The Copernicus Legacy, Book 2: The Serpent's Curse
By Carrie R. Wheadon,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Slapdash mystery misses potential.
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What's the Story?
Wade, Wade's dad, his stepbrother Darrell, his cousin Lily, and her friend Becca have just arrived in New York after a hard-won fight for Copernicus' first relic. They've bested Galina Krause and her henchmen, who plan to use the relics against humanity, but, although they have something Galina wants, Galina has something they want more: Darrell's mother, Sara. Galina drugs her and moves her from country to country in a coffin to escape detection, then sets up shop in an eerie abandoned castle in Russia. Instead of using Sara as ransom for the relic, she has worse plans for her, and time will run out for Wade, Dad, and friends if they don't reach her soon. They don't know where Sara is but do know the second relic could help find her and a contact in London can help point them in the right direction. As soon as they meet a large Russian man named Boris, plans go awry. He's poisoned right in front of them, and they're quickly on the run from Galina's henchmen again.
Is It Any Good?
As with any book where the clock is ticking, this one is in a frantic -- perhaps way too frantic -- rush to jet around the world and solve the mystery. The characters need to save Darrell's mom's life and keep relics away from the bad guys. A lot's at stake. That's all good. Exciting, even. But it's clear that author Tony Abbott is in quite a rush to write Book 2 of a really complex 12-book series (and probably the editors are in a rush to edit), and the result is rather sloppy and disappointing.
It seems as if the story wants to be in first person, but it's kind of in third person with lots of italics for various characters' thoughts that come off as confusing and somehow do less rather than more to inform readers about what the characters are thinking. Some minor characters show up on airplanes -- twice -- and are barely introduced or don't add to the story at all. Scenes aren't properly set up: It's hard to visualize where kids are in Red Square and how they're hiding from the soldiers. And the actual words are euqally rushed: The cliché "black as night" is used twice in about 10 pages. This series has so much for kids to learn, but sadly the novel isn't meeting it's potential.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about what they enjoyed learning about the most. Was it geography, codes, and history or where the next artifact was?
Do you enjoy books that mix historical and science fiction with fact? What are the facts about Copernicus' discoveries, and what did the author add?
This series is planning 10 more books. Will you keep reading? Where do you think the next artifacts are hidden, and how do you think they fit together?
Book Details
- Author: Tony Abbott
- Genre: Mystery
- Topics: Adventures, Brothers and Sisters, History, Science and Nature
- Book type: Fiction
- Publication date: October 7, 2014
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 8 - 12
- Number of pages: 496
- Available on: Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Last updated: July 12, 2017
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