The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel [DECKLE EDGE] (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Twin 15-year-old siblings Sophie and Josh Newman take summer jobs in San Francisco across the street from one another: she at a coffee shop, he at a bookstore owned by Nick and Perry Fleming. In the vey first chapter, armed goons garbed in black with "dead-looking skin and... marble eyes" (actually Golems) storm the bookshop, take Perry hostage and swipe a rare Book (but not before Josh snatches its two most important pages). The stolen volume is the Codex, an ancient text of magical wisdom. Nick Fleming is really Nicholas Flamel, the 14th-century alchemist who could turn base metal into gold, and make a potion that ensures immortality. Sophie and Josh learn that they are mentioned in the Codex's prophecies: "The two that are one will come either to save or to destroy the world." Mayhem ensues, as Irish author Scott draws on a wide knowledge of world mythology to stage a battle between the Dark Elders and their hired gun—Dr. John Dee—against the forces of good, led by Flamel and the twins (Sophie's powers are "awakened" by the goddess Hekate, who'd been living in an elaborate treehouse north of San Francisco). Not only do they need the Codex back to stop Dee and company, but the immortality potion must be brewed afresh every month. Time is running out, literally, for the Flamels. Proceeding at a breakneck pace, and populated by the likes of werewolves and vampires, the novel ends on a precipice, presumably to be picked up in volume two. Ages 12-up. (May)
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From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Grade 6-9–Scott uses a gigantic canvas for this riveting fantasy. The well-worn theme of saving the world from the forces of evil gets a fresh look here as he incorporates ancient myth and legend and sets it firmly, pitch-perfect, in present-day California. At the emotional center of the tale are contemporary 15-year-old twins, Josh and Sophie, who, it turns out, are potentially powerful magicians. They are spoken of in a prophecy appearing in the ancient Book of Abraham the Mage, all but two pages of which have been stolen by evil John Dee, alchemist and magician. The pursuit of the twins and Flamel by Dee and his allies to get the missing pages constitutes the book's central plot. Amid all this exhilarating action, Scott keeps his sights on the small details of character and dialogue and provides evocative descriptions of people, mythical beings, and places. He uses as his starting point the figures of the historical alchemist Nicholas Flamel and his wife, who have found the secret of immortality, along with mythical beings, including the terrifying Scottish crow-goddess, the Morrigan; the three-faced Greek Hekate; the powerful Egyptian cat-goddess, Bastet; and Scathach, a legendary Irish woman warrior and vegetarian vampire. While there is plenty here to send readers rushing to their encyclopedias of mythology and alchemy, those who read the book at face value will simply be caught up in the enthralling story. A fabulous read.–Sue Giffard, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, New York City
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers; First Edition first Printing edition (May 22, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385733577
• ISBN-13: 978-0385733571
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (140 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #16,512 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 1 in The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Pot of Stew, April 28, 2008

By	Jeannie Mancini "vernefan" (Northborough, MA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is not a great book, but it's not a bad book either. Teen twins Josh and Sophie are working part time jobs right across the street from another and are happily going about their days when they are soon swept up into a world of magic and mayhem they never dreamed existed. I loved the aspect of the author creating fictional characters out of Flamel and Dee, but as one other reviewer mentioned, to title the book the Alchemyst, and then not have much alchemy in the book was very disappointing. If you are a reader who likes non-stop action and lots of cool magic, you'll love this book. But for me I felt it was all flash and bang, one action scene after another that just doesnt stop to take a breath, and in between there was no substance. The characters are well developed and all likeable, however I felt that the bad guy of John Dee, wasnt really a great evil enemy, he was a bit of a wimp if you ask me. He should have been much more terrifying, and like Flamel, he used minions to do his dirty work. In fact, I found both the characters of Dee and Flamel very lame. The magic used however is very creative and fun and used not in the ways that other YA fantasy stories use it. My major gripe with this book is that the author threw in way too many myths and legends, gods and goddesses and mythical beasts from around the world. It was too much and there were too many. The author had this big stew pot where he just tossed in every legendary myth and creature and then stirred it around and ladled out muck. I think if he had geared the story around one featured myth from one culture, say Norse, or Egyptian, or Celtic, it would have had much more depth to it. We find Egyptian sphinxes and cat goddesses, Excalibur, vampires, Odin, golems and ghosts, Babylonian, stories of Atlantis, Greek, African....it was just too much to throw all these elements in the pot to come out a polished novel. The other thing I found hard to swallow was that all the events in the book took place in two days. There was too much action and too much travel from one spot to the next, too many rollercoaster ride events to make a two day time span believable. But, if you are into thrill books that are fast paced and don't care too much about substance or a well developed background story, you might like this. There were aspects that I did like, some I didn't like, but on the whole I cant give this a rave review. I might pick up the sequel to see if the story develops more or just to see how it ends, but I cant say I'll be running right out on the release date to get it. It's a fun book but not fabulous.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a find!, May 29, 2009

By	nolaavis (Los Angeles, Ca.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel (Paperback)

They say that out of the mouths of babes...etc. In this case, I borrowed a book from a grandson. He was right. This is a terrific story and a great family adventure. I see that some of these reviews, in fact, most were not necessarily written by young adults. It's always clear. And though I kept in mind as I was reading that this was not specifically addressed to my generation, still I fell under the considerable spell of a really good story which transcended age. When I see a review getting very very literal and probing,even"erudite" I must say, I have my doubts as to the reviewers intentions. I was up for a good read, plain and simple and I got it. The ability for young readers to Google every single character except the twins is unparalleled in fiction. My grandson showed me how and what could be more engaging. It lends a life beyond the story. Great!

25 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved this one!!!, July 17, 2007

By	ellen "ellen in atlanta" (Atlanta, Georgia USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

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I love that Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel lived. I love that John Dee lived during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I - I love that Scott brought them back to life in this wonderful book. I cannot wait for the 2nd book -
Deals with twins, who are part of a prophecy from an ancient Codex that the Flamels have been using to make gold and to make the elixer of life. But Dee steals it - and Josh, one of the twins, tears out the last pages of the Codex, and those are the pages the bad guys need to take over the earth!!!!
Josh's sister, Sophie, was Awakened to great powers and Josh didn't get his chance. Dee is going to use that to try to bring him over to the 'Dark Side' -
Flamel needs to get the elixer brewed - but he needs the book...my question is....after so many years, hasn't he memorized the recipe???
But there are great characters, beings from every lore you have ever studied, and probably more, and it is a great deal of fun.
You will be enchanted in every sense.