Annnnd we're back for round two of E.Y. Laster's efforts, the Oracle's Tale series! Since being introduced to Sekhmet and the Anubis Trials, I've read about ten other unrelated books, and I couldn't take my mind off of Aiyah's journey. So I broke down and bought the sequel, Nemty and the Serpent's Den. My TBR is currently screaming at me right now for switching the lineup, but it was worth it.
"Aiyah is a demigoddess - the only daughter of the recently named Master of Horse, servant of the Pharaoh of the 25th Dynasty of Egypt and the powerful Oracle Goddess Wadjet. Though she believed her mother to be mortal (and long dead) Aiyah soon learns that she's inherited her mother's powers of sight - and the scheming gods of ancient Egypt & Kush know it too. When Aiyah attempts to save the servants that falcon god Nemty forces to steal the pharaoh's treasures, Aiyah is caught in his nest of lies, murder, and deceit. Will Aiyah be able to outwit the gods without anyone in pharaoh's palace discovering her secret? Or cause the fall of an empire?"
Right off the back, the story continues from the last events in Book 1. We see the original loving, clueless, and devious characters and some new faces and trials. Laster did better with her character development. Aiyah has become stronger and wiser in dealing with the Gods and their tricks. Especially with Set, the God of Chaos. Or maybe the most considerable character development comes from Set himself. I mean, he is starting to experience real human emotions towards Aiyah. Or does he believe the cat and mouse game he created is real? Between Aiyah trying to sort out her steamy feelings with Set and finding awareness with Prince Haremakhet, the love triangle is getting pretty interesting. I can't wait to see what becomes of it in the next chapter.
Laster has also done better with her world-building. I love the imagery she creates, peppered with historical realism. As I mentioned before, we never hear about Egyptian mythology as much as Greek and Norse, so this is a welcoming air towards curiosity of lore. I love how this world and tale are shaping. The one thing that had me slightly confused was the final battle with the God Nemty. I'm not sure if I was too excited reading and skipped over some details or if the author was too excited writing out the scene, but there was so much going on that I lost track of how the events ended the way they did. I don't know how I got lost in the sauce, but it's so minor, I've overlooked it.
Overall I gave this book a 5-star rating, a huge bump up from the 3 I gave Anubis Trials. I commented in my previous review that I saw the potential in Laster's writing ability, and my guess paid off. Nemty and the Serpent's Den was not a sophomore slump, and I may boldly even say it was better than the first. I cannot wait for the next book to come out, but I will patiently wait for Laster to do her thing and create. Who am I kidding? No, I won't! GIRL!!!! The clock is ticking!!!!
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