The Last Alchemist

The story is about an Alchemist who is trying to make gold from other things and his "dimwit" apprentice who shows the kingdom where real gold can be found. The characters in the book are typical to a fairytale. The alchemist is a mean scientist who only thinks about gold while the apprentice is a good nature, if dim, boy who finds good in all. The plot is fairly simple. The king tells the alchemist to make him gold from sunshine. The apprentice tries to point out all the “gold” in nature, but the Alchemist can only see the money gold. In the end it is shone that the most important thing is the “natural” gold. The setting is in an unnamed kingdom far far away, which is pledge by unhappiness. The theme seems to be good show more (“natural” gold and the apprentice) vs. evil (the alchemist and money). What bothers me about this book is the art work. It looks more like a hodge podge of colors and shapes than a book for children trying to convey a story. I feel that the illustrator could have worked a little more on making the artwork make sense in the context of the story. I would recommend this book to a elementary school library. show less

Amazing illustrations, perfectly magical. Think a little Escher, a whiff of Rube Goldberg, and some Pratchett/Kirby. The story was simple and important, but a bit clichéd.

The story is about an Alchemist who is trying to make gold from other things and his "dimwit" apprentice who shows the kingdom where real gold can be found. The characters in the book are typical to a fairytale. The alchemist is a mean scientist who only thinks about gold while the apprentice is a good nature, if dim, boy who finds good in all. The plot is fairly simple. The king tells the alchemist to make him gold from sunshine. The apprentice tries to point out all the “gold” in nature, but the Alchemist can only see the money gold. In the end it is shone that the most important thing is the “natural” gold. The setting is in an unnamed kingdom far far away, which is pledge by unhappiness. The theme seems to be good show more (“natural” gold and the apprentice) vs. evil (the alchemist and money). What bothers me about this book is the art work. It looks more like a hodge podge of colors and shapes than a book for children trying to convey a story. I feel that the illustrator could have worked a little more on making the artwork make sense in the context of the story. I would recommend this book to a elementary school library. show less

It's about a kings search for making gold. In the process, he spends all of the villager's money and consumes all things gold. In the end, the alchemist disappears in a puff of golden light and almost nothing is left of the gold except enough to make a small crucible. The king learns that the beauty of nature is more important than the quest for gold.