The Serpent's Shadow by Rick Riordan

He's b-a-a-ack! Despite their best efforts, Carter and Sade 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.

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...

I've been a big Riordan fan ever since Percy Jackson, and so it's pretty much fair for me to say that I will love any book he writes.  However, that being said, I never really liked the Kane Chronicles as much as his other books.  That is, until I read The Serpent's Shadow.

Let's start with the plot.  In the first two books I felt like the plot really didn't connect with eachother.  Of course, that may have been because of the gap in which I read the two books, but still.  Anyway, I found that this book really connected all the plots while having an amazing one of it's own.  Sadie, Carter, and their friends are still trying to stop Apophis, and they've found a pretty far fetched plan involving his Shadow that ay or may not stop the snake.  Of course, this plan is also the best chance they have.

The characters also seemed to progress alot in this book.  In the first book, I didn't really like any of the characters that much, becaus eof lack of character development.  I thought that every character developed a lot in this book, more than they did in any other.  Carter went from being the dorky push over to being a leader, and Sadie went from being a brat to being a really kind person.  Also, a minor character in this book had my name in it (which made me very happy), and my name doesn't pop up much in books.  Plus, when it does I usually don't like the character.  But how can I not like a little pre-schooler?

The twists and turns in this book, oh my.  I didn't know what was happenning (excluding two major details including Zia and Walt) until it happenned.  I love books that surprise me.  It makes reading them so much more fun!

Also, for those of you who wondered who Sadie ends up with, I think you'll be happy.  Riordan, in his usual fashion, found a way to make everyone happy.  Sure, the solution is a little wierd, but I think that that's the worst someone can say about it.  Also, Carter and Zia have a happy ending, which was also very nice.

As for the conclusion of the book, in some ways it was awful.  But more of a really sad awful.  I was crying, but I was also very happy.  The end of the book was certainly amazing, and I wasn't dissapointed in it at all.

The Serpent's Shadow was not lacking at all in Riordan's usual witty narrative, and had me devouring the book from the moment I opened it.

Rating: 5/5

Market: YA
Language: None
Sensuality: Mild (kissing)
Violence: Moderate, no gore