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.

Very enjoyable

This is my favorite of Mercedes Lackey's re-told fairy tales, and I was pleased to find it available in audio format. Maya Witherspoon is a terrific character and you immediately become engrossed in her story as a young Anglo-Indian woman who has successfully conquered the barriers of the male-dominated English medical/surgical profession in the late 1800s. The people she meets in her London charity hospital work and her private medical practice are vividly portrayed, and many become her friends and supporters.

Michelle Ford does a quite good job of differentiating the characters' voices and accents, both male and female.

Highly recommended, and I know I'll listen to this again and again.

Wonderful Story, Bad Pronunciation

Would you consider the audio edition of The Serpent's Shadow to be better than the print version?

No. The reader/performer did not do a very good job with pronunciation. It would have been nice if she had done some research about the correct way to pronounce words like epitome. If you can ignore that, she does a great job with the voices.

What did you like best about this story?

The richness of the background world.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

I hated the incorrect pronunciation of common words. I loved the voices.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, almost did too.

Fan from the Beginning

Would you listen to The Serpent's Shadow again? Why?

I read this book when it was first released about 11 years ago. My mother actually gave it to me as a gift. I was hooked and didn't even know that it was a part of a series until 5 years later. I've since listened to it and reread it at least 4 times. The heroine is absolutely wonderful with her strength and intelligence while maintaining her femininity and being a true heroine. The story is compelling and the character development is clear and well done. I have and will listen to this repeatedly.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Maya, of course!

Which character – as performed by Michelle Ford – was your favorite?

Again, Maya!

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Running from her past pursued by killers, beautiful half Indian Dr. Maya Witherspoon flees from her Indian roots to the foreign streets of London. An outsider and exotic magical presence catch the attention of the "White Lodge" magical masters of London. Soon Maya finds herself learning the ways of her fathers people and finding out new powers of her own attached to her animals she calls pets. With fast paced action, magic and even romance, Mercedes Lackey takes us on fantastic romp in early 20th century London.

Great Narrator, Good Fluff reading

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Possibly, if I knew they liked or thought they would like Mercedes Lackey. This is one of my favorites of hers, but she's a guilty pleasure - an author I feel I shouldn't enjoy as much as I do, and cannot really defend when someone criticizes the writing. But I enjoyed the narrator, and it's always fun to see new retellings of fairy tales, which is what the Elemental Masters series is.

Would you recommend The Serpent's Shadow to your friends? Why or why not?

Hmm.... well, see above. Although I am perhaps slightly more likely to recommend the book, as it allows for skimming sections that might not hold interest.

Which scene was your favorite?

That's actually a hard question to answer, as there's little moments all through... but I suppose, I enjoy Nory's healing. And the bit where a random man in the street tells someone else off for not respecting the doctor. Actually, every bit where one of the people whose respect she's earned demonstrates that respect. And her first encounter with Miss Smith is amusing. And knocking out... but perhaps I shouldn't give that away.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I suppose that depends entirely on what else was on offer. Did I enjoy listening, with no particular desire to stop? Yes. Was I particularly annoyed if interrupted? Only when the interruption was blaring football commentary.

Any additional comments?

I had forgotten just how much time Mercedes Lackey tends to give her villains' perspectives. It adds tension in a first read, but in subsequent reads I usually skim or entirely skip their parts. That's harder to do in an audiobook. It wasn't particularly overdone in this one, I suppose, although I still found myself skipping forward through Shivanni's first section. Which, admittedly, did set up plot details, but as I already knew the story I felt no desire to spend so much time on them. Also, this one does seem particularly outraged/preachy, in an odd way. I hadn't realized just how much of the text dwelt on how unfair ancient (to me) attitudes and marriage laws were... not that it's wrong that they were unfair, but I certainly hope it no longer has to be said today? At least not these particular wrongs in this particular context? And there is no attempt to relate it to anything outside of its own particular context, so... Anyway, when I read it, having Maya as part of the suffragette movement was just one more fun bit about the character, and her friend Amelia's enthusiasm a part of her character, but listening I realized that I must have been skimming - or at least speed-reading - bits of that too without realizing.

Great audio book!

Read the book a while back and loved it. I was so excited to find it again as an audio book and was very pleased with Michelle Ford's performance! Eager to continue the series.

I Could not get into the story!

19th century England stories for me have been, hit and miss. This story is a "miss". It was hard to get into it. I am not sure why, but I think some of it has to do with the Narrator and some with the story. I did not quite like the setting and the background story lacked "something". I can't quite put my finger on it.
When I Like a book, it grabs my attention it doesn't it let it go and I want to keep listening. I was very excited about listening to more books by Mercedes Lackey but this fell through the cracks. Disappointing!