The Seven Serpents Trilogy

The Seven Serpents Trilogy #1-3

by Scott O'Dell

Includes all Three Books:
The Captive
The Feathered Serpent
The Amethyst Ring

What would you do if everyone thought you were a god?

Young Julian Escobar is traveling to the New World to spread the gospel to the newly discovered Mayan Empire when a hurricane strikes his ship, scattering its contents to the four winds and leaving Julian as the sole survivor. After struggling ashore, he encounters a young Mayan woman who is shocked at his presence.

Soon he learns why. Centuries ago the fair-skinned Mayan god Kukulcan, the Feathered Serpent, sailed away with the promise that one day he would return. With his very life at stake, Julian does the unimaginable: he begins to impersonate this returned god.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Fiction

553 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2009

About the author

Scott O'Dell was an American author celebrated for his historical fiction, especially novels for young readers. He is best known for Island of the Blue Dolphins, a classic that earned the Newbery Medal and has been translated into many languages and adapted for film. Over his career he wrote more than two dozen novels for young people, as well as works of nonfiction and adult fiction, often drawing on the history and landscapes of California and Mexico. His books, including The King’s Fifth, The Black Pearl, and Sing Down the Moon, earned him multiple Newbery Honors and a wide readership. O'Dell received numerous awards for his contribution to children’s literature, among them the Hans Christian Andersen Award and the Regina Medal. In 1984, he established the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction to encourage outstanding works in the genre.

Reviews

[SapphireLain · Rating 4 out of 5]

bleak, very bleak

[Manan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is based on Mayan mythology and folklore. It initially has a slow beginning but then catches pace. The theme is well explored where an outsider is worshipped as a god and ruler. The triology focuses on Julian Escobar, seminarian from Spain, from being captured by the Mayans to being worshipped as the feathered serpent god Kukulcan, how he embrases his role as a god, his moral and religious conflicts and ending up fighting the incans with a battalion of spanish soldiers. Overall, it is a nice introduction to the Mayan culture and good read.

[itchy]

The Captive

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

*

The Feathered Serpent

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

*

The Amethyst Ring

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

It appears this is the only ebook edition so far. My copy is chock full of false spaces (could very well be because of the transcription) resulting in funky reading.

[Jason Golomb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scott O'Dell's "Seven Serpents Trilogy" follows the young Julian Escobar, a seminarian from Spain, who finds himself in the New World during the early years of the Spanish Conquest. This book is the recent re-publishing of three separate books combined into a single volume. Targeted at the young adult market, I would suggest it's appropriate for strong 4th grade readers on up through high school. O'Dell writes with a minimum of words and masters the ability to present complicated events in a very straightforward, simple and uncomplicated way.

"Seven Serpents" is a terrific way to introduce young adults to the Spanish Conquest and some of the key issues around those times: conflict over religion; monotheism v. polytheism; moral and physical struggles with Indian human rights; similarities and differences across cultures, etc.

In book one, "The Captive", Escobar starts off as a wide-eyed seminarian looking to introduce Christianity to the native "savages", but ends up finding a Mayan culture past its prime while innocently (at first, at least) stepping into the role of the returning god Kukulkan. In book two, "The Feathered Serpent", Escobar embraces his role as a god, while exposing his inner religious and moral conflicts, and runs right into Hernan Cortes as he marches across Mexico towards his fateful collision with Moctezuma and the Aztecs. "The Amethsyt Ring" closes the trilogy by placing Escobar with Pizarro and his band of less than 200 Spanish soldiers battling tens of thousands of Inca and kidnapping the emperor Atahualpa.

The stories all focus on Escobar while each introduces a few new characters (fictional and non) that support or feed Escobar's journey of discovery and self-discovery. Adult fans of Gary Jennings' "Aztec" will identify similarities in theme and the progression of the story, specifically the blending of fictional and non-fictional characters and events, as well as the scope of his travels and adventures.

O'Dell doesn't focus on violence, but does describe violent events. From my perspective, the violence is no worse than the typical young adult movie or appropriate TV programming. There is a suggestion of sex in one brief paragraph towards the end of "The Amethyst Ring", but I'd be comfortable having my 5th grader read it with only moderate context and explanation from me.

I enjoyed reading all three books. The first two are only about 150 pages each and the last one is 200 pages, so they're quick. The stories include adventure, action and mystery which should have broad appeal. I'd highly recommend this trilogy and I'll be encouraging my children to read it soon to share my interest in this fascinating period in time.

[Deannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

What would you do if everyone thought you were a god?

As a naive 16 yr old, Spaniard Julian Escobar is brought, nervously and with reluctant excitement, to the New World. He is sent off on a heroic quest to convert natives from sun-worship, and suddenly his plans and ship are driven to the rocks during a hurricane. Shaken, he pulls himself together enough to find shelter, sustenance, the captain's impressive stallion, and the beginning of a friendship with a native girl on his island...

He is then found by a dwarfish Spaniard, Cantu, leading curious Mayan High Priests and backed by a canoe of wary native warriors. Cantu, thirsting for power, prestige and gold, immediately sees potential in the tall, blond seminarian. He informs Julian that he was also a shipwreck, and is the only man remaining after his peers were sacrificed to the Sun God: he escaped death only by being a dwarf, sacred in the eyes of the Maya. Cantu lays a choice before Julian: impersonate the returning Mayan god Kukulcan and help him grow wealthy, OR be exposed as an ordinary Spaniard and have his heart cut out in a brutal tribute to the gods.

Pious, fearful, and hesitant to assume such an identity, Julian is convinced by the thought of redeeming his power by converting the heathen. At the Spaniard's direction, he takes the stallion and enters the Mayan city under a hail of "thunder" that secures his acceptance among the populace and --most-- of the priests.

Trying to change deeply rooted beliefs; power and corruption; soulless greed; suspicion and plots, rescue, loss (and some incredible marketing skills) all enter as Julian assumes the first of his identities in the New World. He finds that a god can be chained and greed may twist the minds of virtuous men.

It's not all him being a god: it's also him losing idealistic views; deciding loyalty; protecting underdogs; staying alive.
10/10 would read again. Would you want to be a god?

[Stacey Weber · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm reading this with my middle school class as we study conquistadors. O'Dell does a wonderful job developing the themes of the era and making the history very accessible. You really have a sympathetic view into these ancient tribal cultures. His main character is extremely, psychologically complex - in fact it seems to be a journey from naivete and idealism into the very darkest parts of the soul. The book does a very thorough job of examining the complexities of the medieval church and all of the atrocities on both sides. I'm about 60 pages from the end of the book, and I'm truly hoping for some sort of redemption for this poor anti-hero.

The book should definitely be read by mature adolescents (not the reading level age of 4-5th grade).

[Marie desJardins · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book for about one and a quarter of the three books. Then it just becomes repetitive and boring, and I stopped caring what happened next. The main character is incredibly unlikable as he comes to see himself more and more as the god that he isn't. And it's not like there's really anybody else to root for. The plot just meanders and loses all of its dramatic tension once he takes over the city and is accepted as the god.

So... Read the first book and then call it a day, is my advice.

[Hilary Bunlert · Rating 2 out of 5]

This set of books sounded far more interesting than it proved to be. I expected the writing to be kind of simplistic as it was written for a youth audience, but honestly, it was pretty flat and emotionless for a book chronicling some of the most intense moments in the colonization of the Americas. The pictures painted felt pretty two-dimensional. I got bored and am not bothering to read Book 3....

[Shadi · Rating 1 out of 5]

These books were /dreadfully/ boring. [insert:] snore [/insert:] I like the writing style, I must admit. But really, NOTHING exciting happens. The age group (9+) on the back is much too low. Also, if you do choose to read this book, beware the last pages of the first book and somewhere at the very end of the third.

[Kanak]

This book is about a boy from Spain who gets a chance to go to the "new world". the book starts of with conquistador related items and dialogues. In the first part of the book, it tells you all about how conquistadors traded with Indians

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a very detailed historical fiction novel. I enjoyed reading it as I did not know much about the exploration of Peru.