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Forgotten Realms: House of Serpents #3
Vanity's Brood
Medusanna
A priestess of terrifying power convinces the
Se'sehen
A yuan-ti tribe from the distant jungles of Chult to serve her growing cult of
Sseth
The merciless god of the serpent people who languishes in the foul plane of
Smaragh
Where a trapped and desperate Karell can only hope Arvin will find her before the
House of Serpents
Finally destroys their last hope for freedom.
A priestess of terrifying power convinces the
Se'sehen
A yuan-ti tribe from the distant jungles of Chult to serve her growing cult of
Sseth
The merciless god of the serpent people who languishes in the foul plane of
Smaragh
Where a trapped and desperate Karell can only hope Arvin will find her before the
House of Serpents
Finally destroys their last hope for freedom.
310 pages, Paperback
First published March 7, 2006
6 people are currently reading
324 people want to read
About the author
Lisa Smedman
79 books114 followersLisa was very much the tomboy growing up in Vancouver, British Columbia--playing in the woods behind her house, building tree forts, damming the creek, playing army with GI Joe dolls, swinging on ropes, playing flashlight tag, building models and go-carts (which she later rode down the street). She also liked reading science fiction novels from the 1940s, the Doc Savage series, and the Harriet the Spy books.
In 1984, she began her professional writing career, first as a journalist then as a fiction writer. She counts science fiction authors Connie Willis, Robert J. Sawyer, and H.G. Wells, and classic books such as Treasure Island, as influences.
Several of Lisa's short science fiction and fantasy stories have been published in various magazines and anthologies, and in 1993 she was named a finalist in the Writers of the Future contest for science fiction and fantasy writers. She has also had three of her one-act plays produced by a Vancouver theater group.
Lisa is the author of Extinction, one of several novels set in the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game’s Forgotten Realms universe. Released in 2004, Extinction made the New York Times bestseller list for hardcover fiction.
After authoring several science fiction and fantasy novels, Lisa recently turned her hand to children's books. From Boneshakers to Choppers (2007) explores the social history of motorcycles. Her interest in motorcycles goes way back--as a teenager, Lisa enjoyed trips up the British Columbia coast, riding pillion on friends' motorcycles. She later purchased her own bike, a 50cc machine, to get around town.
Lisa is one of the founders of Adventures Unlimited, a magazine providing scenarios and tips for role-playing games. She has written short fiction for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game's Ravenloft and Dark Sun lines. She has also designed a number of adventures and gaming products for Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Cyberpunk, Immortal, Shatterzone, Millennium's End, and Deadlands. Her original games include Valhalla's Gate, a tabletop skirmish miniatures game drawn from Norse mythology and runic lore. An avid gamer, Lisa belongs to the Trumpeter Wargaming Club.
After working for more than 20 years as a journalist, Lisa now divides her time between writing fiction and contributing to the Vancouver Courier (she edits and writes the History's Lens column). Besides a diploma in journalism, she also has a degree in anthropology. She is fascinated by history and archaeology, particularly the Bronze Age. Her future plans include writing more historical fiction, alternative historical fantasy, and game tie-in novels. Lisa is also interested in building models and dioramas, and tabletop miniatures gaming.
She lives in Richmond, British Columbia, with her wife, their son, four cats, and two pugs.
In 1984, she began her professional writing career, first as a journalist then as a fiction writer. She counts science fiction authors Connie Willis, Robert J. Sawyer, and H.G. Wells, and classic books such as Treasure Island, as influences.
Several of Lisa's short science fiction and fantasy stories have been published in various magazines and anthologies, and in 1993 she was named a finalist in the Writers of the Future contest for science fiction and fantasy writers. She has also had three of her one-act plays produced by a Vancouver theater group.
Lisa is the author of Extinction, one of several novels set in the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game’s Forgotten Realms universe. Released in 2004, Extinction made the New York Times bestseller list for hardcover fiction.
After authoring several science fiction and fantasy novels, Lisa recently turned her hand to children's books. From Boneshakers to Choppers (2007) explores the social history of motorcycles. Her interest in motorcycles goes way back--as a teenager, Lisa enjoyed trips up the British Columbia coast, riding pillion on friends' motorcycles. She later purchased her own bike, a 50cc machine, to get around town.
Lisa is one of the founders of Adventures Unlimited, a magazine providing scenarios and tips for role-playing games. She has written short fiction for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game's Ravenloft and Dark Sun lines. She has also designed a number of adventures and gaming products for Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Cyberpunk, Immortal, Shatterzone, Millennium's End, and Deadlands. Her original games include Valhalla's Gate, a tabletop skirmish miniatures game drawn from Norse mythology and runic lore. An avid gamer, Lisa belongs to the Trumpeter Wargaming Club.
After working for more than 20 years as a journalist, Lisa now divides her time between writing fiction and contributing to the Vancouver Courier (she edits and writes the History's Lens column). Besides a diploma in journalism, she also has a degree in anthropology. She is fascinated by history and archaeology, particularly the Bronze Age. Her future plans include writing more historical fiction, alternative historical fantasy, and game tie-in novels. Lisa is also interested in building models and dioramas, and tabletop miniatures gaming.
She lives in Richmond, British Columbia, with her wife, their son, four cats, and two pugs.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 5, 2025
Okay, first of: there's no reason to read this as a standalone. So assuming you've read the other two: this one is the best out of the three.
It has some tiny downsides (it's a bit tropy, it needs one reasoning-drop by the writer to make a decision by the protagonist make sense, and it has a reasoning error when it comes to the latitude after teleporting and assuming things based on the position of the sun). But overall: well written, and a satisfying conclusion to a small epic.
It has some tiny downsides (it's a bit tropy, it needs one reasoning-drop by the writer to make a decision by the protagonist make sense, and it has a reasoning error when it comes to the latitude after teleporting and assuming things based on the position of the sun). But overall: well written, and a satisfying conclusion to a small epic.
August 28, 2023
If you didn’t quite like the personal ending for Alvin then you are in for a nice surprise at the start in book 3 and I won’t say more than that to create spoilers. Personally, I didn’t fall into this group but I still was pleasantly surprised.
Overall, I find this a satisfying conclusion to this trilogy.
Overall, I find this a satisfying conclusion to this trilogy.
February 3, 2021
Wonderful
Beautifully written and intensely enjoyable story. Fantastic way to end the trilogy full of so much adventure and intrigue. Love it
Beautifully written and intensely enjoyable story. Fantastic way to end the trilogy full of so much adventure and intrigue. Love it
June 20, 2021
Suprisingly competent and interesting for a D&D book. Maybe I've been unlucky in which books I've found before, but this book surprised me by how good it was.
July 18, 2021
4.5 stars I rounded up since it was the best of the trilogy only complaint was that the book felt too rushed to tie up lose ends
October 31, 2011
Hmm... I can't help feeling a teeny bit disappointed with the final book of the trilogy. It feels different from the first two books.
The book is still a nice read and the author is still great at taking advantage of the rarely used setting and game elements - specifically yuan-ti, psionics, and this time throwing in Chult and the Abyss. Bits of lore abound to keep the reader interested too. All the unexpected twists are present in this book and they still delight me that I didn't see them coming.
What's disappointing is the return of the feeling of things being just so convenient. If Arvin really did worship Tymora instead of just paying lip service, I'd at least be inclined to believe in his luck. As it is, there's too much lucky situations and convenient coincidences.
There's also very little character development and growth this time around. If you didn't read the first two books, you'd know very little about these characters. Zelia, the villain, was the most aggrieved. She went from being Arvin's lethal nemesis, to a rather flat villain. The showdown with Zelia was good and invokes a sense of Arvin's tension, but not very satisfactory. The Secession was brought back right at the end, feeling like an afterthought. The "complications" Arvin has with the Guild also seems conveniently put aside.
I like how Lisa Smedman adheres to D&D rules and restrictions, even to the point where it feels like she just describing the rules. Too bad she breaks this consistency with the fate link psionic power, not once, but twice, to bring about Arvin's victory. Still, readers not familiar with it won't notice - although his psionic powers being so powerful that not even demons and half-fiends can't resist requires a little suspension of disbelief.
Still, the great pacing of the plot, the typing up of loose ends, and the nice plot twists all make for a good read, enough for me to suspend disbelief at Arvin's good fortune. Overall, a satisfactory end to this trilogy.
The book is still a nice read and the author is still great at taking advantage of the rarely used setting and game elements - specifically yuan-ti, psionics, and this time throwing in Chult and the Abyss. Bits of lore abound to keep the reader interested too. All the unexpected twists are present in this book and they still delight me that I didn't see them coming.
What's disappointing is the return of the feeling of things being just so convenient. If Arvin really did worship Tymora instead of just paying lip service, I'd at least be inclined to believe in his luck. As it is, there's too much lucky situations and convenient coincidences.
There's also very little character development and growth this time around. If you didn't read the first two books, you'd know very little about these characters. Zelia, the villain, was the most aggrieved. She went from being Arvin's lethal nemesis, to a rather flat villain. The showdown with Zelia was good and invokes a sense of Arvin's tension, but not very satisfactory. The Secession was brought back right at the end, feeling like an afterthought. The "complications" Arvin has with the Guild also seems conveniently put aside.
I like how Lisa Smedman adheres to D&D rules and restrictions, even to the point where it feels like she just describing the rules. Too bad she breaks this consistency with the fate link psionic power, not once, but twice, to bring about Arvin's victory. Still, readers not familiar with it won't notice - although his psionic powers being so powerful that not even demons and half-fiends can't resist requires a little suspension of disbelief.
Still, the great pacing of the plot, the typing up of loose ends, and the nice plot twists all make for a good read, enough for me to suspend disbelief at Arvin's good fortune. Overall, a satisfactory end to this trilogy.
March 31, 2023
A very twisty and serpentine plot; so twisty and serpentiney that I had no idea what was going on, except for what was important to Arvin. To date, I've enjoyed all of Smedman's writings, including the four Shadowrun books I've read of hers. The ending to this was a bit abrupt.
---
Upon re-read, I give it 2.5 stars.
This is a very Forgotten Realms, gamey and geeky novel. You'd get more enjoyment if you had some knowledge of the splatbook 'Serpent Kingdoms'. I felt like the elements of the whole trilogy - yuan-ti and psionicists - are so obscure and relatively unpopular that it made for a hard-to-engage-with read. The exposition of the grand background of the whole story - the war between the various yuan-ti factions - was paper thin. Notwithstanding the fact that I could almost hear the dice rolling and the DM narrating the game session while I was reading this. Reflecting back over the trilogy, you certainly get a feel for the character progression of Arvin, leveling up from a lowbie to a mind mage of some considerable power. So, if you like this kind of development (LitRPG, as it's now called), then this book's for you. But I'd rather read stories about characters and their personalities, character triumphs/failures and relationships, rather than accumulating experience points through plot beats and chapters, as it were. Which is why I said, this is a very geeky and gamey novel.
And a final note to why I found this book unsatisfying, Karrell is relegated to the damsel-in-distress role and is next to useless. Sure, she's pregnant and near to giving birth, but it was so disappointing especially when most of her passages were dream sequences.
---
Upon re-read, I give it 2.5 stars.
This is a very Forgotten Realms, gamey and geeky novel. You'd get more enjoyment if you had some knowledge of the splatbook 'Serpent Kingdoms'. I felt like the elements of the whole trilogy - yuan-ti and psionicists - are so obscure and relatively unpopular that it made for a hard-to-engage-with read. The exposition of the grand background of the whole story - the war between the various yuan-ti factions - was paper thin. Notwithstanding the fact that I could almost hear the dice rolling and the DM narrating the game session while I was reading this. Reflecting back over the trilogy, you certainly get a feel for the character progression of Arvin, leveling up from a lowbie to a mind mage of some considerable power. So, if you like this kind of development (LitRPG, as it's now called), then this book's for you. But I'd rather read stories about characters and their personalities, character triumphs/failures and relationships, rather than accumulating experience points through plot beats and chapters, as it were. Which is why I said, this is a very geeky and gamey novel.
And a final note to why I found this book unsatisfying, Karrell is relegated to the damsel-in-distress role and is next to useless. Sure, she's pregnant and near to giving birth, but it was so disappointing especially when most of her passages were dream sequences.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 8, 2014
The last book in this series, it was pretty good.
Once again, like in the second book, we arn't in the city of the yuan-ti very much, so all the cool polotics and social stuff about the serpant people is missing. We do get to some of them in the jungles of Chult, but not in any real depth. I did like how different chapters segway into the Abyss from the material plane. This is more about yuan-ti mythology and stuff, but I would have prefered more about the city Hondalth.
All and all, I think there should be another series focusing on this race; perhaps one with a yuan-ti protagonist, that actually takes place deep in the culture of the serpant people.
If you are a fan of the realms, check this series out.
Once again, like in the second book, we arn't in the city of the yuan-ti very much, so all the cool polotics and social stuff about the serpant people is missing. We do get to some of them in the jungles of Chult, but not in any real depth. I did like how different chapters segway into the Abyss from the material plane. This is more about yuan-ti mythology and stuff, but I would have prefered more about the city Hondalth.
All and all, I think there should be another series focusing on this race; perhaps one with a yuan-ti protagonist, that actually takes place deep in the culture of the serpant people.
If you are a fan of the realms, check this series out.
December 14, 2009
A fitting end to the House of Serpents trilogy, Smedman once again does a bang-up job in "Vanity's Brood". These reviews all sound alike, but I get a kick out of Smedman's mastery of Dungeons & Dragons minutiae. The main character's growth in power and ability is nicely portrayed, the impact of "mind magic" is loads of fun, and the plane-hopping was well done.
There was a battle going on in the background during the final third of the book which was never clearly described (either in physical terms, or even in why it was happening in the first place), so that added a bit to a rushed-at-the-end feeling to the prose, but overall, the story was still a grand adventure and fun to read.
There was a battle going on in the background during the final third of the book which was never clearly described (either in physical terms, or even in why it was happening in the first place), so that added a bit to a rushed-at-the-end feeling to the prose, but overall, the story was still a grand adventure and fun to read.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews