Alchemy (Hardcover)

by Margaret Mahy (Author) "So here it was again . . . coming through the dark at him-the dream, the nightmare that had haunted him for years..." (more)
Key Phrases: wonder box, Jess Ferret, Riverlaw Reserve, Quando the Magician (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal
Grade 8 Up-This book can be read on several levels. As a story of magical powers, alchemy, and spirits, it may attract readers looking for a suspenseful thriller. But it can also be read as a metaphor, cautioning of the dangers of denying one's true self. Outwardly, Roland, 17, appears to have everything-popularity, good grades, and a terrific girlfriend. But he also has a strange, recurring dream and hears inner voices warning him away from something he does not understand. Then, inexplicably, he shoplifts some inconsequential items from a local store. A teacher confronts him with his crime and makes an odd proposal: he will tell no one of the incident if Roland will find out what is going on in the life of classmate Jess Ferret. As Roland begins to investigate her, he learns that his terrifying dream is actually a memory, his shoplifting an act beyond his control. He meets Quando, the magician from his dream and, not coincidentally, his teacher's brother. Jess is not what she has appeared to be, and she sees that sinister forces are endangering Roland, and herself as well. The story becomes a battle between good and evil as Quando greedily seeks to steal the teens' powers. The idea that love and hate can release powerful energy to move the universe for good or ill is presented in a unique yet understandable way. The closing struggle leads too quickly to the resolution of several long-standing problems but the outcomes will satisfy readers looking for a hopeful ending. This is not a book that will attract a wide readership, but it deserves a place on library shelves for those teens who are willing to look beyond the surface and delve a little deeper.
Bruce Anne Shook, Mendenhall Middle School, Greensboro, NC
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Gr. 7-10. Seventeen-year-old Roland has long had a nightmare about being locked in a magician's box. While the audience thinks he's "disappeared," his young self is actually hanging in space. Now what he's always thought has been a dream becomes a horrifying reality as he meets up with the nefarious magician Quando. Mahy, whose thrillers are both complex and literary, once again provides a multilayered story that can be appreciated on several levels. Some readers will respond to the way the frightening encroaches on the everyday. A teacher blackmails Roland to spy on the reclusive Jess Ferret. Strange, sinister things are happening at Jess' house and beyond, and as Roland is drawn in, the wall between family and school life crumbles. Other readers will appreciate the more traditionally ghoulish aspects of the narrative, which allow Mahy to show off her full range of descriptive talents. Although the story seems overdrawn in places, fans of the genre in general (and Mahy, in particular) will find that this meets their expectations. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry (April 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689850530
• ISBN-13: 978-0689850530
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,664,207 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sorry to see so few reviews on this book, December 13, 2003

By	cammykitty "cammykitty" (Minneapolis, MN United States) - See all my reviews

I was hoping to see how others responded too it. This book has been nominated for the American Library Association's Best Books for Young Adults -- a list that will be whittled down to ten books soon and several honorable mentions.

For those of you who don't know much about Mahy, she is an Australian fantasy writer who has been writing picture books, middle grade novels and short story collections for quite sometime. S Odgers, the reviewer from Tasmania, is dead on in mentioning Diana Wynne-Jones and Mahy together. They are definitely kindred spirits.

Mahy's strong suit is an ability to move from reality into fantasy so smoothly that the fantasy part just makes sense. Of course that would happen. She can also be very funny, and often her books/characters engage in wonderful word play. This book is no exception. Jess Ferret, the mysterious center of Alchemy, is always playing with Spoonerisms, switched words, witched swords you know.

In this book, a teacher (well-meaning???) blackmails a popular perfect student, Roland, into striking up a friendship with the school outcast, Jess Ferret, to find out what is troubling her. Jess doesn't particularly want this attention, and can take care of herself thank you very much. But there are several things odd about her. Her outside of school and at school personalities are very different, and her parents' whereabouts are unknown. Her house is frozen, not temperature-wise. And Roland, is struggling with some side of himself that he would prefer not to acknowledge -- and Jess has something to do with that side of himself.

Doing a reverse Mahy thing, walking her fantasy back to real life -- yes, there are people who collect other people's power. They diminish others to make themselves strong. You don't have to look too far to find someone like that. And this kind of person is very much a part of what is happening in this book.

What bothers me about this book though is her treatment of the bad guy. He is very very much an unarguable bad guy. More subtlety may have been more interesting. He has enough irreconcilable points of difference with Jess in particular, and Roland as well, to be a bad guy simply because his view of what should be doesn't work with their view. Not necessarily because he is evil. Mahy could have found a lot of ideas to play with if she were to take that approach, but she also would have had to abandon some of the ideas she did explore in this book.

Like a lot of Mahy's work, I don't think it's really fair to judge on one reading. The second reading is usually much more fun and much richer, because you can see where she is going with things. You are in on it. I've read her books and thought they were blah the first time, and just loved them the second time. I suspect when I read this book again, I'll love it rather than like it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but oddly written story, September 24, 2005

By	Jason Ayoub (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews

I went to the library hoping to get a copy of the Tricksters, thinking it sounded intriguing from the reviews, but this was the only Margarat Mahy book they had. I've never read any of her stories before and found this one intriguing as well. I love stories about magic and magicians, and this one has them both, but there was something about her writing that prevented me from getting really involved in the story. The force of the narration seemed rather weak, and Roland never came off as a very credible character. What 17-year-old would stick around in a house if they saw an unknown creature coming down the stairs? The book also seemed too sophisticated to be a children's book but not sophisticated enough to capture the attention of most adults. I suppose she was writing for teens, but I don't think most teens would be interested in reading this because the subject matter is too dreamy, almost like a vague sort of fairy tale, and at times the action is very slow moving. It's challenging, and while I know most teens who read are more than up to the challenge, most won't care much for the reward, which is the appreciation of the deeper meanings and details behind a rather juvenile adventure story. Sure, they'll understand them, but it's just not what most teen-agers find rewarding. Still, I'd recommend this to teens who'd like to try a rather different reading experience.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the only book i could ever read, August 27, 2005

By	Karen R. Adams - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

i am one of those people that are like if i dont have to read then i wont but i found this book and couldnt put it down so i just had to get it for myself if anyone can read then they should read this.it might be strange but strange but it gets better/\.