Quotes from The Serpent's Shadow

Rick Riordan ·  406 pages

Rating: (96.1K votes)


“There’s my baby!” I cried, quite carried away. “There’s my Poochiekins!”
Ammit ran at me and leaped into my arms, nuzzling me with his rough snout.
“My lord Osiris!” Disturber lost the bottom of his scroll again, which unraveled around his legs. “This is an outrage!”
“Sadie,” Dad said firmly, “please do not refer to the Devourer of Souls as Poochiekins.”
― Rick Riordan, quote from The Serpent's Shadow


“Met them. Killed them. Got the T-shirt.”
― Rick Riordan, quote from The Serpent's Shadow


“I lifted my wand, hoping she would see this as a dramatic move, not a threat. “Why once, in my bunker at Charing Cross Station, I stalked the
deadly prey known as Jelly Babies.”
Neith’s eyes widened. “They are dangerous?”
“Horrible,” I agreed. “Oh, they seem small alone, but they always appear in great numbers. Sticky, fattening—quite deadly. There I was, alone
with only two quid and a Tube pass, beset by Jelly Babies, when…Ah, but never mind. When the Jelly Babies come for you…you will find out on
your own.”
She lowered her bow. “Tell me. I must know how to hunt Jelly Babies.”
I looked at Walt gravely. “How many months have I trained you, Walt?”
“Seven,” he said. “Almost eight.”
“And have I ever deemed you worthy of hunting Jelly Babies with me?”
“Uh…no.”
― Rick Riordan, quote from The Serpent's Shadow


“Lacy had warned me about Drew the first day of school. Apparently the two of them had gone to some summer camp together––blah, blah, I didn't really listen to teh details––and Drew had been just as much a tyrant there.

~Sadie Kane, about Lacy and Drew of Aphrodite cabin.”
― Rick Riordan, quote from The Serpent's Shadow


“If you’re listening to this, congratulations! You survived Doomsday.
I’d like to apologize straightaway for any inconvenience the end of the world may have caused you. The earthquakes, rebellions, riots,tornadoes, floods, tsunamis, and of course the giant snake who swallowed the sun—I’m afraid most of that was our fault. Carter and I decided we should at least explain how it happened.”
― Rick Riordan, quote from The Serpent's Shadow



“We speak with one voice,” Walt said. “Especially on this matter. No one hurts Sadie Kane.”
― Rick Riordan, quote from The Serpent's Shadow


“If anyone asks you if you’re taken,” I said, “the answer is yes.”
“I think I can live with that,” he promised.
“Good,” I said. “Because you don’t want to see me be cross.”
“Too late.”
“Shut up and dance, Walt.”
“Shut up and dance, Walt.”
We did—with the music of a psychotic griffin screaming behind us, and the sirens and horns of Brooklyn wailing below. It was quite romantic.”
― Rick Riordan, quote from The Serpent's Shadow


“A weapon, I told Horus. I need a weapon.
I reached into the Duat and pulled out an ostrich feather.
“Really?” I yelled.
Horus didn’t answer”
― Rick Riordan, quote from The Serpent's Shadow


“For what it’s worth: trust your feelings. I can’t promise that you’ll never get hurt again, but I can promise you the risk is worth it.”
― Rick Riordan, quote from The Serpent's Shadow


“Oh...my...god,"Drew whimpered."Who..."
Anubis ignored her (bless him for that) and held out his elbow for me - a sweet old-fashioned gesture.
" May I have this dance?"
"I suppose," I said,as non committally as I could. I looped my arm through his, and we left the Plastic Bags behind us, all of them muttering,"Oh my god! Oh my god!"
No ,actually, I wanted to say. He's my amazingly hot boy god. Find your own.”
― Rick Riordan, quote from The Serpent's Shadow



“dealing with any man means dealing with multiple personalities.”
― Rick Riordan, quote from The Serpent's Shadow


“All [Sadie’s] previous attempts [of making a shabti (an Egyptian avatar of one’s self)] had exploded or gone haywire, terrorizing Khufu and the initiates. Last week she’d created a magical Thermos with googly eyes that levitated around the room, yelling, “Exterminate! Exterminate!” until it smacked me in the head.”
― Rick Riordan, quote from The Serpent's Shadow


“Our problems started in Dallas, when the fire-breathing sheep destroyed the King Tut exhibit.”
― Rick Riordan, quote from The Serpent's Shadow


“How do I defeat Apophis?”
“I’m so glad you asked!” Thoth beamed at me with his multicolored eyes. “Unfortunately, I can’t tell you.”
I glanced at Walt. “Do you want to kill him, or should I?”
― Rick Riordan, quote from The Serpent's Shadow


“I see murky visions of other gods and rival magic."
That REALLY didn't sound good.
"What do you mean?" I asked. "what OTHER GODS?"
"I don't know, Sadie. But Egypt has always faced challenges from outside –– magicians from elsewhere, even gods from elsewhere. Just be vigilant."

~Ruby & Sadie Kane about...? Possibly Greeks?”
― Rick Riordan, quote from The Serpent's Shadow



“In the Duat, Anubis looked as he always had, with his tousled dark hair and lovely brown eyes, but I’d never seen him filled with such rage. I realized that anyone who dared to hurt me would suffer his full wrath, and Walt wasn’t going to hold him back.”
― Rick Riordan, quote from The Serpent's Shadow


“Knowledge of any value can't be given. It must be sought and earned”
― Rick Riordan, quote from The Serpent's Shadow


“Besides, you're a cat. It's your nature to think you're the center of the universe.”
― Rick Riordan, quote from The Serpent's Shadow


“Stop smiling!” she ordered. “I can see you, Carter. Oh…and, uh, hullo, Walt.”
The pot monster made squeaky grinding noises as it stood up straight. One clunky arm rose and tried to fix Sadie’s nonexistent hair. Leave it to Sadie to be
self-conscious around boys, even when she’s made out of pots and duct tape.”
― Rick Riordan, quote from The Serpent's Shadow


“A person's shadow stood for his legacy, his impact on the world. Some people cast hardly any shadow at all. Some cast long, deep shadows that endured for centuries.”
― Rick Riordan, quote from The Serpent's Shadow



“You might not think a hippo could inspire terror. Screaming “Hippo!” doesn’t have the same impact as screaming “Shark!” But I’m telling you—as the Egyptian Queen careened to one side, its paddle wheel lifting completely out of the water, and I saw that monster emerge from the deep, I nearly discovered the hieroglyphs for accident in my pants.”
― Rick Riordan, quote from The Serpent's Shadow


“Suddenly his expression turned to alarm. He sprinted toward us. For a moment I had an absurd vision of myself on the cover of one of Gran’s old romance novels, where the damsel wilts into the
arms of one half-dressed beefy guy while another stands by,casting her longing looks. Oh, the horrible choices a girl must make! I wished I’d had a moment to clean up. I was still covered in dried river muck, twine, and grass, like I’d been tarred and feathered. Then Anubis pushed past me and gripped Walt’s shoulders.

Well…that was unexpected.”
― Rick Riordan, quote from The Serpent's Shadow


“She was so warm, her drenched clothes had almost dried. Her eyes were rolled back in her head. She started muttering, and I could’ve sworn she said, “Dung balls. Time to roll the dung balls.”
It might’ve been funny—except for the fact that she was dying.
“That’s Khepri talking,” Setne explained. “He’s the divine dung beetle, rolling the sun across the sky.”
I didn’t want to process that—the idea that the girl I liked had been possessed by a dung beetle and was now having dreams about pushing a giant sphere of flaming poo across the sky.”
― Rick Riordan, quote from The Serpent's Shadow


“If I were a flowerpot, I would've checked my hair.

~Carter Kane”
― Rick Riordan, quote from The Serpent's Shadow


“So let me get this straight,” Carter said. “The two guys you liked—one who was dying and one who was off-limits because he’s a god—are now one guy, who isn’t dying and isn’t off-limits. And you’re complaining.”
― Rick Riordan, quote from The Serpent's Shadow



“You never know!” Neith snapped. “The point is, I’ll survive the apocalypse. I can live off the land!” She jabbed a finger at me. “Did you know the palm tree has six different edible parts?”
“Um—”
“And I’ll never be bored,” Neith continued, “since I’m also the goddess of weaving. I have enough twine for a millennium of macramé!”
I had no reply, as I wasn’t sure what macramé was.”
― Rick Riordan, quote from The Serpent's Shadow


“No doubt Carter would describe the underground city in excruciating detail, with exact measurements of each room, boring history on every statue and hieroglyph, and background notes on the construction of the magical headquarters of the House of Life.

I will spare you that pain.

It's big. It's full of magic. It's underground.

There. Sorted.”
― Rick Riordan, quote from The Serpent's Shadow


“Yes, an actual full-sized camel. If you find that confusing, just think how the criosphinx must have felt.
Where did the camel come from, you ask? I may have mentioned Walt’s collection of amulets. Two of them summoned disgusting camels. I’d
met them before, so I was less than excited when a ton of dromedary flesh flew across my line of sight, plowed into the sphinx, and collapsed on top
of it. The sphinx growled in outrage as it tried to free itself. The camel grunted and farted.
“Hindenburg,” I said. Only one camel could possibly fart that badly. “Walt, why in the world—?”
“Sorry!” he yelled. “Wrong amulet!”
The technique worked, at any rate. The camel wasn’t much of a fighter, but it was quite heavy and clumsy. The criosphinx snarled and clawed
at the floor, trying unsuccessfully to push the camel off; but Hindenburg just splayed his legs, made alarmed honking sounds, and let loose gas.
I moved to Walt’s side and tried to get my bearings.”
― Rick Riordan, quote from The Serpent's Shadow


“Maybe—just maybe—Sadie had my best interests at heart. (I just caught her making faces at me, so maybe not.)”
― Rick Riordan, quote from The Serpent's Shadow


“Somewhere behind me, Zia yelled, "Hippo!" Which I thought was a little late.

~Carter Kane”
― Rick Riordan, quote from The Serpent's Shadow



About the author

Rick Riordan
Born place: in San Antonio, Texas, The United States
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