Physik (Septimus Heap, Book 3) (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Mark Zug (Illustrator)
Key Phrases: Jíllíe Djínn, royal barge, dragon ring, Spit Fyre, Wolf Boy, Sír Hereward (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4–10—In the third volume in the series, the young Apprentice to the Extraordinary Wizard yearns to go beyond his training in Magyk to Physik, an ancient form of healing championed by the great Physician Marcellus Pye. He gets his chance when the decrepit, 500-year-old Marcellus kidnaps Septimus back in time to help him turn his ill-fated tincture for everlasting life into one for everlasting youth. Princess Jenna, joined by Nicko and his love interest, a new character named Snorri, goes searching for a way to reach Septimus and bring him back to his rightful time. She must also elude the ghost of Marcellus's mother, Queen Etheldredda, who is bent on murdering the princess so she can assume the throne. Explanations of time travel are wisely avoided: "at that point, Septimus' brain refused to think anymore," and many other plot elements are juggled successfully. There are too many characters to keep track of, however, including lesser figures who are not presented with enough background information. Readers will quickly warm up to the stars of the book, sketched with liberal doses of humor, and all back in top form. Chapters alternate points of view, keeping suspense high, while lots of vivid details portray a palace life humming with Magyk. Fans of the series will enjoy the secrets that are revealed as Physik delves deeper into the labyrinthine palace walls and will eagerly await the next installment.—Emily Rodriguez, Alachua County Library District, Gainesville, FL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Few fans of the best-selling Septimus Heap series will be disappointed by this excellent third adventure, which counters the fraying novelty of the DomDaniel plotline with a brand new villain--a former queen whose malevolent spirit is accidentally released from an enchanted portrait. Along with a deadly epidemic, the spirit brings turmoil to the kingdom and to Septimus, who is forcibly apprenticed to an alchemist living many centuries earlier. Rescue efforts wind up trapping more members of the Heap family, as well as a visitor from the far North, in the same situation. The time-travel elements are head spinning, but moments of faltering logic will go unnoticed as readers savor the quirky storytelling, marked by a sprawling, omniscient purview and plenty of entertaining tangents. With entries as strong as this one, Sage's efforts will continue to stand strong within the crowded young-wizard niche. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 560 pages
• Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books; First Edition edition (March 27, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060577371
• ISBN-13: 978-0060577377
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 6 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #32,075 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 3 in The Septimus Heap Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wait Over!, April 11, 2007

By	Sandy Rhoad "Insatiable reader" (Branchville, SC United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I've waited so long for Book 3 that you would think I was in the 9 to 12 age group - but I am not. I am a grandma. I've read all three books because I like to keep up with my grandchildren's reading - AND because Angie Sage is an excellent author. These are fairy tale books in the true sense of enjoyment. It is not a Harry Potter - which I thoroughly enjoyed - but it is a curl up on a windy, rainy day and get lost in another realm book. They are excellent for your children and fun for yourselves. I'd advise this as a wonderful birthday gift or a "surprize!!!" on a vacation gift. You should buy, read and enjoy.

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great! How long till book 4?, May 24, 2007

By	Rebecca L. Walker (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a great next step in the life and times of Septimus Heap along with his family and friends.

If you just stumbled across this book randomly and haven't yet read books 1 (Madyk) and 2 (Flyte) you really should get them and read them first. Although in some series you can pick up any book at any point in the series and be OK with it as a stand alone story - that is not the case in this series. This would be an OK book by itself although somewhat frustrating because you wouldn't understand a lot of the details and references to characters if you hadn't read the first 2 books. You really need the history covered in the first 2 books to really enjoy it. So I would strongly recommend that you start at the beginning and read the first 2 books before moving on to this one.

This writer creates colorful characters and interesting situations and weaves them all together into a great story with lots of humor, twists, and turns. As for it being listed as a young adult series, well sure, they can read it too! Really it is for all ages.

Now I am eagerly waiting for book 4!
R Walker
Avid Reader

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Physician, heal thyself - but if that fails, get some help, April 18, 2007

By	Amanda Richards "Modest to the extreme" (Georgetown, Guyana) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Fans of Magyk and Flyte will be very pleased to know that Angie Sage has done it again. Physik is the third in the young adult series about that OTHER wizard boy named Septimus Heap, and as I understand it, there will be two more books in the making. Physik is pretty long at over 500 pages, and rivals the more recent Potter books for complexity of plot, skullduggery and dark deeds.

Although the book deals with some very DARKE subject matter, Sage manages to keep it light with just the right touch of humor, juggling her characters with consummate skill, while adding her exciting new characters into the mix. In Physik, we see Septimus becoming extremely interested in the study of Alchemie, and more specifically, ancient medicines and cures as discovered by Marcellus Pye five hundred years before. This is terribly upsetting to Marcia Overstrand, the ExtraOrdinary Wizard to whom he is still apprenticed, as she'd much rather that he concentrate on studying for his Prediction exams than meddle with such "drivel".

Unfortunately for the majority of the characters, old and new, major or minor, there's a new villainess in town, and when the quite substantial ghost of the dreaded Queen Etheldredda is accidentally let loose, along with her venomous pet Aie Aie, you can make a safe bet that there's going to be lots of trouble. Coincidentally, or maybe not, a deadly "sickenesse" befalls the populace, and just at the wrong time, a young trader named Snorri (who sees dead people) arrives with not much else but her boatload of merchandise and her pet cat for protection. She soon finds herself in the middle of a time warping adventure with Septimus, Jenna and Nicko, as they muck around with not only boats, but looking glasses, fume cupboards, ancient potions, sheep bones and a flatulent dragon that needs to be in diapers. With a little help from their friends, they must get Septimus back to Marcia's for safe keeping, cure the deadly "sickenesse", and foil the evil Queen's plan for living forever.

You should be warned that the author has no misgivings about killing off a character here and there, and of course, some characters have actually been dead for centuries, but the story is so well told that the only part sure to send a shiver up your spine is the thought of the Queen's duckling a l'orange dinner. Highly recommended if you've read Magyk and Flyte, but not until then.



Amanda Richards, April 18, 2007