The Lure of Immortality

Series Review

The Secrets of the Immortal Nicolas Flamel, incorporating The Alchemyst, The Magician, The Sorceress, and The Necromancer

by Michael Scott

I also wanted to title this post, “Why the heck haven’t more people heard of this series, it’s amazing and everyone should read it!!” because I am baffled that there aren’t more people who are aware of it. Especially considering the fact that these books continually rank on the New York Times bestseller list.

Moving on.

It is so hard to summarize the plot in this series because it is so chock full of details and interesting tidbits, but I’ll do my best.

Summary

Do you know about Nicolas Flamel? I, perhaps like most people, first learned about him from Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (or, Harry Potter and the Alchemist’s Stone for those readers in the UK). Nicolas Flamel (who was a real person, by the way, but I’ll be discussing the literary figure from here out) is the only known maker of the sorcerer’s/alchemist’s stone, which allows the creator to make the elixir of life and turn any metal into solid gold. That much is similar between the two books, but get all thoughts of the Nicolas Flamel in HP out of your head now, because we are about to dive into a completely different character and story line.

In Michael Scott’s first book of the series, The Alchemyst, we meet Nicolas Flamel, introduced as Nick Fleming, in modern-day San Francisco. He runs a bookstore with his wife, Perenelle, introduced as Perry. He has a young employee, Josh, whose twin 15-year-old sister, Sophie, works at a coffee shop across the street. On the day we meet these four, Sophie notices some odd-looking men entering the bookstore from her vantage point at the coffee shop. Across the street, Josh is processing a new shipment of books in the basement, and as he climbs the stairs into the store, he comes across Nick in battle with the well-dressed man Sophie had been watching. The two are calmly but swiftly fighting each other, throwing what look like balls of light back and forth. The air reeks of sulfur and mint. The man, whom Nick refers to as Dee, steals a book that Nick has been holding and heads for the door. Josh lunges at Dee, and manages to rip two pages out of the book before Dee flees the scene.

I hope you don’t feel like I spoiled anything yet. This all happens in the first few pages.

It turns out that the book Dee stole is the Codex, an ancient tome that holds the secrets of the world, including instructions on how to make the sorcerer’s stone. Nicolas and Perry have been keeping this book safe for centuries, because, in the wrong hands, it could be deadly. Josh and Sophie are quickly drawn into Nick and Perry’s world, and learn that nothing in their lives is as it seemed. There is magic, immortality, legend and myth all around, and the twins are a fated part of the drama and adventure that is about to ensue.

What follows this insanely informative beginning is a whirlwind adventure so magnificent and imaginative I cannot even begin to do it justice. As of this writing, I have read the four books listed above (The Alchemyst, The Magician, The Sorceress, and The Necromancer). There is a fifth book coming, The Warlock, but it won't be out until next year.

Worth staying up past bedtime?

Do I even have to tell you that I lost sleep in my eagerness to read these books? They are like a sophisticated version of the Percy Jackson series. There are numerous references to classical and even ancient literature, history, myth, and legend. The story is smart and thought-provoking, yet not so much that it will evade younger readers. Part of me is frustrated that it is taking Scott so long to wrap it all up. I want to know what happens! However, none of the books have felt unnecessary. The characters are so well-developed, and the story is enmeshed with so many mesmerizing details that I find myself turning page after page after page, although I will admit to throwing down The Necromancer in frustration when I learned that things hadn’t been resolved by the end it.

Go out and get these books. You won’t be sorry.