Scott O'Dell's "Seven Serpents Trilogy" follows the young Julian Escobar, a seminarian from Spain, who finds himself in the New World during the early years of the Spanish Conquest. This book is the recent re-publishing of three separate books combined into a single volume. Targeted at the young adult market, I would suggest it's appropriate for strong 4th grade readers on up through high school. O'Dell writes with a minimum of words and masters the ability to present complicated events in a very straightforward, simple and uncomplicated way.

"Seven Serpents" is a terrific way to introduce young adults to the Spanish Conquest and some of the key issues around those times: conflict over religion; monotheism v. polytheism; moral and physical struggles with Indian human rights; similarities and differences across cultures, etc.

In book one, "The Captive", Escobar starts off as a wide-eyed seminarian looking to introduce Christianity to the native "savages", but ends up finding a Mayan culture past its prime while innocently (at first, at least) stepping into the role of the returning god Kukulkan. In book two, "The Feathered Serpent", Escobar embraces his role as a god, while exposing his inner religious and moral conflicts, and runs right into Hernan Cortes as he marches across Mexico towards his fateful collision with Moctezuma and the Aztecs. "The Amethsyt Ring" closes the trilogy by placing Escobar with Pizarro and his band of less than 200 Spanish soldiers battling tens of thousands of Inca and kidnapping the emperor Atahualpa.

The stories all focus on Escobar while each introduces a few new characters (fictional and non) that support or feed Escobar's journey of discovery and self-discovery. Adult fans of Gary Jennings' "Aztec" will identify similarities in theme and the progression of the story, specifically the blending of fictional and non-fictional characters and events, as well as the scope of his travels and adventures.

O'Dell doesn't focus on violence, but does describe violent events. From my perspective, the violence is no worse than the typical young adult movie or appropriate TV programming. There is a suggestion of sex in one brief paragraph towards the end of "The Amethyst Ring", but I'd be comfortable having my 5th grader read it with only moderate context and explanation from me.

I enjoyed reading all three books. The first two are only about 150 pages each and the last one is 200 pages, so they're quick. The stories include adventure, action and mystery which should have broad appeal. I'd highly recommend this trilogy and I'll be encouraging my children to read it soon to share my interest in this fascinating period in time. ( )