Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos – A Review
R.L. LaFevers' Egyptian Adventure for Girls Misses the Mark
The Theodosia series by R. L. LaFevers has the potential of giving girls a strong, intelligent role model. Theodosia is an 11-year-old who lives in the Museum of Legends and Antiquities in London. The series is set in the early 1900s, the golden age of egyptology. Her parents are egyptologists. It’s also the eve of World War I, so suspicious Germans lurk in every corner.
The Fate of the British Empire is in Her Hands
Her mother comes home after an archaeological dig bringing with her the Heart of Egypt, a gem bearing a curse that could topple the entire British Empire! Can Theodosia put a stop to it?
It’s a thrilling premise, and the series is beautifully illustrated by Yoko Tanaka. (A graphic novel version by the artist would be far better.) Unfortunately, the writing is facile—Nancy Drew mysteries make more sense—and is littered with tedious descriptions of curses and spells and trite Britishisms. The pickpocket character comes close to saying, Right-o, Guv’na. One expects Theodosia’s dad to say, pip-pip, jolly good show, old bean!
An Obsession With Funerary Figurines
Although Theodosia is meant to be a clever, independent girl, she doesn’t always come across that way. Since she is the only one who can sense the evil emanating from ancient artifacts, she comes across as mentally ill. She sneaks around the museum musing about scary shabtis, which are funerary figurines found in Ancient Egyptian tombs.
“As far as I knew, I was the only one able to detect the black magic still clinging to the ancient objects.” Sure, Theodosia, sure. Eventually, she meets members of a secret society who have the same world view, but then the problem becomes that Theodosia seems to have no boundaries.
Actions Without Consequences
Her one-dimensional parents are so absent-minded, they’re downright negligent. They sit around never knowing what their daughter is up to, as she runs around the alleyways of London, witnessing the stabbing of a man, and other hijinks.
Some of Theodosia’s nemeses include an assistant curator and her grandmother’s butler, whom she feels free to insult to his face (“I think I must have eaten some of that bad fish you always look like you’ve just smelled”).
Theodosia is a role model for girls who have always wanted to sleep in a sarcophagus, disdain school, and do whatever comes into her superstitious mind with no consequences.
Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos is followed by Theodosia and the Staff of Osiris. Theodosia and the Eyes of Horus follows in 2010. And there is every hope that each subsequent book will be better than the last.
Ages 9-12
400 pages
Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (2008)
ISBN-10: 0618927646
ISBN-13: 978-0618999767
Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos
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