Date of Completion: 23/11/2020
Well played Roshani, well played…
‘The Silvered Serpents’ picks up months after the events of the previous book. Our band of jolly thieves are not quite as jolly as they struggle to protect their battered hearts and make the most of what life has dealt their way.
Bravery is physically exhausting
Once again, Roshani dazzles readers with her skilful worldbuilding which she expands from Paris to the icy depths of Russia. More is revealed about the alternative world in which this series is set and the various myths that form its foundations. Roshani also discloses more about ‘forging’ and introduces even more incredible gadgets and inventions.
Nonetheless, it cannot be denied that this book has a much slower pace compared to its predecessor. There simply isn’t the same sense of urgency and danger that I loved about the previous book. In fact, the time jumps in this book are more glaring as the crew are not actively preparing for a heist but instead unable to make a breakthrough. This greatly contrasts the previous book where it seemed like there was constantly something happening with at least one of the main characters. I guess I should have been more careful when I wished that the characters would perform more fieldwork in my review for ‘The Gilded Wolves‘.
In debating the merits of pursuing hidden treasure, one must weigh the risk of whether it was never meant to be found and if so, why?
Conversely, the relatively slow pace of this book made it very easy for me to grasp all the events that took place. This was a pleasant surprise as I had struggled with following and caring about the problem-solving aspects of the storyline in the previous book. Thankfully, Roshani made these scenes much less complicated and convoluted in this book. If anything, they did seem a little forced and overly simple once resolved.
The slower pace of this book also allows for a much stronger focus on the main characters. This was gladly welcomed because, in all honesty, I am not reading this series primarily for the heists and thrills. I am reading it for the characters that I absolutely adore. That being said, things do get rather angsty and nostalgic, but for the most part, it was nice to dive deeper into the complexity and uniqueness of these characters.
Talking about characters, did anyone else get very annoyed by Séverin‘s behaviour in this book? Several times I wanted to smack the back of his head and in my best Cher impersonation say: ‘Snap out of it!’. My frustration gradually grew into a full-on tantrum as I impatiently waited for him to finally open up to the team and communicate with them. Secrets are all fun and games until someone gets hurt!
Now, let’s talk about that ending. Things went from zero to a hundred in the span of a few pages! Twists, secrets, betrayals and much more are thrown at unsuspecting readers; things pick up so fast I was blown off my feet.
As surprise after surprise unfolded, I couldn’t help wondering which, if any, of the main characters would die. Sadly, I concluded that Hypos was the only ‘main’ character I could handle dying in this book. This is most likely because I feel more connected to the other main characters as they all got their own narrative and I understood them much better. With this in mind, I would definitely love to have Hypnos’s narrative added to the point-of-views we get in the next book. Think about how awesome it would be to get more content on his behaviours and to know more about his past.
Overall, Roshani did not disappoint and I enjoyed this book just as much as the first. Although the pace is much slower than the previous book, ‘The Silvered Serpents’ still managed to make me fall in love with the characters all over again. What’s more, with an ending like that I really can’t wait to see how things progress in the next book!
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