SandRider

Evil wizard Oraton-Morr takes the last Orm egg out into the desert so that he can be the person to whom it bonds, enhancing his powers because Orms produce lapis lazuli. One of his minions kidnaps a tortoise belonging to Kaznim, a desert dweller from a magical family, and in rescuing Ptolemy, she finds herself in the realm of the new Extraordinary Wizard, Septimus Heap and his apprentice Alice TodHunter Moon. They are seeking the Orm too, and a shaky alliance is formed. Good fun, and nice to have the Heaps, Beetle, SpitFyre, and Queen Jenna back though Tod and her two oldest friends are the main characters and an exciting sled race too. My only disappointment was fewer illustrations by the talented Mark Zug.

This story continues the tale of Septimus Heap, but the role of protagonist trades hands with that of TodHunter Moon. Our hero from the prior novels takes the role of mentor, and TodHunter, that of the juvenile hero.

Angie Sage weaves gripping stories with her writing, but one thing I noticed in her prior series, Septimus Heap, was a lack of consistency from one book to another. So far, with TodHunter, I haven't noticed this inconsistency, so kudos to her.

I loved Sage's Septimus Heap world so I was excited when she created a spin off series set in his world with new characters.She writes well enough that people from a variety of ages will enjoy her books. Even in her simple stories there is a beautiful complexity that sucks you and makes you care about knowing her characters and root for the good guys.

It's not as funny as the first one but it's still good and a worthy sequel. Looking forward to the conclusion in the third book.

In PathFinder, readers journeyed with Alice TodHunter Moon, a young PathFinder who found her way to the Castle seven years after the events of the original Septimus Heap series.

Now it’s two months later and Alice is settled into her new life in the Castle. Being Apprentice to ExtraOrdinary Wizard Septimus Heap is tricky—there’s loads of new Magyk to learn—but at least she’s mastered the Unseen charm.

The above is the summary provided by Goodreads.

SandRider / TodHunter Moon #2 von Angie Sage nimmt uns wieder mit zu Septimus Heap und zum Castle und führt die Geschichte aus dem ersten Band, PathFinder, nahezu nahtlos fort.

Alice ist nun ExtraOrdinary Apprentice und hat sich zusammen mit ihren Freunden im Castle gut eingelebt. Während sie die ersten Schritte in ihrer Ausbildung macht, ist Septimus Heap auf der Suche nach dem Orm-Ei, mit dem der Widersacher, Oraton-Marr, am Ende des ersten Bandes entkam.

Neue Charaktäre aus einer neuen Ecke der Welt werden eingeführt - hier scheint sich ein Schema für dieses Spin-off der Septimus Heap Reihe abzuzeichnen. Aber auch alte Charaktäre haben in diesem zweiten Band eine wichtige Rolle, so z.B. der auf Septimus geprägte Djinn Jim Knee show more und der auf Septimus geprägte Drache, Spit Fyre.

Die Geschichte ist wie im ersten Band spannend erzählt, bietet Raum für Überraschungen und Komik und war für mich ein weiteres Lesevergnügen. Und das Ende ist so gestaltet, dass ich schon neugierig auf den dritten Band dieser Reihe bin. show less