The Serpent's Shadow

Elemental Masters

De: Mercedes Lackey

Narrado por: Michelle Ford

From the magical mysteries of India to the gaslit streets of Victorian London, Mercedes Lackey's unique departure from her Valdemar series follows a young woman doctor as she searches for the secret behind the sorcery in her blood.Enchanted? Listen to more titles in the Elemental Masters Series.©2002 Mercedes Lackey (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Mercedes Lackey returns to form in The Serpent's Shadow...."This story takes place in the London of 1909, and is based on "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." Lackey creates echoes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, pays affectionate homage to Dorothy Sayers's Lord Peter Wimsey (who plays an important role under a thin disguise), and turns the dwarves into seven animal avatars who masquerade as pets of her Eurasian heroine, Maya." (Amazon.com review)

Fans of Mercedes Lackey will enjoy

The narrator was perfect for this book, and made the story even better. It doesn't have the passion of the Valdemar stories, but it's a good yarn, and a fun read. My only criticism is it took too long to get to the meat of the story. If this narrator reads any of the other "Elemental Masters" books, I'll be sure to buy it.

Good Read/Listen

Any additional comments?

This was a good book. I enjoyed the visuals I was able to conjure up while listening.

Very Enjoyable

I didn't really know what to expect, as all my previous Lackey books had been very different from this. However it was extremely entertaining. The story was well developed, with distinct surprises toward the end. The narration was one of the best I have ever heard! This was especially welcome as the last book I listened to ( one of the dragon chronicles) had very disappointing narration. I'm looking forward to more like this.

Another well crafted tale

Mercedes Lackey does it again with characters you care about in a good story.

Misty does it again

I've been a lifetime fan of Mercedes Lackey, and while some of her stories are weaker than others, she remains one of the authors who I'll buy her stories if I only have enough for one book. Even if I've already read it in one format or another. Her Elemental Masters series is my favorite of her many-imagined series, with this story being one of my favorites among these books.

I've been a member of Audible for years, and while I don't usually write reviews (who actually has time for that?) the various negative reviews irritated me enough to write to counter them. If you enjoy YA books, or Disney-esque good versus evil, I strongly suggest this book. Just enough darkness to make this into an entertaining literary meal, without being so dark as to make this depressing, or too light as to be a popcorn read. In short, the tone is right, the plot strong, and the character development believable.

Very Satisfying

This was the first of Lackey's Elemental Masters books I listened to and it remains my favorite (although "The Wizard of London" is a very close second). It has a very smart and tough heroine, believable romance, good and evil magic and the exotic atmosphere of India brought to London. I thought the aspect of being a woman physician in late 19th century England added interest to the main character. I grew so fond of Maya and Peter I wish there were other books about them.

It was OK

It was an ok listen. The story was good and the performance was excellent.

Another reviewer nailed it.

I read a review about the book being a remake of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, and that is what this story is about, but with the Mercedes Lackey touch. There is some romance in it, but it's G rated and there's not much of it in the book, which is good from my point of view. The Magic System is too predictable and that subtracts 1 star as I rank fantasy books. The narrator is very good. She mispronounced a few words, but it might just be that she's not speaking American English. Overall the story is good, not great, and not horrible, so I give 3.5 stars.

Loved the Book!

I had read the book previously, and I was thoroughly enraptured during the reading of it. So very much fun.

Much better narrator than the original!

I first heard this as an audiobook on CD, and was not impressed. However, that was some years ago, and Audible re-recorded it with Michelle Ford reading, and it is a drastic improvement! Michelle does good voices with decent accents, and reads clearly. Compared to her, Erin Jones (the original reader) sounds like a computer with about as much feeling and differentiation of characters. The difference in readers radically changes the experience of the audiobook.

Regarding the story, it's an interesting retelling of Snow White set in London, 1909. Mercedes Lackey seems to enjoying telling stories of women at the turn off the century, experience the changing times and culture with the rise of the Suffragette Movement, the Spiritualist Movement, and other world events. The reworking of the fairytale is fun, though sometimes I begin to feel hit over the head with all the reiterations of how cruel the world is to women. Though historically accurate on a number of points, it's also an over-simplification at times, and from a storytelling perspective, it gets old after a while. I like this particular book in the Elemental Mages series better than some of the others in part because it also brings to light other populations that were victims of harsh prejudice, such add Eastern immigrants and the Irish.

To sum it up, if you enjoy retellings of fairytale with strong female characters and a touch of sweet romance, this is a good book for you.