Children of the Serpent

This book is a major event in the overall story arc of the OL series. From the beginning, in Exile to Hell, Kane and his friends begin to discover the tip of the iceberg about the presence of aliens and a history of humanity and alien that goes back thousands of years. Here in Children Of The Serpent, is the story of the return of the Annunaki overlords to reclaim earth. This is a good entertaining episode in the OL series, but what seperates this book from the norm, not just from OL, but from the standard boundries that Gold Eagle sets for their many action series. Mark Ellis has taken his series to many exotic lands, far out places, super high technology, both modern and ancient, and has a wide variety of interesting and memorable villans. Children Of The Serpent kicks this up another notch. You might say it tips over the apple cart. In this book we see the Barons, who have been part of the storyline since book one, are no longer what they once were. They are now something much more. Sam's true self is revealed at last. The fate of Quavel and of her baby is revealed. Who the barons were and have become is revealed. The return of the Annunaki mothership, and what it is, is awesome. Balam plays a major role, and everyone in Cerberus will eventually have to work together to face the new threat of the Annunaki return. This is a book where a lot happens in the resolution of the story arc, and it is entertaining along the way, with Kane's infiltration of the mothership, the adventure in a giant temple in Iraq, a final battle at Cerburus, this is one of the best books in the series yet. If you are reading any books at all in the series, this is one title you don't want to miss!

A Harrowing oddessey into a reborn reality. I used to remember when I was a kid, how disappointed I got when I picked up a team comic book, and on the cover, they announce EVERYTHING CHANGES! Those changes were either small, or only temporary. This had no such false advertising on the cover. And wow. The changes are dynamic! The world suddenly becomes smaller, the Villes are stripped of the Baronies, and the hybrids themselves become something fantastic. Of course, other bits are touched upon here in the changes among the Cerberus warriors. We are reminded of how much Domi has grown (at least when she's being written by someone who cares). We see the closeness of Kane and Brigid, and the true depth of their emotional closeness. Lakesh has shone in his growth over the series as well, and we get to see the amount of respect he and Kane have grown for each other, without Kane dismissing it under suspicion of manipulation. But the Overlords, and the Nephilhim, and their sheer power and magnificence as villains, has vaulted them from minor, flimsy annoyance (whereas previously the hybrids needed Magistrates to be a physical threat to Kane and company) to something dark, powerful and ominous. The section of the book that takes place on Tiamat is as epic as any in the series so far. The flight of the Mantas to Tiamat, in its description, was magnificent and dynamic. The final battle? Likewise. If anyone had tried to make this book into a movie, you'd need at least the same budget and excellent effects teams as three or four episodes of Stargate Atlantis or FarScape, and about the length of a Peter Jackson film to get this novel to the same scale as it plays out in the imagination of the reader. Truly a fantastic book.

Close your eyes. Pretend you are in your local cineplex. The lights come up as the credits roll. Imagine you have just witnessed one of the most incredible action packed spectacles you ever seen in a movie theatre. Think Star Wars, think The Matrix, think Lord Of The Rings, think Die Hard. Well, you don't even have to go the movies to catch that feeling. Think Outlanders...think Children Of The Serpent! From start to finish this book grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go! This is pulp fiction at it's APEX! An incredible adventure tale on par with the greats from ERB to REH or even HPL! (Did I just read "Old Ones"...HOLY S@#T!) Lester Dent would be proud...Mark Ellis take a bow! The awe-inspiring Tiamat...the new threat of the Overlords...transformed into a horror pulled from the nether regions of human collective memory...horrific ceremonies ripped from nightmare...the true nature of the most malevolent force in the galaxy revealed...desperate heroes racing to discover the truth...Brigid in danger beyond comprehension...Kane and Grant in a desperate, not to mention heart POUNDING attempt at rescue against overwhelming odds...an epic battle at the very stronghold of the forces for good in the world! A deep and meaningful rumination of what it means not only to be free, but to be an American as well! Mind-BLOWING! Staggering! AMAZING! N' the Graphic Audio version rocks as well...Kudos to all involved at the Cutting Corp...read it...listen to it...live it...prepare to be KNOCKED THE F OUT!

I wanted to love this book. I heard so many good things about it maybe I had overly high expectations built for it that couldn't possibly hold up to the actual reading...so needless to say I guess you have probably figured I didn't love it...hell, I didn't even like it that much. I was expecting something great and fresh out of a series that, which while I do enjoy, has quite frankly began to show it's age. What I got was something else entirely. Page after page of recaps and what has gone before, endless explanations of the same mish mash of conspiracy theories, ancient astronaut hypothesis' and warmed over hokum folklore that has been hashed and rehashed over and over in paqst volumes...OK, I can deal with that...it's pretty much been a staple of the series since book two. But the new and original rebirth I had heard so much about...nope...not here...this book takes so many cliches, standards, and flat out threadworn stock plot points from such a hodge podge of sources ranging from TV, movies, comic books, and even video games, it's like a crash course in genre fiction from the past fifty years. I can't think of one original idea in the whole book! Take all of the above throw them in a blender and out comes a blah gray mess. I hope this book was just a misstep in the shaping of something great to come in future volumes...I expect better from the author, and I'm sure he'll come through in the future. But this was one big swing and a miss!

'The ship was not of Tiamat but was Tiamat and three thousand years was only a breath in the span of her eternity'. I was hooked on this novel when I read the first line of the prologue and by the time I was in the mddle of chapter one I knew the anticipation for Children of the Serpent was not hype! Even for a die-hard fan of the OL series like me, this book is an exceptional gem. Its a showpiece for the talent and imagination of Mark Ellis who can make an eight year old series seem fresh, exciting and brand new again, generating enough great new ideas to carry OL for another eight years—or eighty! The very first page grabs your attention and sets the stage for the enthralling, action-packed and tragic tale that reveals the real story behind the creation of the hybrid barons, the program of unification , Sam the Imperator and the Anunnaki Empire of ancient Sumeria. In Children of the Serpent, Mark Ellis has skillfully taken the complex amount of material established in 32 previous novels of the OL saga, simplified it, explained it and still managed to spin a spellbinding and fast-moving tale that clarifies all sorts of mysteries, inconsistencies and small details such as why the Imperator chose such an ordinary name as ‘Sam”. Best of all, it all makes perfect sense!!! Ellis absolutely nails the all characters we long-term readers have come to love, which comes as no surprise since he created them all. They all show very human qualities such as fear and humor and even heart-ache, but they’re also presented as heroic and intelligent people who aspire to free the human soul from tyranny. Not only with this book does OL seem to make a final break with Deathlands and soar into bright new territories, it also makes a final break with the kind of low-life scum GE has allowed the DL characters to degenerate into. With Children of the Serpent the Cerberus warriors have NOTHING in common with the DL cast—Thank God. The tone and pacing of the plot is perfect and keeps the reader mesmerized up until the final page, following a blazing, explosive MAJOR battle of the kind never seen in the OL series before! There's a great scene between Brigid and Kane right before the climatic battle that shows the deep feelings between the two of them but also symbolizes why the time isn’t right to act on those feelings. Speaking of symbolism theres also a very moving bit with Philboyd explaining to Kane the meaning of the American flag, both past, present and future. Children of The Serpent ties up very nicely sub-plots that have been running for years but its not necessary to have read earlier books to completely enjoy and appreciate the story in this book. Even with all the revelations, this novel is full of high adventure and introduces a fascinating new group of adversaries…hint—the Overlords and their soldier-servants, the Nephilim, make the barons seem about as dangerous as the Village People. Children of the Serpent is a phenomenal story in and of itself and a fabulously entertaining way to wrap up all these years worth of plots and kick into a new, and judging by this book more exciting phase of the Outlanders saga!