The Serpent's Shadow: The Kane Chronicles, Book 3

While I greatly enjoy audio books, I feel that they are not a replacement for the print version of books. They do, however, add another perspective to a great story. When properly narrated, the listener can enjoy a different view of the same tale. This performance is a perfect example of that. I have read, and now listened to, all three titles in this series. The narrators' interpretations of the banter between the Kane children through emphasis and inflection was different than my own, yet seemed to add to my enjoyment of the story.

The narrators' interpretations of the characters through tone, inflection, and emphasis really helped to bring the story to life for me. Each also did a wonderful job of portraying the other characters in such a way as to clearly delineate the separate individuals without causing a continuity problem between the sections read by different narrators. Other productions I have listened to with two voices narrating can often cause confusion when a secondary character is narrated differently by the two narrators. These two worked together perfectly, providing continuity of the different characters and adding energy and vitality to the story.

This story is very well written and narrated. I would recommend this production to listeners of any age.

Rick Riordan has been writing wonderful stories integrating the myths of gods for some time now and his Kane Chronicles trilogy is a great story using the Egyptian gods and the Chaos they can bring to the modern world. This final story in the trilogy wraps up the adventures of Sadie and Carter Kane in a very satisfying way, yet clearly allows for future stories that may well even expand into some of the other territory Riordan has already mapped out.

This story includes all the fun elements of the previous two books--Egyptian gods, Carter and Sadie squabbling and fighting foes together, adventure, danger, exploding objects and places, a little romance, and a premise with such high stakes that the whole world is threatened. And only Carter and Sadie and their band of magicians can save the day, with lots of trials, adventures, and help along the way. Riordan has crafted a tale that obviously appeals to kids and teens, but it's clever and funny enough to keep adults interested and entertained as well.

The two narrators, Kellgren and Free, continue their tag-team narration and do a splendid job. My personal favorite is Kevin R. Free, who voices Carter and the other characters (except for Sadie) wonderfully. Katherine Kellgren does a great job too, but her Sadie is sometimes too whiney and overbearing--just like the character in the book, come to think of it. Together, these two narrators bring the story to life and add a great deal to the overall experience, just as the best audiobook narration should.

While this book wraps up the Chronicles very well, I'll be eager for any more adventures of the Kanes and/or the other magicians readying themselves for future adventures.

I really enjoyed this third (last?) book in the series. Once again I suspect that part of my enjoyment was because I listened to the audiobook. I wonder if the humor, emotion, and excitement would come across quite as well without the voices to express the them, I suspect some of it might be a bit flat on the page. And the series really was designed to be listened to, the whole concept is that it's being dictated by the two main characters. Why imagine you're hearing their voices when you really can? The woman who voices Sadie still seems a bit mature to be a teenage girl, but it doesn't take away from the narration to any real degree. Neither reader is one of my favorites, but both are quite skilled. But I've really enjoyed the series and I'm holding out hope that the references at the end of the book to future troubles and other gods in New York weren't just inside jokes about Camp Half-Blood and were hints about a crossover book or series to come.

Well, it looks like the Kanes are saying good-bye. It has been such a wonderful trip for my whole family. We listen as a family for an hour or so and discussions just began springing up, about the books, about school. This has been the tool that made the bickering far less important than what was happening to the Kane family. Egypt has become a place that is real. One of the more studious boys is looking into archeology,... Egypt, My daughter is gathering research and wants to try writing a book that mixes facts and fancy. My youngest son just wants to start the series over.... so we have. 3 nights a week is what they want, for an hour, then discussion about the book and anything else on there mind, Their study room is crammed with downloaded Egyptian facts and folk lore and as parents,,,, well, we just want the series to continue. Did Rick know that what he wrote for his own children would have such a positive change to other families? We also have started the first series, it has lots of books. and more research is being planned. Thanks for the opportunity to bring something to the table my whole family can love..

Absolutely love Rick Riordan books. Once again the story was rich in gods and godesses, but this time it's those of Egypt. The plot was gripping and certainly kept my son engaged through the entire trilogy. I, however, found it hard to get into due to the harshness of Katherine Kellgren's narration.

The narration was hard to listen to, especially Katherine Kellgren. Both readers were very intense, partly because of the constant action of the story, but that intensity coupled with her shrill and sometimes screeching voice was hard to bear. Of course, my son never seemed to notice.

Yes, It captures your interest right away

Bast, She was with the kids all a long and was willing to give everything. She is a cat.

Better picture in my head.

No, just a fun listen. I learned a lot about the Egyptian Gods and now I have shared it with 2 other teens who are interested in the Egytian history.

I put this book on for a group of tired kids in the car on the way home from a meeting we only made it through 1 chapter. I told the kids as they got out of the car the name of the book and they bugged their Mom for days to get it for them. One of the boys asked his grandparents for it as a birthday gift.

Good ending but wish the series continued...

Carter, he seems more realistic . Sadie seemed kinda annoying at times...

Not crazy about her voice ...but great story !

The whole series is worth the listen ...

How the kids were finally able to rally the magicians and gods to fight Apophis.

The narrators, especially the male. His portrayals of the characters were so good. The female narrator was also good, but of the two, I prefer the male's portrayals.

I think so...When things got panicky, the narrators got panickier. When things got sad, the narrators got sad. When things sped up or slowed down, the narrators matched.

I laughed a lot, but I wouldn't say that it was "extreme". So, no, I didn't have an extreme reaction to this book.

*MILD SPOILERS* Five Stars? Yes. This was a great book from a really good series. Sadie and Carter are so good together in their fight against Apothos. Also compared to "Percy Jackson and the Olympians", this series gives us some romance! Walt, Sadie, Zia and Carter just seem to NEVER catch a break, but it's fun getting to the end with all their teen angst. Very satisfying, really. The gods are so different from the Olympians in some ways. I like the contrast. I liked the darker nature of this series. I wish it was more than 3 books long. Great narration by two people. Honestly, the narration made this series even more delightful than I thought it could be.

Fun light young reader's story.

The description of Apophis' shadow when they find it at the edge of the Sea of Chaos.

Dynamic voices tackling a variety of accents and dialects, they often perform the same characters from the perspectives of the primary character's they play. For those not familiar with how the Kane Chronicles are told, I can see how this might be confusing at first, but it makes for some more fun as the stories progress.The narrators really do an excellent job, and have some fun with the story, and the pronunciations are consistent all the way through the book, which can be hard with the very foreign sounding words and names from ancient Egypt.

No, can't say I had an extreme reaction, but I did enjoy the story and especially the narration.

The Kane Chronicles are a light fun fare, not quite as good or thought provoking as the Percy Jackson series, but still a nice read/listen. I did find a lot of direct comparisons and desriptions right out of Harry Potter, but I guess that is inevitable when dealing with a snake as a bad guy.