Serpent Mage [Paperback]

Greg Bear (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Ace (February 15, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441759106
• ISBN-13: 978-0441759101
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,275,085 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Greg Bear is the author of more than thirty books, spanning thrillers, science fiction, and fantasy, including Blood Music, Eon, The Forge of God, Darwin's Radio, City at the End of Time, and Hull Zero Three. His books have won numerous international prizes, have been translated into more than twenty-two languages, and have sold millions of copies worldwide. Over the last twenty-eight years, he has also served as a consultant for NASA, the U.S. Army, the State Department, the International Food Protection Association, and Homeland Security on matters ranging from privatizing space to food safety, the frontiers of microbiology and genetics, and biological security.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fun action-packed ending to an interesting series, March 30, 2000

By 

Bruce Ewing (Eugene, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Serpent Mage (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the 2nd book of a 2 book series. The first is The Infinity Concerto. My detailed rating would be 4.5 for this book. The main character (Michael) has completed his magical training, and now he has to use it. There is lots more of a story to this book compared to the first. What with meeting a nice girl, training an apprentice Sidhe, trying to force a peace between Sidhe and humans, and trying to save the world, Micheal has much to do. The main problem in the book is that the Realm, created by Tonn as a home for the Sidhe, is literally falling apart. So everyone there needs to find a new home, quick! And considering the history of this universe, there will obviously be cosmic problems with that. The book also includes a lot of film/film score/classical music scholarship. It doesn't interfere TOO much with the story. The book DOES answer some questions -- what IS the Loch Ness monster? But at the end I still have a few. What happened to Michael's horse? Why did saving Tonn's wife fall to Michael, not the Crane Women, or the Ban? In any case, this pair of books is quite satisfying when you reach the end. If you can't find the first book, this one stands on its own fairly well.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Creation of a unique new mythos, September 2, 2007

By 

K. Sozaeva "Obsessive bibliophile" (Athens, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Serpent Mage (Mass Market Paperback)

"The Serpent Mage" picks up shortly after Infinity Concerto leaves off. Michael Perrin is back home, living with his parents and continuing his training. Arno Waltiri has left his estate and the disposition of his papers and recordings to Michael. Waltiri has also left his house to Michael and eventually Michael moves in and begins to go through the papers.

Michael's desires for normality are shattered, however, when he reads a news story about strange bodies discovered in a nearby hotel - one grossly obese, one strangely mummified and in a party dress. Other news stories speak of "hauntings" around the world - Michael suspects that the Sidhe are coming to Earth. If that isn't enough, he is contacted by a musical faculty member from UCLA named Kristine Pendeers who is looking for the Infinity Concerto - Opus 45. She wants to discover and perform it; and she has a friend who, with the help of letters and papers they hope to discover in Waltiri's estate, hopes to finish Mahler's unfinished Symphony. And then play the two pieces together. Once the decision is made to start looking for these materials, Michael begins to fall under various attacks to stop him from completing these tasks.

Hopefully the bit of plot I outlined above doesn't spoil the book for anyone - I could hardly outline less without being so vague about the basic plot of the book as to be basically providing you with a meaningless synopsis of the plot; however, there is so much more to this book than the above. Greg Bear weaves through this story a fascinating new mythos about the creation and evolution, de-evolution and re-evolution of man and the universe that I found to be quite astonishing in its depth and breadth. He weaves in references to several world religions and ties them in to his mythos, showing how the original truth was "twisted" over the years to conform to what would best serve those in power. It's a really interesting device and I enjoyed the way it was woven in throughout the story.

There was only one thing about the story that bothered me and I'm not sure if it was because I misinterpreted what I was reading or if it is because of some sort of misogyny on the part of the author. It is mentioned several times through the course of the book that "magic is carried by the woman." However, not one single mage shown is a woman. If women carry the magic, why aren't there any female mages? Or, as I said, perhaps I am misinterpreting it, and by "carry" they mean like a recessive gene - they carry the magic, but cannot use it.

Whatever the case, "The Serpent Mage" nicely finished up the story begun in Infinity Concerto, creating the full story of Songs of Earth & Power: The Infinity Concerto and the Serpent Mage. I strongly recommend these books to anyone who enjoys a well-crafted fantasy/magical realism story. Very well done!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An interesting action-packed finale to a good series, March 30, 2000

By 

Bruce Ewing (Eugene, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Serpent Mage (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the 2nd book of a 2 book series. The first is The Infinity Concerto. My detailed rating would be 4.5 for this book. The main character (Michael) has completed his magical training, and now he has to use it. There is lots more of a story to this book compared to the first. What with meeting a nice girl, training an apprentice Sidhe, trying to force a peace between Sidhe and humans, and trying to save the world, Micheal has much to do. The main problem in the book is that the Realm, created by Tonn as a home for the Sidhe, is literally falling apart. So everyone there needs to find a new home, quick! And considering the history of this universe, there will obviously be cosmic problems with that. The book also includes a lot of film/film score/classical music scholarship. It doesn't interfere TOO much with the story. The book DOES answer some questions -- what IS the Loch Ness monster? But at the end I still have a few. What happened to Michael's horse? Why did saving Tonn's wife fall to Michael, not the Crane Women, or the Ban? In any case, this pair of books is quite satisfying when you reach the end. If you can't find the first book, this one stands on its own fairly well.