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“Another episode. Very enjoyable!”
Annette C wrote this review 9 days ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Not as good as the first book. Her protagonist was more emotional, less objective, less interesting than she was in the first book. ”
Quinn W wrote this review Thursday, November 12 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I really like these books by Franklin.”
ITZME wrote this review Tuesday, November 10 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“In Serpent's Tale, we find that Henry II's mistress has died. Naturally Adelia, who now has a baby in tow, is called to solve the mystery.
MrPopularSentiment wrote this review Wednesday, October 21 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
In many ways, Serpent's Tale is an improvement over Mistress of the Art of Death. The plot is more of a mystery in the detective sense and Adelia does, actually, solve it and finger the culprit. There is also considerably less Mary Suism. The addition of the baby raises the stakes for Adelia, making the novel more suspenseful.
In addition, Serpent's Tale kept many of the good bits of its predecessor. There is still the interesting view of Henry II and the low key but definitely present feminism. Overall, this novel is a very interesting read.”
“another installment in the series started in Mistress of the Death Arts”
Bil wrote this review Thursday, October 8 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Historical fact linked with mystery”
Joyce T wrote this review Friday, October 2 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I really like the first book in the series. This one didn't quite do it for me. The story was entertaining, but I wasn't as engaged. I wish Rowley had been in the book more than he was. I'm pretty sure I'll still read the third book. I think Adelia is a cool character, even though it's a pretty far out idea for the time period. That's probably why it works.”
Katie P wrote this review Tuesday, September 29 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I continue to LOVE Adelia, Rowley, Mansur, Gyltha and baby Allie.”
Laurie C wrote this review Thursday, July 30 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“So I just finished The Serpent’s Tale by Ariana Franklin. I’ve read her first book featuring Adelia Aguilar in Mistress in the Art of Death and really enjoyed that one. The Serpent’s Tale however just wasn’t as good in my eyes. There were two cases to solve and I was trying to see if they were related somehow and was trying to figure it out – which probably got me frustrated and made me not enjoy the book as I should have. Anyhow, as usual my guesses were wrong (I’m not that good at playing detective in mystery novels) and I was blindsided as who were the culprits. There were a few parts in the book that made me laugh – Glytha seems to be such a total character in this one. King Henry I find very likable, he seems to ooze charm yet is maddeningly difficult when Adelia wants to have her own way and yet can’t because he’s King and his word is law. What I liked the most out of this book was how Adelia seems to analyze the treatment of women in middle age England. It’s a strange culture shock to her as she was raised and treated differently in Salerno. It comes to the point where she is so frustrated with the entire social system and you can’t blame her for feeling this way. She can’t even practice medicine openly for fear of being fingered as a witch. Yet in this story there seems to be a small analysis on all the women characters in the novel. Adelia, who can’t do what she wants in this strange land she’s in, Glytha who has a larger amount of freedom but is still considered a second class citizen because she’s a woman, Queen Eleanor who does act like a Queen but even her word doesn’t get obeyed all the time however has managed to become an icon for women (in some ways), Mother Edyve who bends the rules against a patriarchal church and Emma who suffers the most out of all of them (won’t say, it’s a spoiler) :) I just thought it was interesting that these women were all shown in a different perspective and light throughout the novel but the underlying point was, they were women and therefore in that society nothing much but just flesh to carry children and do housework.
Caroline C wrote this review Tuesday, June 23 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
All in all, a good book not as good as the first one but the ending was great! you get the thrill of a bad guy getting his due. It felt good reading it too. I would read the first one though, as some of the information in this one has background information found in the first. I’ll be looking forward to the third one!”
