The Serpent Cult

The Heroes of Ravenford are back and the adventuring party is off to investigate the Serpent Cult, who they suspect might have destructive plans in mind for Lloyd’s love interest, the Lady Andrella. In addition, several boats carrying trade goods have been sunk off the coast, and some sailors make some wild claims about a sea monster. There’s always plenty for the Heroes to investigate around seaside Ravenford.

While the core group remains the same (Glolindir, Aksel, Seth, Elladan, and Lloyd), the group dynamics have changed a little as Brundon and Delgron have left and archer Martan and painter Donnie help out. Three mysterious girls and a copper dragon also play an important role as the Heroes investigate the magical cultists and missing cargo.

This follow-up book to The Ruins on Stone Hill, the first novel in F. P. Spirit’s Heroes of Ravenford series, is very similar in tone and structure: the language is simple and easy to understand, the quests are straightforward, and the characters are caricatures of common roles in fantasy adventure novels. I had two criticisms when I read the first book. It was difficult to place the age of the characters and the intended age of the audience, and the females were either Madonnas or… well, the other role. It is clarified in The Serpent Cult that the characters are teenagers, which helps to place the book as a young adult fantasy. It is, however, more of a surface-level action-based book than the emotional novels common in the young adult genre currently. The second criticism has also been addressed by the author in this novel. More females have been included, and they fill a variety of roles. All of the characters tend to be exaggerated stereotypes, but now there is greater representation across the spectrum for males and females.

This novel would be suited for anyone looking for a quick, pleasant read in the fantasy-adventuring genre.