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Forgotten Realms: House of Serpents #2
Viper's Kiss
The second in a gripping trilogy from R.A. Salvatore's War of the Spider Queen author Lisa Smedman.
Viper's Kiss is the second title in a new trilogy exploring the political intrigues of the yuan-ti race, the details of which have been little explored in previous Forgotten Realms products. Lisa Smedman will pen the entire trilogy, which will affect many other storylines in the Forgotten Realms setting.
AUTHOR BIO: Formerly a magazine editor, Lisa Smedman splits her week between working as a reporter/editor at a weekly newspaper and writing fiction. She is a frequent contributor to various science fiction and fantasy magazines, and her most recent credits include authoring Extinction: R.A. Salvatore's War of the Spider Queen, Book IV, Heirs of Prophecy, and Venom's Taste, and contributing a short story to The Halls of Stormweather.
Viper's Kiss is the second title in a new trilogy exploring the political intrigues of the yuan-ti race, the details of which have been little explored in previous Forgotten Realms products. Lisa Smedman will pen the entire trilogy, which will affect many other storylines in the Forgotten Realms setting.
AUTHOR BIO: Formerly a magazine editor, Lisa Smedman splits her week between working as a reporter/editor at a weekly newspaper and writing fiction. She is a frequent contributor to various science fiction and fantasy magazines, and her most recent credits include authoring Extinction: R.A. Salvatore's War of the Spider Queen, Book IV, Heirs of Prophecy, and Venom's Taste, and contributing a short story to The Halls of Stormweather.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
11 people are currently reading
310 people want to read
About the author
Lisa Smedman
79 books114 followersLisa was very much the tomboy growing up in Vancouver, British Columbia--playing in the woods behind her house, building tree forts, damming the creek, playing army with GI Joe dolls, swinging on ropes, playing flashlight tag, building models and go-carts (which she later rode down the street). She also liked reading science fiction novels from the 1940s, the Doc Savage series, and the Harriet the Spy books.
In 1984, she began her professional writing career, first as a journalist then as a fiction writer. She counts science fiction authors Connie Willis, Robert J. Sawyer, and H.G. Wells, and classic books such as Treasure Island, as influences.
Several of Lisa's short science fiction and fantasy stories have been published in various magazines and anthologies, and in 1993 she was named a finalist in the Writers of the Future contest for science fiction and fantasy writers. She has also had three of her one-act plays produced by a Vancouver theater group.
Lisa is the author of Extinction, one of several novels set in the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game’s Forgotten Realms universe. Released in 2004, Extinction made the New York Times bestseller list for hardcover fiction.
After authoring several science fiction and fantasy novels, Lisa recently turned her hand to children's books. From Boneshakers to Choppers (2007) explores the social history of motorcycles. Her interest in motorcycles goes way back--as a teenager, Lisa enjoyed trips up the British Columbia coast, riding pillion on friends' motorcycles. She later purchased her own bike, a 50cc machine, to get around town.
Lisa is one of the founders of Adventures Unlimited, a magazine providing scenarios and tips for role-playing games. She has written short fiction for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game's Ravenloft and Dark Sun lines. She has also designed a number of adventures and gaming products for Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Cyberpunk, Immortal, Shatterzone, Millennium's End, and Deadlands. Her original games include Valhalla's Gate, a tabletop skirmish miniatures game drawn from Norse mythology and runic lore. An avid gamer, Lisa belongs to the Trumpeter Wargaming Club.
After working for more than 20 years as a journalist, Lisa now divides her time between writing fiction and contributing to the Vancouver Courier (she edits and writes the History's Lens column). Besides a diploma in journalism, she also has a degree in anthropology. She is fascinated by history and archaeology, particularly the Bronze Age. Her future plans include writing more historical fiction, alternative historical fantasy, and game tie-in novels. Lisa is also interested in building models and dioramas, and tabletop miniatures gaming.
She lives in Richmond, British Columbia, with her wife, their son, four cats, and two pugs.
In 1984, she began her professional writing career, first as a journalist then as a fiction writer. She counts science fiction authors Connie Willis, Robert J. Sawyer, and H.G. Wells, and classic books such as Treasure Island, as influences.
Several of Lisa's short science fiction and fantasy stories have been published in various magazines and anthologies, and in 1993 she was named a finalist in the Writers of the Future contest for science fiction and fantasy writers. She has also had three of her one-act plays produced by a Vancouver theater group.
Lisa is the author of Extinction, one of several novels set in the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game’s Forgotten Realms universe. Released in 2004, Extinction made the New York Times bestseller list for hardcover fiction.
After authoring several science fiction and fantasy novels, Lisa recently turned her hand to children's books. From Boneshakers to Choppers (2007) explores the social history of motorcycles. Her interest in motorcycles goes way back--as a teenager, Lisa enjoyed trips up the British Columbia coast, riding pillion on friends' motorcycles. She later purchased her own bike, a 50cc machine, to get around town.
Lisa is one of the founders of Adventures Unlimited, a magazine providing scenarios and tips for role-playing games. She has written short fiction for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game's Ravenloft and Dark Sun lines. She has also designed a number of adventures and gaming products for Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Cyberpunk, Immortal, Shatterzone, Millennium's End, and Deadlands. Her original games include Valhalla's Gate, a tabletop skirmish miniatures game drawn from Norse mythology and runic lore. An avid gamer, Lisa belongs to the Trumpeter Wargaming Club.
After working for more than 20 years as a journalist, Lisa now divides her time between writing fiction and contributing to the Vancouver Courier (she edits and writes the History's Lens column). Besides a diploma in journalism, she also has a degree in anthropology. She is fascinated by history and archaeology, particularly the Bronze Age. Her future plans include writing more historical fiction, alternative historical fantasy, and game tie-in novels. Lisa is also interested in building models and dioramas, and tabletop miniatures gaming.
She lives in Richmond, British Columbia, with her wife, their son, four cats, and two pugs.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 29, 2013
After a disappointing first entry in this trilogy, I didn't have much hopes for the second part. To my pleasant surprise, I was wrong: Viper's Kiss is much better than its predecessor, effortlessly spinning a tale that is exciting without going "overboard."
Let me clarify that "overboard." How often have you read fantasy novels where they use only the biggest, baddest foes, piling one unbelievable scenario upon another for sake of what appears to be just outdoing everything else out there? A good example is Richard Lee Byers' Year of Rogue Dragons. His other work is excellent, but that trilogy.. no. When a handful of regular characters starts slaying dragons left and right, something is wrong. Dragons and demons should be kept to a few sparse appearances where they are truly awe-inspiring. Not beasts to be used every other page and dispatched as ignominiously as kobolds. Similarly for magic... do we really need another mage who can destroy ten acres with a single spell, summon the most powerful demons, and has artifacts that are more powerful than a cabal of magic users? It gets old... fast.
Refreshingly, Viper's Kiss uses a "regular joe" protagonist without access to +10 weapons, level 10 spells and a host of comrades almost as powerful. He's clever, but not exceedingly so, and is a bit of an anti-hero as he doesn't really want to be in the situation he's in. The storyline is plausible, low-magic, with not too many appearances of monsters. When they are used, they are as they should be: awe-inspiring, fearsome creatures. The climactic battle with the demon at the end of the book is a good example: instead of our hero single-handedly dispatching three balors and a pit fiend, a single slightly less powerful demon dispatches most of a noble's court, including the clerics and warriors, and almost succeeds in destroying everyone else if it weren't for a lucky banishment.
Despite the "down to earth" fantasy, there are moments like the battle with the demon, and the hinting at the release of an even bigger evil (which will probably show up in the trilogy's final book), which will likely satisfy any craving you may have for an epic book or plot. The "simple" hero and lower level adventuring in most of the book is enjoyable enough, and just makes those "big" moments all the more meaningful.
Let me clarify that "overboard." How often have you read fantasy novels where they use only the biggest, baddest foes, piling one unbelievable scenario upon another for sake of what appears to be just outdoing everything else out there? A good example is Richard Lee Byers' Year of Rogue Dragons. His other work is excellent, but that trilogy.. no. When a handful of regular characters starts slaying dragons left and right, something is wrong. Dragons and demons should be kept to a few sparse appearances where they are truly awe-inspiring. Not beasts to be used every other page and dispatched as ignominiously as kobolds. Similarly for magic... do we really need another mage who can destroy ten acres with a single spell, summon the most powerful demons, and has artifacts that are more powerful than a cabal of magic users? It gets old... fast.
Refreshingly, Viper's Kiss uses a "regular joe" protagonist without access to +10 weapons, level 10 spells and a host of comrades almost as powerful. He's clever, but not exceedingly so, and is a bit of an anti-hero as he doesn't really want to be in the situation he's in. The storyline is plausible, low-magic, with not too many appearances of monsters. When they are used, they are as they should be: awe-inspiring, fearsome creatures. The climactic battle with the demon at the end of the book is a good example: instead of our hero single-handedly dispatching three balors and a pit fiend, a single slightly less powerful demon dispatches most of a noble's court, including the clerics and warriors, and almost succeeds in destroying everyone else if it weren't for a lucky banishment.
Despite the "down to earth" fantasy, there are moments like the battle with the demon, and the hinting at the release of an even bigger evil (which will probably show up in the trilogy's final book), which will likely satisfy any craving you may have for an epic book or plot. The "simple" hero and lower level adventuring in most of the book is enjoyable enough, and just makes those "big" moments all the more meaningful.
May 2, 2025
This second part in the trilogy is infinitely better than the first. And I have bad news for you: to truly get into the story arc, you'll have to wrestle your way through the first part as well.
On to this one. The plot is a knot of plots and double crosses all coming together around our main protagonist.
Even though stories in the Forgotten Realms who center around one character would normally come off poorly (due to the setting being designed for groups of protagonists), Lisa Smedman pulls it off without breaking 'the rules' of the game (I'm assuming everyone knows the Forgotten Realms is a setting made for the Dungeons and Dragons roleplaying game).
There are some mature elements that might border on the political if you're a USAian (abortion, intercourse), and some that might be political if you're not (main character who struggles with modern gender roles, casual death of innocents). But nothing that distracts from the story (we can't all be queer hippies, and neither can our heroes).
All skillfully presented by a writer who knows her business. I'm going to enjoy the third installment soon.
On to this one. The plot is a knot of plots and double crosses all coming together around our main protagonist.
Even though stories in the Forgotten Realms who center around one character would normally come off poorly (due to the setting being designed for groups of protagonists), Lisa Smedman pulls it off without breaking 'the rules' of the game (I'm assuming everyone knows the Forgotten Realms is a setting made for the Dungeons and Dragons roleplaying game).
There are some mature elements that might border on the political if you're a USAian (abortion, intercourse), and some that might be political if you're not (main character who struggles with modern gender roles, casual death of innocents). But nothing that distracts from the story (we can't all be queer hippies, and neither can our heroes).
All skillfully presented by a writer who knows her business. I'm going to enjoy the third installment soon.
August 18, 2023
I actually forgot about this series somehow and it’s actually coming back to this post that reminds me of its existence. So initially I thought this is a whole new standalone adventure for our protagonist Alvin and in some sense it is but then it actually connects up to book 1 and it seems like the trilogy actually does have an overarching plot together so I was pleasantly surprised.
March 16, 2019
He'd never thought of his continued survival as a curse before.
January 16, 2021
Great!
Very well written and an intriguing tale that’s exciting to follow. Can’t wait to read the next book and see how it ends
Very well written and an intriguing tale that’s exciting to follow. Can’t wait to read the next book and see how it ends
October 23, 2011
The plot continues 6 months after the end of book 1, where the protagonist Arvin hopes to begin life anew in the neighbouring barony. The yuan-ti factor was moved from center stage given the plot takes place in a human barony. In its place is a cool, twisted, and definitely interesting plot. The overarching plot for the trilogy was expounded on with the introduction of a female protagonist and yuan-ti mythology and religion.
The protagonist is obviously growing into his newfound powers and you can see how naturally the author managed to weave D&D rules into the action. Gone is the feeling of situational coincidence from the first book as i found myself rooting for Arvin and wondering how he's going to get through the situations. Definitely starting to really like the guy.
A great middle book to what is probably going to be a very nice trilogy. Looking forward to the next one.
The protagonist is obviously growing into his newfound powers and you can see how naturally the author managed to weave D&D rules into the action. Gone is the feeling of situational coincidence from the first book as i found myself rooting for Arvin and wondering how he's going to get through the situations. Definitely starting to really like the guy.
A great middle book to what is probably going to be a very nice trilogy. Looking forward to the next one.
February 8, 2014
This second installment was not as intiguing as the first for me.
In this one, the main character leaves Hondalath (the nest city of the yuan-ti) and travels across the Vilhilon Reach to another city. So, much of the society of the yuan-ti is missing in this story, and for me, this was a driving factor in reading this series.
The creepiness factor is taken up a notch with interracial relationships and demon possesions and stuff. We do learn a bit about the old religions of the yuan-ti and meet a cool new character. All and all it was a pretty 'good read'.
In this one, the main character leaves Hondalath (the nest city of the yuan-ti) and travels across the Vilhilon Reach to another city. So, much of the society of the yuan-ti is missing in this story, and for me, this was a driving factor in reading this series.
The creepiness factor is taken up a notch with interracial relationships and demon possesions and stuff. We do learn a bit about the old religions of the yuan-ti and meet a cool new character. All and all it was a pretty 'good read'.
August 16, 2011
Smedman does it again! The plot here continues to follow our psion/rogue hero Arvin as he travels further in the realms, meets a new love interest, and gets significantly more powerful. There's more intrigue and suspicion here, and interesting plot twists that never seemed telegraphed to me. I liked the way Smedman follows all the rules of how things work in D&D and yet there's lots of success via being smart as well. Her new characters for this book are interesting and worth knowing more about as well.
A wonderful middle book to the House of Serpents trilogy.
A wonderful middle book to the House of Serpents trilogy.
January 5, 2015
Good sequel to the first one. Glad to see Arvin coming along with his psionic powers. Unfortunately, he kept on making the same mistake in this book. He definitely needs to learn more about psionic effects. Or at least be able to cancel his own powers out if need be.
January 20, 2023
Surprisingly good, I thought. Better than the first book. A bit of a Empire Strikes Back feel in the ending, i.e. lives of allies lost, unresolved battles, something ominous in the horizon hinting towards an epic showdown in the final book. Good stuff!
February 9, 2012
The second book of the series was much better than the first. I liked the characters a lot more this time around.
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September 29, 2012I was disappointed. I loved Venom's Taste, the first of the series, but this one simply could not hold my attention despite my efforts.
August 14, 2016
more consistent and catchy than the first part, was almost tempted to give it 4 stars, but then all the tropes used came to mind.
May 29, 2021
Can’t decide if this was better than the first book but really interested in the different direction the book took as was the new characters introduced sets it up will for the final book!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews