About the Book and Author
A new adventure in the Brightstorm Chronicles series by Vashti Hardy. Serpent of the Sands features Princess Gan, a favourite character from Firesong!
When Princess Ganzorig’s uncle falls gravely ill, she sneaks out of the Citadel to find a powerful cure, said to be guarded by the Serpent of the Sands. But is it only a story? Is she chasing false hope?
Vashti Hardy is an award winning writer of children’s books spending her time between Lancashire and Sussex. She was a primary school teacher for several years, and has a special interest in children’s writing, especially free-writing and the use of journals and creating fantasy worlds. She has a first-class honours teaching degree with English specialism and an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Chichester.
Visit Vashti’s website to find out more about the Brightstorm series and her other writing.
Book Review
The book blends fantasy with a bit of science fiction which works really well
This is a very interesting and entertaining book. It is the fourth book in the Brightstorm series and has an unusual combination of genres that I really liked. The book blends fantasy with a bit of science fiction which works really well.
Serpent of the Sands is all about a princess called Ganzorig whose uncle is ill so she escapes from the city to try and find a cure which is said to be protected by a mythical serpent. On the way she meets friends but she slowly starts to question whether she really believes in the cure at all.
The characters all have very intresting story arcs which add to the main plot. All the characters come out of the situation at the end having changed which makes them more interesting and made me think perhaps there might be a fifth book coming. One character who changes a lot is Thorn, whose story has loads of twists to it. The way he changes is quite exciting but in the end I wished there had been not so many twists and we had got to know him better. My favourite character is Kruos, who also changes a lot throughout the book. I can’t say much about him as it would spoil the story but he is a good character to look out for.
I enjoyed the way that the people in this story speak, because it is interesting. They all say the word ‘’Chime’’ instead of ‘’Time’’ which I find is a good way of reminding us that the story is set in another world. I really enjoyed that element of the book. If you like Tolkien books like I do where there are also made up words for made up worlds you might like this too.
I think you need to have read the first three books before this one, because I have never read any of the Brightstorm books before, and I didn’t understand parts of the plot very well, which is probably because it was the first book in that series I have read. (By the way, the three books before this are called: Brightstorm, Darkwhispers and Firesong. They are meant to be read in that order.) I would say this book is for readers age 9+.
In conclusion, I really enjoyed this book, and I can’t wait to go back and read the first three!
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Reviewer Profile
- Name: Ivan
- Age: 11 years
- Likes: origami, pizza and drawing
- Dislikes: peas and Donald Trump
- Favourite Book: Gargantis by Thomas Taylor
- Favourite Song: Space Oddity by David Bowie
- Favourite Film: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
