Leo's Map of Monsters: The Shrieking Serpent

Leo's Map Of Monsters #4

by Kris Humphrey

As the Apprentice Guardian, Leo Wilder's duty is to protect his village from the monsters that lurk in the surrounding forest. To do that, he needs magical stones that can only be found in the depths of the Endless Mines. When the stones run out, Leo will need to venture on a journey that will take him further into the forest than he's ever been. He'll encounter old foes, forest folk, and his most deadly monster yet, the Shrieking Serpent.

Genres: Fantasy, Childrens

Audible Audio

Published March 1, 2024

About the author

Kris Humphrey is the author of the Guardians of the Wild fantasy series for young readers.

Hailing from a medium-sized city in the far south-west of England, Kris grew up with the sea on one side and the beautiful bleakness of Dartmoor on the other. Despite moving around the country and doing his fair share of interesting jobs (cinema projectionist, blood factory technician, bookseller...) he has always been writing - or at least thinking about writing - or at least pretending to be thinking about writing. In 2012 Kris graduated from the MA in Writing for Young People at Bath Spa University, winning the award for Most Promising Writer. He now lives in south-east London.

Reviews

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leo is up early to help out his mom, who injured her knee from a fall. While making her tea, Leo finds out that she needs him to take the Grimwood family's account papers to their home, which Leo had hoped to avoid because their son, Carl has been such a bully to him. But first, Leo needs to meet up with Henrik to get filled in on his next monster fighting assignment. Sadly, Leo learns that he used up all of their magical stones, his only protection against the monster's attacks, and now will need to enter the Endless Mines in order to stock up and increase their reserve of magical stones. This new task appears to be a daunting one, for the mines are housed within Mammoth Peak, in a pitch-dark labyrinth, filled with miles of tunnels crossed by underground rivers and lurking somewhere deep within the Peak is the legendary Shrieking Serpent. Armed only with his map of monsters, one rusty lantern, a plan of the mines highlighting a route around the serpent, his skills from training, and one vile of Henrik's silvery flash powder Leo heads out through the forest. Assisting him along the way is his trusty companion, Starla the leatherwing.

At first everything seems to be going as planned, but then one moment of distraction lands Leo face to face with a Goretusk and in an attempt to avoid being gorged, he steps further into the sinking mud of the swamp. Luckily, Leo has a history with this monster and is partially pulled out by his great tusks, where he faces a new danger when he encounters forest people, who after helping him get unstuck, take him to their camp. The forest people do not trust Leo and defiantly don't believe that he is capable of surviving the Endless Mines. Hoping to convince them of his ability, Leo describes how he is on a quest to retrieve the magical stones found within the mines of Mammoth Peak, despite Willow and Eve vouching for him, the forest people will not agree to allow him to pass. After a daring rescue, Leo is set free and with Eve's help he begins on his task once again. Eventually, Leo and Eve make it into the mines and do encounter the Shrieking Serpent, with a little trust and help from his friends, Leo is able to retrieve his magical stones and make his way back home.

[Keren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one really featured Leo's friendships with Starla and with Eve, the forest girl. Rather than relying on magic stones for his success, he needed to work with a team. His quest forced him to interact with the mistrustful forest clan, travel farther from the village than ever before, and face the deadliest beast yet with minimal protection. I think this one was my favorite of the four. I can see an opening for more books to be added to the series, as well, following the same formula as the first three and perhaps adding onto the complexity of first relationships over time.

[Jessica Partlow · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this conclusion and wonder if room was left for more stories in the future. Great series!

[Stacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sounds like more is to come!!

[Bethany · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read aloud with R. March '24.

I think my favorite of the series.

[Efox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our final book - Leo is captured by the Forest people on his way to get more stones from the Endless Mines (like the name alone tells you it's not a place you want to head into). We reunite with Eve from The Spitfang Lizard and Leo uses all of his apprentice guardian skills to escape from the Shrieking serpent.

Really enjoyed this entire series. The illustrations are lovely, the stories are well paced and interesting and both my children enjoyed them.