The Alchemyst (2007)

Have not read this book yet.

Unique and interesting characters, in some places a little darker than I like my fantasy, but well done ( )

I was told by a customer that this was one of the best books she'd ever read. I would have to disagree with her on that point. The book was certainly entertaining, but the characters bothered me. I didn't feel any connection to sophie, josh, flamel, or scatatch. They seemed very generic to me. Sophie ad josh were just your typical 15 year old sister and brother. There wasn't anything complex, or special, or fantastic about them. Overall, they were pretty boring. So, even though the story was interesting, I don't know if it was great enough to make me continue with the series. I was really hoping to find some characters I could fall in love with, ones that would make me want to keep reading because they were witty, intelligent, or bold, and sophie and josh just didn't deliver that. I think great characters are key to a series because readers are following those characters over thhe course of what may be several years. I think this is why I can't find a fantasy series that tops harry potter, but I'll keep searching until I do. I don't mean to discourage anyone from reading this, because like I said it is action packed and entertaining. ( )

I had been eyeing the Immortal Nicholas Flamel books for a while, but never really knew what they were about – I just recognized the name from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and wondered if Michael Scott’s series was a spin-off of some kind (it’s not). Then my niece recommended The Alchemyst to me before she headed back to college and I thought I’d give it a try. It turned out to be a very enjoyable read and I decided I’ll definitely be working this series into my reading pile.

Like Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series, The Alchemyst is geared towards the middle-grade crowd. There is some really great writing going on for this age group and Michael Scott’s series appears to be a nice addition. Beginning with an explosive confrontation in a book shop that ends with an abduction and several characters on the run, The Alchemyst tells the tale of 15-year-old twins Josh and Sophie Newman who find themselves entangled in magic and mystery when they try to help Nicholas Flamel survive an attack by his old enemy, Dr. John Dee. Dee is after a secret book of magic – The Codex (or Book of Abraham the Mage) – that Nicholas Flamel and his wife Perenelle have kept hidden for centuries. Successfully snatching both The Codex and Perenelle, Dee is appalled to find the final pages of the book missing - torn out in the confrontation by Josh before he and Sophie escaped with Nicholas. And so begins the twins’ adventure, as they set out to help Nicholas recover The Codex and Perenelle and discover along the way that they are part of an ancient prophecy that states they will either save – or destroy – the world.

The Alchemyst is the first book in the series, so it is hampered by the fact that it needs to focus on back story and world-building to bring readers up to speed on the characters’ places in the scheme of things. There are definitely some action-packed sequences (an attack by thousands of birds on the Golden Gate Bridge, a showdown between ancient goddesses that has disastrous consequences, etc.), but there are also slower moments as Nicholas introduces the twins to legendary figures and works to prepare them for their part in the prophecy. Considering that the book takes place in the course of approximately 48 hours, its pace is more towards the steady end of the spectrum than the speedy. The storyline is engaging, however, and has just enough excitement placed carefully throughout that it never feels slow. I expect that future books may have a brisker pace, since the foundation of the story has been thoroughly set here.

Helping matters is a host of enjoyable and interesting characters. Even villain John Dee is interesting, with his polished manners and mysterious agenda. He is pretty up-front about wanting to return the Elder Races (gods, goddesses, mythical and legendary characters of old) to a position of power in the modern-day world, but he is cagey about which Elders he is working for in particular. In his interactions with Perenelle he is respectful and wary of her power, recognizing that she is a strong sorceress in her own right. He definitely believes she is the Flamel to watch out for as his schemes begin to bear fruit. Perenelle is intelligent, skilled, powerful, and a master strategist. Even as she is held prisoner by Dee, she manages to set plans in motion and direct Nicholas and the twins on their journey. With multiple magical gifts (including an ability to talk to ghosts), she is a force to be reckoned with. But Nicholas is going to need more than brains to keep himself and the twins alive and out of Dee’s hands – he’s going to need a warrior. Enter Schathach, or Scatty as she likes to be called. A second-generation Elder, she is a couple thousand years old, looks like a teenager, and can fight to Hell and back. Equally adept at martial arts (she created them, after all!) and sword fighting, Scatty protects Nicholas and the twins any way she can.

Which leads us to our three main characters – Josh, Sophie and Nicholas Flamel. I liked all three characters very much, especially the twins. Even though the series has Nicholas’ name in the title, the focus is really on Josh and Sophie – the center of the prophecy that will determine the fate of the world. Sophie is the elder twin (by 28 seconds) and acts the part of big sister to the hilt. She looks out for Josh, and mothers him as best she can. Josh, meanwhile, is strong in body but the more fearful and insecure twin. The dynamics of the twins are going to play a big part in the series since the prophecy seems to indicate that one twin has the power to save while the other has the power to destroy. By the end of this book, an imbalance is already in place between them that will probably lead to problems down the line. I’ll be interested to see if things head in the direction I expect.

Nicholas, meanwhile, is the wise and knowledgeable teacher. His strength is built on his studies through the centuries; he has some really strong magical skills, but is even stronger with all the information he has gathered over the years. He is humble and has no hesitation in stating that Perenelle is much more powerful than he is when it comes to magic. But he and Perenelle are on a deadline. With The Codex in the hands of Dee, Nicholas is unable to recreate the formula that has provided him and Perenelle with their immortality. Aging rapidly, he has approximately one month to train the twins and prepare them to save humanity before he and Perenelle are gone – forever. The only problem with Nicholas is that he seems to be keeping some secrets, and it looks like this could breed some trouble between him and the twins. He is always truthful, but he doesn’t seem to tell the WHOLE truth; the twins, therefore, find it difficult to trust him completely. And they need to if they are going to survive.

One thing I recommend with this book is to read the Author’s Note at the end. I truly had no idea that Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel and John Dee were real, historical people so reading how Scott’s fascination with them led to the creation of this series was an eye-opener. Scott has managed to weave their stories with those of mythological beings and then drop them in a modern-day setting to nice effect. After learning this, it just seemed to add an extra layer of interest to the story for me since I love having real people mixed in to fantastical stories.

Teeming with interesting characters, an engaging storyline and a steady pace, The Alchemyst lays the foundation for an action-adventure series geared to the middle-grade crowd that can actually be enjoyed by adults as well. I look forward to the further adventures of twins Josh and Sophie as they develop their abilities with the assistance of Nicholas Flamel, his wife Perenelle, and Scatty while trying to avoid the wily and dangerous Dr. John Dee. ( )

I remember rereading some of Michael Scott's earlier novels last summer and feeling disappointed. They just didn't hold the magic I'd seen in them when I was younger. I don't know if these books would or not, if I was younger, but my first comment on The Alchemyst was "I'm so far unimpressed", and I could close the book with the same feeling, too. I don't really care enough to hunt down the next book, not while I have so much else to read.

It could be interesting. I quite like mash-ups of tonnes of different mythology. This just left me cold, though. The Morrigan likes ebay and is addicted to online strategy games. Hecate lives in a copy of Yggdrasil. Scathach is a vampire (of sorts) and prefers to be called Scatty. Etc. I don't mind mythology meeting modern technology, either, but this... Every couple of paragraphs it had to mention laptops or email or ipods.

You could sort of call this book "fast-paced", if by that you mean "one never-ending fight scene, with lots of special effects".

It completely lacks subtlety. Exposition is ladled on thickly, and not a chapter can go by without a reference to how much the twins love each other. The kids aren't just the son and daughter of an archaeologist, no, they know loads of stuff about mythology and the names of craters of the moon (and yet still don't know what Yggdrasil or Hecate or anything is). They're not just special, they're super special, with solid gold and silver auras. Etc.

Not for me, I think. ( )