Sandeagozu

by Janann V. Jenner

Sherahi, a telepathic Burmese python, leads a clan of pet-store rejects--a monkey, a parrot, a coati, and a rattlesnake--through a series of adventures, including a sojourn through the New York City subway system, to find paradise in the San Diego Zoo.

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Fiction, Animals

Hardcover

First published September 1, 1986

Reviews

[Lone Wolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

I needn’t tell fellow snake-lovers that it’s quite the task to find a book with a serpentine protagonist! This book instantly grabbed my attention as its main character, Sherahi, is a Burmese python. Hatched in the wild, she is captured as a youngster and taken to America, where she performs exotic dances with a young woman. When she becomes too large, she is sold to an unscrupulous animal dealer who treats her poorly. Along with a rattlesnake, a coati, a langur and a macaw, Sherahi escapes and sets out to find the fabled haven of Sandeagozu (San Diego Zoo).

The author gets around the difficulty of how snakes (which lack external ears) communicate, especially with other animals, by giving them the power to read minds. Sherahi can pick up on other animals’ thoughts and project her own to them, even influencing them to do as she wishes if she so desires. The strangeness of some snake senses is also addressed, with unique words such as “fnasting” for the combined smell/taste afforded by the Jacobson’s organ and “wurping” for the heat pits picking up on body heat. This gives you a fascinating reptilian point of view.

This would have been a five-star book if it wasn’t for the factual errors. Whilst the author is clearly knowledgeable about snakes, she occasionally makes basic mistakes like referring to them closing their eyes (something they can’t do), stating that the Jacobson’s organ is located in the lower jaw (it’s in the upper jaw), or using the word poisonous when she means venomous. Sherahi is also far too large for a Burmese python – by the end of the story, she’s bigger than any extant species of snake. There are various factual errors regarding other species too (e.g. the suggestion that birds evolved from crocodiles), and the animals often use human terms, phrases and place names – this can possibly be excused for Sherahi, who can dip into human minds, but not for others.

On the whole, however, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. If you like snakes and animal stories, it’s a must-read.

[Hectaizani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Watership Down and Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH meet Homeward Bound. It's the 1930's when a large python is captured and sold into the pet trade. Originally owned by a show-girl who dances with snakes, Sherahi eventually outgrows her part in the act forcing her sale to a pet shop specializing in exotic animals. Sherahi is no ordinary python, not only is she the largest python on earth, she possesses human intelligence plus extra serpentine powers.

Sherahi masterminds an escape, and travels across the country seeking nirvana at the Sandeagozu. A mythical sanctuary where all animals are free. Her traveling companions consist of a half-grown coati, a deformed langur, a plucked Scarlet Macaw and a cascabel (South American rattlesnake). They wend their way across the country from Brooklyn to California overcoming obstacles and roadblocks.

I absolutely adored this book the first time I read it. Of course, I was much younger then and the scientific inaccuracies didn't bother me as much. I still give it 4/5 stars, because the story is a good one. It's hard not to like the animals and really want them to make it to the promised land.

[Leigh Farrell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book when I was in my twenties, and now I am in my fifties. It's not that I forgot what the book was about, it's just that I remembered it as so enjoyable. I am a real animal lover, and this book is about the journey of a pythoness with remarkable mental abilities and her animal companions. I am enjoying it even more the second time around.

[Lulu · Rating 5 out of 5]

My adolescent dgtr and I read this book and it was so delightful. Fed a lifelong love of all animals and an attraction to zoos especially the San Diego Zoo. 😍

[Saskia (Smitie) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Een verhaal vanuit het perspectief van een python zie je niet vaak. De dieren in dit verhaal zijn sterke personages en je gaat om ze geven. De magische mentale krachten geven een het verhaal een leuke twist, al was Sherari aan het eind van het verhaal wel erg machtig. Het verhaal zakt wel wat in tussen het riool en de rivier/kas. Er ontstaat ineens wantrouwen om het verhaal wat meer conflict te geven, maar dat wantrouwen is vrij plotseling. Al met al een aanrader voor wie van dierenverhalen houdt.

[Katherynne Boham · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hadn't read this book in years but I thought I had liked it. There was much I didn't remember. I don't know why I thought it was a children's book-maybe because I'd been so young when I first read it?-but it is not a cute animal story.
The story is about five animals who escape from an animal trader and make their way to Sandeagozu where they can each one be free. Many misadventures occur but they remain determined. This is a fabulous, well-written, cant-put-down story but it is one that pulls no punches when it comes to the violence found both in people and animals.
It's a book I definitely recommend but, again, it is not a nice bedtime story about animal adventures.

[Chrissy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. The secret lives of animals....