองบัลลังก์เหมือนกับคาร์เตอร์ที่ได้ครองบัลลังก์ฟาโรห์เช่นเดียวกัน เมื่อเซดี้กลับบ้าน...เธอจึงได้พบกัลวอลต์และอะนูบิสอีกครั้ง

[Booknut 101 · Rating 5 out of 5]

The third (and hopefully not final) instalment in the series, The Serpent's Shadow brings to light the upcoming apocalypse. Except, it isn't upcoming. It's here. The showdown we've all been waiting for - Apophis vs Ra, The Way of the Gods vs the House of Life, Good vs Evil and Protein Bars vs Macho Nachos. But, as usual, nothing goes to plan.

The Kanes face a dilemma. Apophis, using the power of Chaos, is slowly destroying the artefacts that could lead to his destruction. When the Book of Overcoming Apophis - their last hope - is snatched away before their eyes, Sadie and Carter have no choice but to follow Plan B. And if you know anything about Plan Bs, they are Plan Bs for a reason. Because they normally involve allying yourselves with evil magicians, talking to mentally unstable gods, debating over the 'hotness level' of guys, searching for lost sheut , hosting gods, fighting with gods, talking to your dead parents and trying to save the world from eternal Chaos and destruction.

So obviously, they go with Plan B.

But Ma'at isn't always on their side. The Kane siblings are forced to make heart-tearing decisions that could hold the lives of others in the balance, as well as having to work both together and apart. Can they resist the lure of Isis and Horus - and should they?

Carter struggles with the weight of his new duties and expectations as well as his undeniable attraction to Zia Rashid, a girl whose role in the upcoming war is paramount and shrouded in mystery. As for Sadie...guy troubles aren't the only thing worrying our feisty heroine! Sure, Walt's days are numbered and the drop-dead gorgeous God of the Dead Anubis is as mind-boggling as ever (he still speaks in riddles), but a girl has bigger things to worry about. (I was very pleased with the amount of Anubis-ness in this book - yes, yes, I am getting as bad as Sadie but cut me some slack...the guy is cute as!:D)

My favourite quotes:

- "(Carter) I resisted the urge to spike the pigeon. "Yes. But Sadie found this shadow box. She thinks it's some sort of clue. You wouldn't know anything about using shadows against Apophis, would you?"
The pigeon (Horus) turned its head sideways. "Not really. My understanding of magic is fairly straightforward. Hit enemies with a sword until they're dead. If they rise again, hit them again. Repeat if necessary."

- "Each time he (Ammit the Devourer) crashed, he shook his lion's mane and crocodile snout and yipped happily. Carter is scolding me, as always. He says Ammit is female. I'll admit I can't prove it either way, but I've always thought of Ammit as a boy monster. He's much too hyper to be otherwise and the way he marks his territory...but never mind.
"There's my baby!" I cried, quite carried away. "There's my Poochiekins!"
"My lord Osiris!" Disturber lost the bottom of his scroll again. "This is an outrage!"
"Sadie," Dad said firmly, "please do not refer to the Devourer of Souls as Poochiekins."
"Sorry," I muttered and let Ammit down.

- "Sadie it's all right," Anubis said. "Your friends are only unconscious. Shu just lowered the air pressure."
"Shoe?" I demanded. "Show who?"
Anubis pressed his fingers to his temples. "Sadie...this is Shu, my great-grandfather."
"Ah. The god of...flip-flops. No, wait. Leaky balloons. No___"
"Air!" Shu hissed. "God of the air!"

- "In the Duat, Anubis look as he always had, with tousled dark hair and lovely brown eyes, but I (Sadie) had never seen him filled with such rage. I realised that anyone who dared to hurt me would suffer his full wrath."

Brilliant book and I give three cheers for Rick Riordan - the guy who brought us the world of demigods, gods, more gods and pharaoh descendants!:D

[☠tsukino☠ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

GDL con Edicola & Libreria: le nostre passioni...
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Questa serie non è mai decollata, si è portata stancamente alla fine.
La colpa principalmente è dei personaggi: Carter dal buon potenziale è rimasto nella mediocrità, soverchiato dall’extra esposizione della sorella super potenziata.
Sadie si conferma un personaggio odioso dall’inizio alla fine. Credo sia tra i personaggi di cui ho letto con cui ho meno empatia in assoluto.
Troppi Dei, alla fine erano solo un’accozzaglia di nomi; si salvano solo Bast e Bes.
Tanti maghi poco sfruttati e lasciati in secondo piano.
Non parliamo poi della scontatissima soluzione Walt/Anubi.
Questa serie l'ho trovata molto più per "ragazzi" rispetto a quella di Percy.
La colpa di Riordan e di aver creato un personaggio difficilmente raggiungibile: Percy; al momento come Testa d’alghe nessuno (in compenso ne ha creato uno difficilmente raggiungibile in odiosità).
Speriamo in Magnus Chase ^^

[exploraDora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this series ❤️
Rtc.

[Vampress Bathory · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it, obviously, but of course there isn't a book written by Rick Riordan that I don end up loving so there's that.
I like mythology in general, but there is something about Ancient Egypt that makes my nerdy heart go boom boom boom chica boom so I feel like The Kane Chronicles was written epecially for me. Ha! I wish! I loved all the characters be them good or evil. Yes, I admit that I find Set really funny :)). Besides Carter and Sadie I also adored Zia, Ra, Bast and Bes and omg be still my fangirl heart I fell in love with Anubis, I know, I know. Kinda reminds me of Nico di Angelo. Speaking of the Anubis business, the whole Walt thing didn't sit so well with me at first, just because in the second book Sadies' attraction for Walt felt too sudden for me so I didn't felt their attraction at all. But I understand the need for Walt as a character and I accepted him just because Anubis and Sadie couldn't happen without him. Oh? I got your attention with this non? Well I guess you have to read it in order to see what happens. Of course this whole Anubis/Sadie/Walt thingie is just a small part of what this series is about so don't freak ok? I just wanted to talk about it because that was the only thing that I could get snippy about, the rest was just epic as usual.
Yep! I recommend it !!!

[Bogdan Teodorescu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Soo, I'm really glad to say that this was the best book of the series :)). It really impressed me. I wasn't expecting at very much since the first two book weren't at that "Rick level". But this was veery good. And... like I said it before, Walt Stone is officially my favorite character :).

After all, the book was a good read and the plot was really nice. I never expected Bes to come back!! Never! But it was cool. It was pretty predictable that Walt was going to "become" Anubis but it's ok. Of course the "little love" stories and dramas that took part through the book were great.

I will never compare the Kane Chronicles with PJO because I can't. Those are FAR better. Anyway, that's what I think. Still 5 stars, just because of the Riordan magic :)))

Happy New Year everyone!

[Brigid ✩]

OH BOY. The third Kane Chronicles book! (And the last one too, I think ... AAAAH.) Pretty cover. It has a giant phallus in the background. I mean, the Washington Monument.

[Charissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

EDIT: 01/13/13 Just saw how wrong some of my grammar were in this review and how I did not properly explained why I only gave this book 2 stars. So, I guess I shall rewrite it. Anyway, as of now, I shall warn you about this review I wrote. 1st: It is angsty. 2nd: there are a lot of wrong grammars. 3rd: I failed to explain my side logically. 4th: I think I misunderstood the ending (but that still didn't change my perspective to this whole trilogy). 5th: If you LOVE the ending of this book, I recommend NOT to continue reading any further. This review is full of rants towards that matter. So, until I rewrite this, you can't read this. BUT if you also dislike the ending, and reading quite a lot of wrong grammars is okay with you, then you may proceed. We might have the same perspective in this book.


My Review:

Ok, I must admit, I only like this book. Not love or anything beyond like (which is unusual for the last two books of the Kane Chronicles trilogy totally made me a fan girl). This series made me interested in mythologies and discover Rick Riordan (who is my number one favorite author) and check out his other books and read one of the best book series in the world, the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series that totally live up in my expectations and gave every avid fan of Percabeth their satisfaction. But this… Oh Hades! Don’t even get me started on the Walt/Sadie/Anubis love triangle! Anyway, I’d like to reserve the criticisms for later. Let’s focus first on the positive side, shall we?
I enjoyed this book. I would have given it five stars if I didn’t read what happened to Walt and Anubis. If you’re in love with Zarter (Zia/Carter) you’ll appreciate this book as much as I do (but sadly, I’m more in love with Sanubis and again, I’ll tell you later why I only gave this book three stars). There are some scenes that made me crack up like this: “That’s my boy!” Set shouted. “Shut up, Father,” Anubis said. Isn’t Anubis adorable? If you didn’t crack up on that one, well, you haven’t read the whole situation why they said that. So, I don’t blame you. Getting out of topic again eh? Back to the topic, there are so many unexpected things happening. It’s not that bad for a last book (though the ending hinted something for some future books) it totally live up to my expectations (if you don’t count the love triangle of Sadie). We met more and more Egyptian gods like Shu (ah, my favorite Egyptian god after Anubis) and Hapi. Where’s Tefnut? She’s my favorite Egyptian goddess and didn’t even appear in any book in this trilogy! It also helps us to know more about the world of Egyptian mythology with the Land of Demons, sheut (aka shadows being part of our soul) and many more. In romance, Rick Riordan did a great job on Zarter. I couldn’t help but to squeal whenever they have moments!
Criticism part. My criticism is not about how the book is written, plot and/or other things but on the love triangle between Walt/Sadie/Anubis. I DISLIKE IT!!! Ever since I started reading The Red Pyramid, whenever Sadie and Anubis have moments, I always squeal, highlight them on the book and rereading it all over again and even adding some comments! I had (take note of the past tense) love Sanubis with all my life! Forbidden love always interest me and I had only read few forbidden loves that actually live up to my expectations like the true love between Ash and Meghan from the Iron Fey series. Now, that’s what I call a very interesting forbidden love! They did everything so that they can be together and Ash even went to the End of the World to have a soul so that he’ll be with Meghan forever! But this… Urgh! The Sanubis in this book is a TOTAL disappointment! Oh come on! Give me a break! I know that Anubis made Walt as his host that made the dying boy’s life expand and both end up with Sadie and that they’re two inhabiting one body that are just in harmony thanks to their similarities and their feelings for Sadie and everything. Puh-lease! THIS IS NOT WHAT AN ADDICTED SANUBIS FAN LIKE ME EXPECT! Why can’t the Egyptian gods just offer Sadie immortality and be a goddess to be with Anubis? After all Sadie deserved it! Why can Greek gods offer Percy immortality thanks to the heroic deeds (just like Sadie and Carter did) he did and Egyptians can’t? Because they can’t and Greeks can? Give me a break! I had supported Kane Chronicles since the first book was published. I waited for a year for the Throne of Fire and waited another one for the last book, hoping to find more Sanubis that’ll satisfy my needs. But no! It is so obvious that Sadie and Walt ended up together! And it is totally heartbreaking for a Sanubis fan like me. Walt had his own advantages! It’s his body, so when he kiss Sadie, it’s his own pleasure not Anubis’s! And Anubis? He’s just there watching them even if he’s in the same body. Poor boy! He doesn’t deserve that! I am so glad the book didn’t reach Philippines! I’m so glad I just found this in the internet! I’m so glad I spent my money I intend to buy for this book to my mom on Mother’s Day. As a once Sanubis fan, I won’t buy this book. And I thought Kane Chronicles is a great series! I don’t like RR’s new writing style in Romance, the protagonist ending up with his second love not the first.
Anyway, that’s where my rant about romance ends. If there’s a new book in this series (which I slightly doubt but the ending totally says that there’s a next one) I’m not going to buy it unless I’ll find it interesting (which I highly doubt). That’s all.
Though if RR will write a next book about a crossover between Kane Chronicles and Percy Jackson and the Olympians, I might buy it. Again, it hinted on the ending about Long Island and everything.
Before I go, here’s the last chapter of the book. Thought you might wanna know what I meant with the Sanubis/Salt and hinted stuff.
HE’D CHANGED HIS LOOK AGAIN.
His amulets were gone except for one- the shen that matched mine. He wore a black muscle shirt, black jeans, a black leather duster, and black combat boots-a sort of mix of Anubis’s and Walt’s styles, but it made him look like someone entirely different and new. Yet his eyes were quite familiar-warm, dark brown, and lovely. When he smiled, my heart fluttered as it always had.
“So,” I said, “is this another goodbye? I’ve had quite enough goodbyes today.”
“Actually,” Walt said,” It’s more of a hello. My name’s Walt Stone, from Seattle. I’d like to join the party.”
He held out his hand, still smiling slyly. He was repeating exactly what he’d said the first time we met, when he arrived at Brooklyn House last spring. Instead of taking hand, I punched him in the chest. “Ow,” he complained. But I doubt that I’d hurt him. He had quite a solid chest. “You think you can just merge with a god and surprise me like that?” I demanded. “ Oh by the way, I’m actually two minds in one body . I don’t appreciate being taken off guard.”
“I did try to tell you,” he said. “Several times. Anubis did too. We kept getting interrupted. Mostly by you talking a lot.” “
“No excuse.” I folded my arms and scowled as best as I could. “My mum seems to think I should go easy on you because this is all very new to you. But I’m still cross. It’s confusing enough, you know, liking someone, without their morphing into a god whom I also like.”
“So you do like me.”
“Stop trying to distract me! Are you truly asking to stay here?” Walt nodded. He was very close now. He smelled good, like vanilla candles. I tried to remember if that Walt’s scent or Anubis’s. Honestly, I couldn’t recall.
“I’ve still got a lot to learn,” he said. “I don’t need to stick with charm-making anymore. I can do more intensive magic-the path of Anubis. No one’s ever done that before.”
“Discovering new magical ways to annoy me?”
He tilted his head. “I could do amazing tricks with mummy linen. For instance, if someone talks too much, I could summon a gag-“
“Don’t you dare!”
He took my hand. I gave him a defiant scowl, but I didn’t take back my hand. “I’m still Walt,” he said. “I’m still mortal. Anubis can stay in this world as long as I’m his host. I’m hoping to live a good long life. Neither of us ever thought that was possible. SO I’m not going anywhere, unless you want me to leave.”
My eyes probably answered for me: No, please. Not ever. But I couldn’t very well give him the satisfaction of me saying that out loud, could I? Boys can get so full of themselves.
“Well,” I grumbled,” I suppose I could tolerate it.”
“I owe you a dance.” Walt put his other hand on my waist-a traditional pose, very old-fashions, as Anubis had done when we waltzed at the Brooklyn Academy. My Gran would’ve approved.
“May I?” he asked.
“Here?” I said. “Won’t your chaperone Shu interrupt?”
“Like I said, I’m mortal now. He’ll let us dance, though I’m sure he’s keeping an eye on us to make sure we behave.”
“To make sure you behave,” I snipped. “I’m a proper young lady.”
Walt laughed. I supposed it was funny. Proper wasn’t the first word normally used to describe me.
I pounded his chest again, though I’ll admit not very hard. I put my hand on his shoulder. “I’ll have you remember,” I warned,” that my father if your employer in the Underworld. You’d best mind your manners.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Walt said. He leaned down and kissed me. All my anger melted into my shoes.
We started to dance. There was no music, no ghostly dancers, no floating on air-nothing magic about it. Freak watched us curiously, no doubt wondering how this activity was going to produce turkeys to feed the griffin. The old tar roof creaked under our feet. I was still quite tired from our long battle, and I hadn’t cleaned up properly. No doubt I looked horrid. I wanted to melt into Walt’s arms, which is basically what I did.
“So you’ll let me stick around?” he asked, his breath warm on my scalp. “Let me experience a typical teenage life?”
“I suppose.” I looked up at him. It took no effort at all to slip my vision fort at all to slip my vision into the Duat and see Anubis there, just under the surface. But it really wasn’t necessary. This was a new boy in front of me, and he was everything I liked. “Not that I’m an expert myself, but there is one rule I insist on.”
“Yes?”
“If anyone asks you if you’re taken,” I said,” the answer if yes .”
“I think I can live with that,” he promised.
“Good,” I said. “Because you don’t want to see me be cross.”
“too late.”
“Shut up and dance, Walt.”
We did-with the music of a psychotic griffin screaming behind us, and the sirens and horns of Brooklyn wailing below. It was quite romantic.
So there you have it.
We’ve returned to Brooklyn House. The various catastrophes plaguing the world have lessened-at least somewhat-and we are dealing with an influx of new initiates as the school year gets properly under way.
It should be obvious now why this may be our last recording. We’re going to be so busy training and attending school and living our lives, I doubt we’ll have time or reason to send out anymore audio pleas for help.
We’ll put this tape in a secure box and send it along to the chap who’s been transcribing our adventures. Carter seems to think the postal service will do, but I think I’ll give it to Khufu to carry through the Duat. What could possibly go wrong?
As for us, don’t think our lives will be all fun and games. Amos couldn’t leave a mob of teens unsupervised, and as we don’t have Bast anymore, Amos has sent a few adult magicians to Brooklyn House as teachers (read: chaperones). But we all know who’s really in charge- me . Oh, yes, and perhaps Carter a little bit.
We’re not done with trouble, either. I’m still worried about that murderous ghost Setne, who’s on the loose in this world with his devious mind, horrible fashion sense, and the Book of Thoth. I’m also puzzling over my mother’s comments about rival magic and other gods. No idea what that means, but it doesn’t sound good.
(Skip the last part)

[Savi3 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Um well frigging amazing!! Any fans of rick? Well have you read the lost hero and remember the awesome aphrodite kids that helped piper and then there was drew well... Just like the first line on the back of the book THEY ARE BACK!!!! And apperently Sadie is all buddy buddy with Lucy and hates drew... Just one more reason I wish Sadie Kane was real so I could hug her! And OMG!!!! Zia and Carter!!! Now we need a awesome name like percabeth(Percy Annabeth) or Jipper( Jason piper) or even Peo(piper Leo) should we call them Cia or Zarter? I honestly don't know!

[Alaina · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Serpent's Shadow is the third, and final, installment of The Kane Chronicles. It was an interesting and fast paced series to randomly dive into. Yes, I mean randomly because I totally forgot that I added these books to my TBR but one day I just came across the first book and decided it was time to dive into it.

From there, meeting Carter and Sadie was a tornado on fire kind of experience. The adventures they went on sort of kept me on my toes but left me endless unanswered questions. Each book was, again, fast paced in my eyes and didn't shy away from the drama or the action. It also felt like this was great for family bonding since Carter and Sadie basically lived different lives from one another.

The relationships struggles definitely made me laugh because of how awkward they were. Sadie with boys was probably way more awkward than Carter with girls but it all just made me laugh because it just felt realistic to me.

In the end, I'm (sort of) glad that I got to dive into these. I'll definitely have to check out the next series by Rick Riordan - which I think is Magnus Chase? Or Trials of Apollo? Honestly.. I don't even think I finished The Heroes of Olympus.. oops?

[A_ bookbound _soul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nerve wreaking and full of adrenaline rush. This one is my favourite from the Kane Chronicles Series. Love triangles are one of my pet peeves but I liked it in this one. At some point the book became quite predictable though. Walt hosting Anubis, I saw that one coming already. There was no character development in the series . It is a good treat for Rick Riordan fans.

[Laly Arce Chumpitassi · Rating 5 out of 5]

2021: 4.5✨ segunda vez que lo leo (la primera en 2014 y casi no recordaba nada) y amé!!!
Si bien se me hizo un poco lenta por momentos, el fangirleo y emoción de ciertos capítulos lo vale completamente.

Qué bonito releer esta trilogía y descubrir que Rick no decepciona 💙💙💙