Serpent Kingdoms

Rating:
Summary: In regards to the negative reviews...
Review: I just recently purchased this book mainly because of a new novel I finished. It brought up an interest in the Yuan-Ti. I've been waiting for this book, Serpent Kingdoms, to come out so I could insorporate them into a campaign.
Yes, this book does have a lot of story. it is meant for DMs with imaginations to carry the story on into their campaigns, or even to start a campaign. I believe that was the purpose of this book. It gives an impressively large background on the different races of serpentlike beings. It does have a new monsters for the Dm to use, new feats that concern those new monsters (hint hint, not for the player), and it provides many different sites for the DM to use.
I say if you don't like the purpose and usability of this book, give it away. You're not hurting anyone but yourself as a DM. Even players can use this book. I, as a DM, will allow my players to use a few of the new monsters, or even the old ones now, as a player race.
All in all, this book is excellent for working into an ongoing campaign, or even to start up a new one. Create a new world with this book even (humans, elves, dwarves...slaves? sounds fun to me). I recommend this book to any DM who has given thought to using the serpent races more often in their worlds and to any DM is stuck with writing a new campaign. Players, check it out as well. Just remember to keep player knowledge from character knowledge. Have fun gaming!

Rating:
Summary: good
Review: Ed Greenwood, creator of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, is the best-selling author of hundreds of stories, game products, novels, articles, and other material set in the world of Faerûn. His most recent titles for Wizards of the Coast, Inc., were Elminster in Hell and Hand of Fire. He is also the author of the Band of Four novels published by Tor Books.
EricC. L. Boyd has written articles for both Dungeon® and Dragon® Magazines and is the author of Drizzt Do'Urden's Guide to the Underdark™.
Darrin Drader has done design work for Asgard and d20 Weekly online magazines

Rating:
Summary: Excellent work
Review: Hard to believe the same company produced the mediocre to bad planar handbook. For the same price, you can have this gem. What's so good about it? A combination of two factors:

1. Good writing--tons of information, the density of text clearly outshines most D&D books for the price. The fact that this text is then that much more interesting and useful makes it better. As much fluff as there is in this book--fluff that is good creative writing mind you--there is also plenty of crunch, as much as other D&D books I suspect.

2. Great Art--the art for this book, while obviously a lot of green, is gorgeous. Almost every picture evokes a sense of magic and power. Just by looking at the art you're hit with all kinds of ideas for your campaign.


Rating:
Summary: For the DM, not the player.
Review: Reading this book gives real insight into ancient Toril (The world on which the continent Faerun is on.) It deals primarly with the motivations of Yuan-Ti and Naga's, as well as a few other less well detailed intellegent lizard races. It also includes a great deal of information about the "elder" race that created them, as well as most intelligent "scaly folk," the Sarruk (sp). The Sarruk are human torsoed, and armed, great intellegent snakes that mastered magic and founded empires 30,000 years ago. Now nearly extinct, their creations, lead by the Yuan-Ti, continue to pursue the same goal, enslaving all the humanoids and ruling the world in another great empire.
This books geographic center is the Chult Jungle, but it would be well with in reason for PC adventures to find Yuan-Ti at the head of any criminal organization, except for those really far north because cold blooded villians and frosty temptures dont mix.
There is also a short list of feats, spells, and prestige classes. Nearly all for use by scaly folk. However, there is one prestige class for players, the "serpent hunter."

Rating:
Summary: Gazetteer
Review: Serpent Kingdoms is a Forgotten Realms release, which means it's going to be long on story and background and consequently a little short on feats, classes and other "crunchy" bits. This isn't a bad thing, it's just the way things are and you have to understand that any time you buy a book that's about a particular campaign setting it's going to have a lot more story and a lot less crunch than other books.
As far as content goes, I found the backstory interesting and several of the creatures mentioned will be making an appearance in my game shortly. I'm not running FR, but I do have a vile reptilian dictator to play with and Serpent Kingdoms gave me some great stuff I can drop right in, some ideas I can use with a little work, and some inspirations for my own game. Not bad for a gamer whose bookshelf beats most game stores.

Rating:
Summary: High Price - Low Playability
Review: While the book has tons of background info and storyline material, it lacks much in the applicability department. There is little here to interest the average player, the new races and prestige classes are rehashes of older material, or are so specific, it is unlikely anyone would get much use from them. I expected new subraces, prestige classes and feats - and got a few hundred pages of story. For the price, it's just not worth what you get.