This is a super series that keeps you turning the pages fast. It's about two twins who find out they are part of a legend who must fight the evil Dr. Dee to save the world along with Nicholas Flamel the famous alchemyst. It's part of a series

posted Jul 6, 2009 at 11:04AM

In Harry Potter’s world, fifteen-year-old twins Josh and Sophie Newman would be regular Muggles, just a couple of normal kids spending the summer with their aunt in San Francisco and working odd jobs to save money for a car of their own, completely oblivious to any magical occurrences. Until, that is, a creepy little man leading an army of tough guys made out of mud bursts into the bookstore where Josh works, kidnaps the bookstore owner’s wife, and makes off with one very particular book. Then Josh and Sophie are swept into a world of magic and legend because, to their surprise and awe, the bookstore owner is none other than Nicholas Flamel, amateur magician, expert alchemyst (meaning he can turns coal into silver, metal into gold, and brew a potion that results in eternal youth), and six-hundred-plus-years-old. The creepy little guy is evil Dr. John Dee and the wife is the good and lovely Perenelle Flamel, both just as long-lived and uniquely skilled as Nick Flamel. The stolen book, however, is more powerful than the three of them combined. It’s the ancient Codex, containing all the magical and scientific secrets of the ages, and in the wrong hands (like those of Dr. Dee) it’s a dangerous tool in the extreme. Josh and Sophie are more than mere witnesses to this sudden magical display in the middle of the city; the twins just might be the key to a legend that predicts the outcome of a coming battle between eons-old forces of good and evil. Time is running out and Sophie and Josh need some magical training ASAP. If more immortal potion isn’t brewed soon, Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel will die and the good guys will lose a couple of very valuable allies. Throwing everyday kids into magical happenings is a common plot device by now, but by bringing old legends to life (including many much older than the fact-based fourteenth century story of Nicholas Flamel) and letting the reader view them through the eyes of a couple of kids who are very attached to their cell phones, ipods, and Internet access, author Michael Scott succeeds in breathing new life into a familiar tale. The pace is fast, the story is action-packed, the fantasy is inventive, and it all ends on a cliffhanger. This is a series that’s still very much in the works; the third book was just released this year and the fourth installment is due in May of 2010.

posted Oct 31, 2009 at 5:47PM

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