The Serpent Gates
#5493.79 of 664 ranked universes · full ranking
Books 2 books Status Complete 2020–2022 Reading commitment Low A.K. Larkwood Last reviewed 2026-08-13
Overview
A debut fantasy duology following Csorwe, an orc priestess raised from childhood to be ritually sacrificed to her god on her fourteenth birthday. Instead, a wizard she has never met offers her a way out, and she becomes his sword-hand, travelling between worlds through the ancient, mostly-forgotten Serpent Gates.
Portal fantasy, Epic fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (2 works) counts toward ranking
The Serpent Gates A.K. Larkwood
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Unspoken Name | 2020 | 1 | core | 3.72 (9,648 ratings) |
 | The Thousand Eyes | 2022 | 2 | core | 4.11 (2,282 ratings) |
A debut fantasy duology following Csorwe, an orc priestess raised to be sacrificed to a god, who is instead recruited by a wizard to travel between worlds through the ancient Serpent Gates. Marketed by the publisher as a complete 2-book series (collected in a single 'The Serpent Gates' omnibus edition); no 3rd volume announced.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Serpent Gates? The Serpent Gates's Core Canon is 2 books.
- What is the reading order for The Serpent Gates? Publication order, starting with The Unspoken Name. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is The Serpent Gates finished? Complete (2020–2022).
- How much reading does The Serpent Gates take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 2 Core Canon books).
- How is The Serpent Gates ranked? #549 of 664 ranked universes on this site, based on 11,930 reader ratings across 2 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #549?
Ranked #549 of 664 ranked universes.
- Average reader rating of 3.79 across 2 core books.
- A smaller readership (11,930 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Less than 0.01 behind #548, The Godblind Trilogy (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Rated · 2 books · Complete · 12k ratings · Ranks #549 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment portal fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (2 Core Canon books)
- The Unspoken Name (2020)
- The Thousand Eyes (2022)
Documented internal/story chronology is recorded for every Core Canon book here, and matches publication order exactly, with no divergence to show separately.
Awards (verified)
- Locus Award (Best First Novel), 2021: finalist: The Unspoken Name; Confirmed directly via sfadb.com's own 2021 Locus Awards results: placed 9th in the Best First Novel poll. Per this canon's Locus no-cutoff-poll convention, any non-1st-place placement registers as 'finalist' with the rank noted here rather than in a separate field.
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Suggestions computed from what The Serpent Gates and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- Saga of the Unfated Romantasy / Epic fantasy · Ongoing · Low commitment · 3.90
- Godkiller (The Fallen Gods Trilogy) Epic fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 3.89
- Time of Iron Portal fantasy / Romantasy · Ongoing · Low commitment · 3.86
- The Echo Archives Portal fantasy · Ongoing · Low commitment · 3.86
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.79 across 11,930 ratings on 2 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: The Serpent Gates admitted; Core Canon = the completed duology accepted 2026-08-13
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Wikipedia: The Unspoken Name Tier 2
Last reviewed: 2026-08-13
Rule: Core Canon = both novels, a completed duology marketed as such by the publisher (collected in a single omnibus edition): The Unspoken Name (2020) and The Thousand Eyes (2022). No 3rd volume announced.