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That Ancient Serpent
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Author
I got an ARC of this from the author through BookFunnel.
Cool concept: A guy looking for an elusive giant serpent finds his quarry is actually the Nidhogg from Norse mythology. His story is interwoven with that of his son looking for him many years later, and the serpent’s anomalous effects on time and space bring their stories together.
If you like psychological or cosmic horror and Norse mythology, you’ll probably like this.
Definitely some cool psychological/cosmic horror going on. The author shows a lot of imagination and has a feel for the uncanny. There’s a lot of temporal and spatial distortion which works well with chapter headings that specify different points in time. I had a lot of questions early on but the ending actually does a good job giving satisfying answers. Definitely ended strong.
All that being said, the first half felt a little weak to me, and the prose wasn’t great IMO (but did get a bit better later on).
To illustrate a problem I had without giving too many spoilers, there’s a forest fire that happens during the son’s story which is mysteriously reversed (or maybe hallucinated) but it’s counterpart event which happens under similar circumstances in the father’s story has lasting consequences. This made some of the later scenes feel less impactful to me, almost like things got too surreal too quick. I wouldn’t have minded a more slow-burn start where psychological pressure from just navigating a forest itself builds and little weird foreboding things continued to happen. That’s just me though. Maybe none of that matters and that was the point. I suppose a feature of cosmic horror is that the actions of the characters sometimes don’t have much of an impact because they’re at the mercy of something much bigger than them. Still, I sometimes felt as though a certain through-line of the scenes was lacking—like the characters were just being moved through a sequence of discrete scenes rather than those scenes hanging together as a coherent whole.
Cool concept: A guy looking for an elusive giant serpent finds his quarry is actually the Nidhogg from Norse mythology. His story is interwoven with that of his son looking for him many years later, and the serpent’s anomalous effects on time and space bring their stories together.
If you like psychological or cosmic horror and Norse mythology, you’ll probably like this.
Definitely some cool psychological/cosmic horror going on. The author shows a lot of imagination and has a feel for the uncanny. There’s a lot of temporal and spatial distortion which works well with chapter headings that specify different points in time. I had a lot of questions early on but the ending actually does a good job giving satisfying answers. Definitely ended strong.
All that being said, the first half felt a little weak to me, and the prose wasn’t great IMO (but did get a bit better later on).
To illustrate a problem I had without giving too many spoilers, there’s a forest fire that happens during the son’s story which is mysteriously reversed (or maybe hallucinated) but it’s counterpart event which happens under similar circumstances in the father’s story has lasting consequences. This made some of the later scenes feel less impactful to me, almost like things got too surreal too quick. I wouldn’t have minded a more slow-burn start where psychological pressure from just navigating a forest itself builds and little weird foreboding things continued to happen. That’s just me though. Maybe none of that matters and that was the point. I suppose a feature of cosmic horror is that the actions of the characters sometimes don’t have much of an impact because they’re at the mercy of something much bigger than them. Still, I sometimes felt as though a certain through-line of the scenes was lacking—like the characters were just being moved through a sequence of discrete scenes rather than those scenes hanging together as a coherent whole.
Review of advance copy received from Author
First and foremost, thank you to the author for the eARC. All thoughts are my own.
I loved the idea. David goes missing in the jungles of South America looking for an elusive monster of a snake. 12 years later, his son, Jake, is set forth on a journey that leads him face to face with the mythical serpent. This is no ordinary reptile, however. There is something sinister about the creature and the way it appears to distort Jake’s reality...
It’s definitely an interesting take on the Norse myth of the Nidhogg.
I found myself wanting more, though. I enjoyed the story, but the book felt too short - the story not quite fleshed out enough. I would have loved some more background and build up, especially from David’s point of view. Besides being reportedly massive and likely nonexistent, what is it that drives David to search for this snake? Why is it so important for him to locate it? I want to be in his head. I want obsession.
However, I still found the story enjoyable. It’s a really cool concept. If you are on the hunt for a quick cosmic horror read blended with Norse mythology and psychological turmoil, this book will definitely appeal to you.
I loved the idea. David goes missing in the jungles of South America looking for an elusive monster of a snake. 12 years later, his son, Jake, is set forth on a journey that leads him face to face with the mythical serpent. This is no ordinary reptile, however. There is something sinister about the creature and the way it appears to distort Jake’s reality...
It’s definitely an interesting take on the Norse myth of the Nidhogg.
I found myself wanting more, though. I enjoyed the story, but the book felt too short - the story not quite fleshed out enough. I would have loved some more background and build up, especially from David’s point of view. Besides being reportedly massive and likely nonexistent, what is it that drives David to search for this snake? Why is it so important for him to locate it? I want to be in his head. I want obsession.
However, I still found the story enjoyable. It’s a really cool concept. If you are on the hunt for a quick cosmic horror read blended with Norse mythology and psychological turmoil, this book will definitely appeal to you.
May 24, 2026
I love cosmic and psychological horror, and this book had both! The horror elements were enjoyable, and I loved the dual timelines and the descents into madness that the characters experienced. I wish we had gotten more from the story though, since I feel like the serpent and its methods of inflicting madness and chaos could have been delved into deeper. I also wish David’s obsession with the snake had been expanded on. Overall, this was a fun read though! Thank you to the author for an advanced copy!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews