TSS
The Kane Chronicles – The Serpent’s Shadow – My son Zen has become a huge fan of Rick Riordan’s books, starting with the Percy Jackson stories that focus on Greek mythology, the ongoing Heroes of Olympus series that brings in the related Roman pantheon, and now also the separate Kane Chronicles that concludes with The Serpent’s Shadow. It’s possible that the Kane Chronicles is the less popular of Riordan’s series, as it concluded on only the third book while the other two series go on for five installments (and, indeed, Zen likes it less than the others), but I enjoyed the books, that are very cleverly told by two narrators, who offer their own unique sense of humor, and are generally very good fun.
In this one the heroes are off to battle the god of chaos Apophis, a big nasty snake who has recruited all of the evil wizards of earth to battle the Kanes and the gods, all of which will lead to the end of creation if our teenaged heroes don’t stop them in time. Carter and Sadie are growing up and have their own romance issues to deal with, and Riordan keeps things lively with lots of action, mystery, and quite good plot development. There’s also a cool subplot involving the evil magician Setne which I rather liked very much. Some corny stuff as well, like the endless series of narrow escapes that Riordan seems to good at setting up, but it’s all good, and The Serpent’s Shadow is a satisfying conclusion to a very good series for kids.