"What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you feel like it. That doesn't happen much, though." (J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye)
Monday, July 30, 2012
The Alchemyst by Michael Scott (2007)
I spent a good deal of this past Friday and Saturday nights sweeping through The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel. I just could not put the book down. The feeling was akin to the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings marathons I used to have which resulted in my reporting to school/work reeling from lack of sleep.
I am a big fan of the Tudor dynasty so Dr. John Dee’s appearance in the series was a major come on. Mix in Nicholas Flamel and his wife Perenelle, equally mysterious and exciting characters from the 1300s, add on lots of magic, and I was transported.
The book excitingly opens with the forcible abstraction of the Codex/Book of Abraham the Mage and the abduction of Perenelle. Fifteen-year old twins Sophie and Newman, innocently working in Nicholas and Perenelle’s bookshop and coffee/tea shop, respectively, were quickly swept into the adventure. They’d find out later that their involvement appears to have been foretold in the Codex and that they were going to play major roles to save the world.
Nicholas and the twins need to recover the Codex from Dr. Dee in order to save the world from the Dark Elders with their plot to subjugate humankind and/or reduce them to food. Nicholas and the twins, however, need help. They enlist Scathach, an ancient warrior next generation Elder who physically does not look any older than the twins; Hekate, an Elder who can awaken the twins magical powers; and the Witch of Endor/The Mistress of Air who taught Sophie not only skills to protect herself but more importantly transferred to her magical powers.
There is a more urgent reason why Nicholas and Perenelle must quickly get hold of the Codex: They are ageing rapidly and without the book, they will be dead in a month’s time.
The book has a cliffhanger ending. I read a preview of the next installment and the Florentine philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli is in it. Since I am also a big fan of the Italian renaissance period, it looks like I will have several more reading marathon weekends (The Alchemyst is the first of a six-book series).
I am highly recommending this book for young adults. I believe that the introduction of historical personalities in the series will encourage readers to either brush up on their history or undertake in-depth research work on the interesting life and works of these characters.
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