Customer Reviews

The Serpent Dreamer (Tom Doherty Associates Books)

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Adapted from my review at Goodreads:

This is the 3rd in the Soul Thief series based on Corban Loosestrife, an Irishman living during the Viking Age. If you've read any of the other Corban novels, this one will be quite different in setting but similar in themes. If you've not read any of the others, you ought to be able to pick this one up pretty easily. The book is sadly out of print, but hopefully an e-book edition will be available soon.

The story is set entirely in North America, following Corban as he lives among Native American tribes. The Corbanssons do not appear at all. Political and social intrigue, war, and the presence of powerful spirit women figure here as in all the other novels. The most interesting part, in my view, is how Holland weaves a myth one of the women tells about how humanity began into the adventure tale, with Corban and his antagonist Miska seeming to take up roles from the myth. The story is suspenseful and had me guessing right up until the end, when it takes another surprising twist. Even though it's quite different in setting than the other novels, I ended up enjoying it simply as a good yarn.

The following part of the review will have heavy spoilers for the end of The Witches' Kitchen and mild spoilers for this book.

At the end of The Witches' Kitchen, Benna is dead and Raef and Conn have become retainers of Sweyn Tjugas. Their adventures continue in the fourth book, Varanger. In The Serpent Dreamer, Corban returns alone to the ruined site of his home on the eastern seacoast of North America. There, his sister Mav has helped elevate the outcast Miska into chief of his tribe, and Corban has found a new family among them, though he never really belongs to the tribe and is set in conflict against Miska. On Mav's direction, Corban and Miska both set off on a journey which brings them into contact with a ruthless but more technologically advanced Meso-American tribe. It's suggested that this encounter will have profound effects on the tribes back east.

You have to suspend a bit of disbelief. Distances seem very compressed and I am doubtful that the North American tribes had such overlap in language and culture. The incursions of the Itzen seem implausible. However, it makes for a good story, which is always the point with Holland's books. The interweaving of myth into the story of Corban vs. Miska is subtle and clever. As always, there are heart-rending and touching moments. Fans of Cecelia Holland will enjoy this one, as long as they know not to expect Vikings and Celts.

What this author knows about the Norse, you could fit into a thimble. What a waste of money this book was!