Review for The Serpent Kings by James Somers - Best Series Intro Fantasy

As usual, James has built The Serpent Kings with some fascinating ideas. The story is a take on the Millennial Kingdom and how good and evil will battle before the King returns. I liked the death walkers the most, and enjoyed the inclusion of dragons. The main character is what is called a "wraith dancer," which is a cool idea. Wraith Dancers are women assassins chosen to defend and kill with Gifts of Transcendence which allow them to do such things as make pin-point assaults that can kill with a touch, and increase their agility and senses in battle. The idea of cities lain to waste so that technology has devolved was also interesting, and one of my favorite collection of scenes shows them visiting these ancient cities - now wastelands because of how fragile they are not having been kept up.

The reason why I gave this 3 out of 5 stars is because I wasn't blown away and was often uninterested in the character's plight. I think he has some great pieces and characters, but the pacing needs polishing. The first 30 percent of the book could use major compaction. All the set up to show that Gwen has doubts about her service to the Serpent Kings might have been shown on her way to meet the dragon Belial. That would have been a great opening scene. If it started there I would have been much more enthusiastic about going forward. There is action in the first 30%, but it seems only for action sake, not because it was necessary for setting up the story. In studying the philosophy of including a twist in every scene, I really noticed the scenes in this book that just...ended. Putting a twist on the end of scenes really pushes a reader forward, and the places where this lacked in James' book made it easy to put the book down. A good editor's touch could make this book great, but as it stands I just see too much that could be taken out without much consequence.

James provided a free copy for review under the promise that I read the whole book and provide an honest review.

Prose: 1
There were some parts of his prose that I really enjoyed. James has knack for description and action. He had a little too much filler and many scenes were left without a twist, making me feel unsure why they were included.

Plot: 1
The book starts with the main character, Gwen, saying she never wanted to be a killer and then expounds on how she quells her doubts serving the Serpent King, Belial. It ends with her renouncing her service and worship in Belial and choosing Elithias instead. The very end sets up more conflict for the sequel and is a nice conclusion to Gwen’s original doubts in the godhood of Belial by showing Belial wounded and fuming for war. It isn’t a 2 because I felt it wasn’t tight enough and often lost interest knowing I could skim over chunks of text. I knew I could because I only needed small pieces to tell me what I needed to know or find out in the scene. I would say this book needs another edit to round out the edges and put in some more conflict. My favorite ideas of death walkers, wraith dancers, and post apocalyptic cities could use a little more expansion, while toning down the religious dialogue and narrative.

Theme: 1
I enjoyed James’ way of showing the false gods and how they could convince people to worship them, along with his conclusion for showing Elithias as the true God in the resurrection and overwhelming power over the false gods and their powers. That being said, it wasn’t a 2 because I felt it was a little heavy with illustrations and narrative. I got the idea right from the beginning, and didn’t need so many scenes to expound on his theme.

Character: 1
I liked his characters, but I didn’t love them. I wanted Gwen to find faith and defeat the Serpent Kings, but I wasn’t on the edge of my seat worrying what would happen next. Maybe he just didn’t make it hard enough on her, or maybe I felt like there was too much narrative from her perspective and I felt sluggish reading. Gwen did have a good emotional battle and a conclusive character arc, but I wasn’t blown away.

Setting: 1
James has a gift in describing setting, but sometimes I feel it is at the cost of moving the story. I want the setting to be essential to the theme, conflict and twist of each scene. Sometimes it was just there to look at.

Content: 2
I didn’t have any problems with language, romance, or violence. He leans towards gruesome in the violence category, but I liked his precise descriptions. This is an adult book or at least on the high end of young adult because of the violence.

Extra point for being a landmark piece in the genre of Millennial Kingdom allegories. I look forward to seeing how he develops this twist on the different forces dueling in this future setting.

Total: 8 points

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