The Sorceress: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel: Book 3

Author: Michael Scott
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Year: 2009

In the third book of Michael Scott's Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series, Sophie and Josh Newman have escaped the battle at Notre Dame in Paris with Nicholas Flamel and fled to London, a powerhouse for the Dark Elders and their followers. Flamel hopes to get the ancient king Gilgamesh to train the twins in the magic of Water. Meanwhile, the Dark Elders are pulling out ancient evils to fight the twins and Flamel and bring them in. Meanwhile, Perenelle Flamel is still trapped on the island of Alcatraz and battling evils of her own.

I am loving this series. The books are fun, imaginative and easy to read. I enjoy seeing the way the author has worked to make legends and  myths come alive in today's world. I highly recommend these books.

Sapphique

Author: Cathrine Fisher
Publisher: Dial Books
Year: 2010

Sapphique picks up almost immediately where Incarceron ended. Keiro and Attia are still trapped inside Incarceron and are trying desperately to escape. They learn that a magician is using Sapphique's glove in his act and hatch a plan to steal the glove from him to escape. At the same time, Finn is trapped in his own prison in the outer world as he tries to figure out who he is, remember his past and rescue Keiro and Attia from Incarceron. 

I might have enjoyed this book just a wee bit more than the first one. It was grittier than the first book. We learned more about the other characters of the world as the focus shifted a bit from Finn and Claudia. I liked the way the author decided to tell this story in two books and not drag it out to a trilogy (which is one of my pet peeves i.e. seeing authors make filler in a story just so they can  make it into three books instead of telling a tight story with good characters in less books).

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: Volume 2

Author: Bryan Lee O'Malley
Publisher: Oni Press
Year:  2005

In this volume, Scott has to continue his battle with his new girlfriend's seven evil ex-boyfriends. But in this edition, Scott's ex-girlfriends get thrown into the pot. And, his most recent ex-girlfriend, Knives Chau, isn't going down without a fight.

I enjoyed this volume more than I did the first volume. I'm still not sure that I find Scott Pilgrim sympathetic at all but I do like Knives.

Hex and the City, Nightside Book 4

Author: Simon R. Green
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Year: 2008
Narrator: Marc Vietor

In the fourth book of the Nightside series, private investigator, John Taylor, is hired to find out the origins of the Nightside by Lady Luck. John gathers together Madman, Sinner and Sinner's girlfriend, the demon succubus, Pretty Poison, to help investigate.  Like all the Nightside books so far, this was a good listen. There's not a lot of hidden meaning in the books but they are enjoyable and easy to  listen to while doing other tasks (such as huffing and puffing in my workout). I was surprised that we, the readers, found out this early in the series who John's mother is. For some reason, I expected the author to carry that mystery on a bit longer.

Marc Vietor is a good narrator. He's got that gritty, noir detective voice that suits the story well. 

The Magician: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel

Author: Michael Scott
Year: 2008
Publisher: Delacorte Press

Twins, Sophie and Josh Newman, Nicholas Flamel and the warrior Scatty barely escape California alive and flee to Paris. There they are pursued by Niccolo Machiavelli, another immortal, who wishes to capture them and return the Dark Elders to power. While seeking refuge with one of Flamel's old apprentices, Josh and Sophie meet another legend as Sophie tries to learn to control her new powers. But time is running out, quite literally, for Nicholas and his wife as each day they spend without the book of Abraham the Mage, they are rapidly aging.


I'm quite surprised at how much I am enjoying these books. They are quick reads but lots of fun while reading them. I have no problems believing the plot (even though ancient gods and goddesses walking the earth stretches the imagination). Again, I liken these books to the Percy Jackson series.

The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel

Author: Michael Scott
Year: 2007
Publisher: Delacorte Press

15 year old twins, Sophie and Josh Newman, take summer jobs working across the street from one another. Sophie works for a coffee and tea shop. Josh works at a bookstore owned by Nick Fleming. One afternoon, their lives take a very drastic turn when the bookstore is attacked by the magician John Dee. Josh and Sophie learn that Nick Fleming is actually the alchemist of legend, Nicholas Flamel. (Yeah, the one with the sorcerer's stone of immortality from Harry Potter.) Flamel, Sophie and Josh just barely escape the bookstore with their lives and Flamel's wife is kidnapped. From there, Josh and Sophie's world expands as they meet people of legends and myth as they try to stay alive and escape John Dee.

This book was a quick read and entertaining. It reminded me a bit of the Percy Jackson series but I think that was just because so many mythological characters and ancient gods were brought into the story. It's not deep or earth-shattering but it was fun. It's a book that I think a lot of kids would enjoy and a number of adults. I definitely did.

Fables: The Great Fables Crossover

Author: Bill Willingham
Published: 2010

This volume brings together Bill Willingham's comic series, Fables, Jack of Fables and The Literals. Our heroes come together to fight a villain that threatens to end all reality. I continue to like the way that Willingham plays on words and ideas and makes them literal people. I don't think this "crossover event" is quite as compelling as the individual series are on their own. I did love the Genres though.