Sunday, May 12, 2013
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
1.5 - The Secrets of The Immortal Nicholas Flamel (book 1, 2)
"The Alchemyst" and "The Magician" ar the first two books of "The Secrets of The Immortal Nicholas Flamel" series written by Michael Scott.
In the first book we are introduced to the main characters: Sophie and Josh, two twins that live in San Francisco. Their parents work as archaeologists so they travell a lot, which means that Sophie and Josh are often left with one of their relatives. They both have jobs on the same street- Sophie works in a coffee shop, and Josh works in a bookshop. While talking on the phone with her friend, Sophie notices a strange black car which has stopped infront of the bookshop across the street. Several minutes later explosions can be heard from inside the bookshop. Meanwhile, Nick Fleming, the owner of the bookshop, is fighting with a strange short man in a black suit. Josh watches as the two men throw strange "balls of glowing energy" at each other. Soon Sophie enters the bookshop to see what was going on. It turns out that what the man wanted was a small but powerfull book called the Codex. He wrenches it out of Joshe´s hand and leaves. As soon as he is gone, Nick runs to hide in the basement with the twins. There he explains everything: The man that took the book was called John Dee, he is a powerfull immortal magician. The book, the Codex, was writen thousands of years ago by Abraham the Mage and holds the secret to immortal life as well as many other secrets including those that can destroy the world. He, Nick Fleming, is really the famous French Alchemyst Nicholas Flamel. He and his wife Perenelle, who owns the coffee shop, were asked to guard the book from people like John Dee who would use it to destroy the world. John Dee now has the book and he took Perenelle with him on his way from the bookshop. Fortunately, Josh managed to tear two pages from the Codex when John Dee took it from him, and theese two pages just happen to be the most important ones.
---------WARNING: If you want to read the first book, do not read on: SCROLL DOWN---------------
The twins learn about magic and the Elders, beings that occupied the Earth long before humans. They get to meet one of them, Scatach, the warrior. Nicholas knows that Dee will be after the last two pages tof the Codex, so he and Scatach take the twins to Hekate, another of the Elders who lives in a huge tree in her own "shadowrealm", a kingdom made and ruled over by her. On the way they encounter a giant flock of black birds which try to destroy their car- John Dee managed to get the Morrigan, the crow godess on his side. When they finally reach Hekate´s magical shadowrealm, Nicholas discovers that the twins are in one of the many prophecies in the Codex. So he asks Hekate to awaken Sophie´s magical powers. While sophie undertakes the painfull complicated awakening process, Dee, The Morrigan and Bastet, the cat godess attack the shadowrealm. In the end, Dee destroys the Ygdrasill, the giant tree which is magically linked with Hekate. Fortunately, Flamel, Scatach and the twins manage to escape in time. They go to The Witch of Endor, Scatach´s grandmother, where Sophie with her newly awakened magical powers is taught how to control the air element. They are not safe for long, however, as Dee soon returns with an army of walking dead to attack again. Once again, Flamel and the twins escape, this time through a ley gate, a magical link between two places which can be acessed by mirrors, which takes them far away into a cathedral in Paris.
In "The Magician", the second book, Flamel, the twins and Scatach have to fight their way out of the Sacré-coeur cathedral. Sophie´s knowledge of the magic of air, given to her by The Witch of Endor, and Scatach´s fighting skills help them escape Machiavelli, an Italian magician hired by Dee. They hide in the house of Francis Saint-Germain, a famous singer who controls the fire element, and his wife, Scatach´s old friend, Joanne of Ark. Dee and Machiavelli team up and call the Valkyries, three female warriors and the only beings that are able to defeat Scatach. Flamel gives Josh the remaining pages of the Codex and a sword, Clarent, the twin of Excalibur with which Dee destroyed the Ygdrasill in book one. Dee flies to Paris and he and Machiavelli consult the Valkyries, persuading them to call the Nidhog, a nearly undefeatable monster which was, until Dee destroyed it, trapped in the roots of the Ygdrasill.
--------------------------------------END OF WARNING------------------------------------------------
"The Secrets of The Immortal Nicholas Flamel" is in style and in genre very similar to "Percy Jackson and The Olympians" series, where creatures and people from legends and mythologies appear in modern-day reality. However, I guess I would characterize "The Alchemyst" and "The Magician" as a bit more lively than the Percy Jackson series. Not in writing style, but in content. I wonder how the author managed to fit so much information into one book without confusing the reader. Everything is explained clearly without using too many words and the book flows very well. I read the first book in English and I finished it within three days. "The Magician" didn´t go by as fast as "The Alchemyst", perhaps because I read the Czech translation which didn´t flow that well. However, I feel as if the books lack some of the humour and playfullness of the Percy Jackson books, so what they made in content, they lose in writing style. I reccomend the books to all Percy Jackson fans, I would have a hard time trying to pick between the two series.
booksntea.wordpress.com www.dillonscott.com
In the first book we are introduced to the main characters: Sophie and Josh, two twins that live in San Francisco. Their parents work as archaeologists so they travell a lot, which means that Sophie and Josh are often left with one of their relatives. They both have jobs on the same street- Sophie works in a coffee shop, and Josh works in a bookshop. While talking on the phone with her friend, Sophie notices a strange black car which has stopped infront of the bookshop across the street. Several minutes later explosions can be heard from inside the bookshop. Meanwhile, Nick Fleming, the owner of the bookshop, is fighting with a strange short man in a black suit. Josh watches as the two men throw strange "balls of glowing energy" at each other. Soon Sophie enters the bookshop to see what was going on. It turns out that what the man wanted was a small but powerfull book called the Codex. He wrenches it out of Joshe´s hand and leaves. As soon as he is gone, Nick runs to hide in the basement with the twins. There he explains everything: The man that took the book was called John Dee, he is a powerfull immortal magician. The book, the Codex, was writen thousands of years ago by Abraham the Mage and holds the secret to immortal life as well as many other secrets including those that can destroy the world. He, Nick Fleming, is really the famous French Alchemyst Nicholas Flamel. He and his wife Perenelle, who owns the coffee shop, were asked to guard the book from people like John Dee who would use it to destroy the world. John Dee now has the book and he took Perenelle with him on his way from the bookshop. Fortunately, Josh managed to tear two pages from the Codex when John Dee took it from him, and theese two pages just happen to be the most important ones.
---------WARNING: If you want to read the first book, do not read on: SCROLL DOWN---------------
The twins learn about magic and the Elders, beings that occupied the Earth long before humans. They get to meet one of them, Scatach, the warrior. Nicholas knows that Dee will be after the last two pages tof the Codex, so he and Scatach take the twins to Hekate, another of the Elders who lives in a huge tree in her own "shadowrealm", a kingdom made and ruled over by her. On the way they encounter a giant flock of black birds which try to destroy their car- John Dee managed to get the Morrigan, the crow godess on his side. When they finally reach Hekate´s magical shadowrealm, Nicholas discovers that the twins are in one of the many prophecies in the Codex. So he asks Hekate to awaken Sophie´s magical powers. While sophie undertakes the painfull complicated awakening process, Dee, The Morrigan and Bastet, the cat godess attack the shadowrealm. In the end, Dee destroys the Ygdrasill, the giant tree which is magically linked with Hekate. Fortunately, Flamel, Scatach and the twins manage to escape in time. They go to The Witch of Endor, Scatach´s grandmother, where Sophie with her newly awakened magical powers is taught how to control the air element. They are not safe for long, however, as Dee soon returns with an army of walking dead to attack again. Once again, Flamel and the twins escape, this time through a ley gate, a magical link between two places which can be acessed by mirrors, which takes them far away into a cathedral in Paris.
In "The Magician", the second book, Flamel, the twins and Scatach have to fight their way out of the Sacré-coeur cathedral. Sophie´s knowledge of the magic of air, given to her by The Witch of Endor, and Scatach´s fighting skills help them escape Machiavelli, an Italian magician hired by Dee. They hide in the house of Francis Saint-Germain, a famous singer who controls the fire element, and his wife, Scatach´s old friend, Joanne of Ark. Dee and Machiavelli team up and call the Valkyries, three female warriors and the only beings that are able to defeat Scatach. Flamel gives Josh the remaining pages of the Codex and a sword, Clarent, the twin of Excalibur with which Dee destroyed the Ygdrasill in book one. Dee flies to Paris and he and Machiavelli consult the Valkyries, persuading them to call the Nidhog, a nearly undefeatable monster which was, until Dee destroyed it, trapped in the roots of the Ygdrasill.
--------------------------------------END OF WARNING------------------------------------------------
"The Secrets of The Immortal Nicholas Flamel" is in style and in genre very similar to "Percy Jackson and The Olympians" series, where creatures and people from legends and mythologies appear in modern-day reality. However, I guess I would characterize "The Alchemyst" and "The Magician" as a bit more lively than the Percy Jackson series. Not in writing style, but in content. I wonder how the author managed to fit so much information into one book without confusing the reader. Everything is explained clearly without using too many words and the book flows very well. I read the first book in English and I finished it within three days. "The Magician" didn´t go by as fast as "The Alchemyst", perhaps because I read the Czech translation which didn´t flow that well. However, I feel as if the books lack some of the humour and playfullness of the Percy Jackson books, so what they made in content, they lose in writing style. I reccomend the books to all Percy Jackson fans, I would have a hard time trying to pick between the two series.
booksntea.wordpress.com www.dillonscott.com
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