The Serpent's Shadow characters

Appears from the start

The elder Kane sibling and a leader of the young magicians at Brooklyn House, still linked to the war god Horus. Serious, brave, and burdened by responsibility, he narrates half of this final book and drives the desperate search for a way to defeat the chaos serpent for good, even as the odds against the magicians grow steeper.

Appears from the start

The younger Kane sibling, bold, funny, and formidably skilled in the magic of the goddess Isis. She narrates the other half of the story and throws herself into the fight against chaos, while navigating her tangled feelings for two very different young men close to her.

Appears from the start

A gifted young magician at Brooklyn House, a maker of powerful charms, whose life is threatened by an inherited family curse that steadily weakens him. Kind and courageous, close to Sadie, he faces his shortening time with quiet resolve and looks for any path that might let him survive and keep fighting.

Appears from the start

A skilled fire magician of the House of Life, now working alongside the Kanes and close to Carter. Disciplined and brave, still finding her footing after all she has endured, she brings the power of flame and her order's training to the final stand against chaos.

Appears from the start

The Kanes' uncle and now the Chief Lector who leads the House of Life. A powerful magician trying to unite a fractured order behind the Kanes' path of the gods, he bears the strain of command as the enemy closes in, and the fate of the magicians rests heavily on his shoulders.

Appears from the start

The Egyptian cat goddess and the Kanes' devoted guardian, fierce in a fight and fiercely fond of the children she protects. Loyal to the end, she stands with them against the forces of chaos as the final battle nears.

Appears from the start

The Egyptian dwarf god, a loud, ugly, big-hearted protector who scares off evil with his ferocious appearance. Brave and loyal despite hard treatment from gods and magicians alike, he remains a stalwart friend and ally to the Kanes in their fight.

Appears from the start

The ancient Egyptian sun god, awakened in the previous book but returned aged and frail, cared for by the Kanes. Though a shadow of his former might, he remains the great counterweight to chaos, and the magicians must protect and rely on him as Apophis rises.

Appears from the start

The Egyptian serpent of Chaos, now loose from his ancient prison and gathering power to devour the sun and unmake the ordered world. The ultimate enemy of the gods and of order itself, he drives toward final victory, and defeating him for good is the whole aim of this last book.

Appears from the start

The Egyptian god of funerals and the dead, who often appears to Sadie as a solemn young man and to whom she is drawn. Knowledgeable about death, shadows, and the underworld, he offers guidance the Kanes need, and his connection to Sadie becomes important as the story reaches its end.

First appears in chapter 4

A cunning, treacherous ghost, the spirit of an ancient prince and rogue magician who mastered forbidden spells in life. Slippery and self-serving, he possesses knowledge the Kanes desperately need to fight chaos, but he is impossible to fully trust, forever scheming for his own advantage even while pressed into helping them.