More Fantasy, Even More Mythology

Author: Michael Scott

Year Published: 2007

Pages: 369

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Fantasy

If you enjoy learning Greek, Egyptian and/or Celtic mythology, there are a myriad of characters in this book that will have you grabbing an index - or two. But probably the most fascinating thing about this book is that the other characters (aside from the werewolves and vampires), were real people. 

The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel is a fast moving story mostly about the Codex which is the book also known as the Book of Abraham the Mage - which is also a REAL book allegedly written by THE Abraham. 😲 Yes. That one. 

Nicholas Flamel and his wife Perenelle are two of the main characters in the story. Nicholas Flamel was a real person, an alchemyst, who found the Book of Abraham the Mage and discovered the recipe for immortality. The catch? (There's always a catch.) Nicholas and his wife need to drink the magical elixir once a month in order to continue down the road of immortality. Without the magic, they begin to age at the rate of one year per day. Whew! I'm glad our rate of aging is a bit slower. 

Obviously, a book that contains the recipes for such power is wanted by the bad guys. Isn't it always?  Enter Dr. John Dee - who was also a real person. He wants the book in order to bring back the Dark Elders to rule the world - which means the end of life as we know it. 

The book not only contains magic, but a prophecy about twins who are able to stop the evil. Sophie and Josh are two seemingly normal twins living in California working summer jobs to save their money for a car. Completely unaware of a world outside their own, their lives quickly become entangled in a race to save the world. 

This is a great start to the six-book series. If you enjoy action, adventure, magic, fantasy and again, mythology, you're in for a treat. The author leaves the reader a note at the end of the book that provides a little more insight into the real lives of Dr. John Dee and Nicholas Flamel. For me, this was a little prod to further research the lives of these interesting people. Looks like there's more than one empty tomb in history - the tomb of Nicholas Flamel is empty. Hmmmm......truly immortal? Fascinating stuff.