I think I would have enjoyed this book better if I read the first book in this series, The Alchemist, before this. The pacing is movie-like and the characters are enjoyable. I enjoyed watching real people such as Nicholas Flamel and his wife, Paranel and Nicollo Machiavelli, as well as Paris in a fictional setting in this book. ( )

After going through the ley gate, Nicholas, Sophie and Josh find themselves in Paris. Sophie is Awakened; Josh is not. This puts them somewhat in conflict with each other, even as they find out more about their powers and find themselves up against Machiavelli (yep, he's immortal too).

Well-paced and a fun read. Like the first book in the series, the references to current technology sometimes didn't seem to fit quite right, but it was a small irritation in an overall compelling story. ( )

The motley group escape to Paris where Sophie deals with power, it's consequences and the memories she has to deal with; Josh deals with jealousy and trust issues and the others deal variously with other immortals trying to kill them all.

Occasionally seemed to drag a little but overall interesting and fun and pretty well done, I like how the various immortals interweave and I look forward to the next book in the series to see how Josh fares with power! ( )

A step up in some ways from the previous book, Scott seems to delve a little deeper into the education of the world of magic. Some of Perenelle’s abilities are explained, and the reader gets a better grasp on much of the world as a whole. However, one of the flaws with books like these with several books in a series is that they’re more like one continuous story than they are a story in themselves. As such, the arc for the characters and the plot will take place over the six planned books in the series, rather than each book having its own.I would still like to see more into the world itself. The fast-paced action is great, but some education would be nice as well. The fun part about this series, which will always be prevalent, is the insertion of historical and mythological characters into the story. Since Scott has created a world in which all of the major mythological characters throughout history, no matter which culture they come from, are interrelated in some form or another, it makes for a delicious mythology/fantasy soup of sorts.-Lindsey Miller, www.lindseyslibrary.com ( )

#2 in the Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel YA Fantasy series. Josh and Sophie Newman were working summer jobs in a book store and coffee shop two days ago--and now they're in Paris with Scathach, a centuries-old Amazonian vampire warrior, the mysterious and legendary St Germain who is a French rock star in his current incarnation, and the infamous alchemist, Nicholas Flamel. Oh yeah, and Joan of Arc--who is married to the rock star. And they have a couple of notorious criminals after them--the philosopher and magician Dr. John Dee (once an advisor of Queen Elizabeth I) and the political schemer Niccolo Machiavelli. Yes, they're immortal too, and like Flamel, believe Sophie and Josh to be the "twins of the prophecy" who will either save the world or destroy it. So naturally everyone wants them in their camp! Sophie's magical powers have been awakened, but Josh's haven't been yet, and he is feeling left out and estranged from his sister, but he hasn't much time to think about it as they dash from one disaster to the next, out-maneuvering one legendary creature or person after another.

Meanwhile, Perenelle Flamel, Nicholas's wife, is being held prisoner on Alcatraz Island by some of Dee's magical creatures and strives to escape. An action-packed second entry in the series, although I am not as crazy about the reader for this series as I am for some others I've listened to. In this one, set in France and thus full of French phrases and place-names, his rendition of the French accent was accurate with its constant nasal twang and slurring of words together. It probably wasn't his fault; I admittedly find French accents annoying. ( )