We return to a world of magic with Physik, the third book in the Septimus Heap series by Angie Sage. Picking up a few months after Flyte, Septimus is working to learn more about Physik and medicine while Jenna is slowly becoming used to being the princess. Silas has become rather obsessed with a game called counters and is protective of his playing pieces. When looking for a secure place to store his pieces he unlocks an abandoned room in the castle that seems to contain nothing more than an old painting of a previous queen. Etheldredda, the ghostly queen in question, promptly uses this chance to escape and start wreaking havoc throughout the castle and town. She terrorizes Jenna as she starts planning ways to come back and steal the crown. At the same time her ghostly pet starts spreading a sickness throughout the town as well, a sickness that is both extremely deadly and has no cure. When Septimus starts getting in her way she finds a way to remove the problem, by sending him back in time 400 years to be an apprentice to her son, Marcellus Pye. Now Jenna must find a way to rescue him and stop the queen.
This book definitely added some intriguing elements to this world as it seems to have added alchemy and other related fields such as potions. It was rather interesting to see how they were incorporated, especially how the characters actually viewed the field. There wasn’t a lot of detail included about how that field actually works in this universe which I was mildly disappointed by as I would have liked to know more. However, I can still hope it will be revealed in later additions to the series. Something I have noticed is a bit of a thing for this series is that the characters, who are all children, seem to be constantly saving themselves and the adults are portrayed as being mostly unhelpful. I know it is a kids series but that still strikes me as a little bit odd. It probably helps make it more relatable for younger readers, or perhaps just more exciting, but it does seem to be a repeating pattern. Maybe it only seems to be that way because the adults are predominantly background characters. The plot for this story does seem to be even more complex than the previous one in some ways and it does have some pretty interesting elements to it. It also seems to be slowly introducing the idea of powers beyond that of being a wizard as it starts to touch on being a witch but it also introduces spirit-seers which can see any ghost at any time no matter what. Considering just how important ghosts seem to be in this world I see that power and that character being a recurring topic in the series. The book is a good addition to the series, though slightly darker than the previous two books, and I am happy giving it four out of five stars.
This is a pretty good addition to a kids fantasy series so if you know any younger readers who enjoy fantasy books you may consider suggesting this one. While it may contain magic there is very little content that would otherwise be objectionable so I have no trouble recommending it to other readers. The one thing I suggest they keep in mind is that this is the third book in the series and you really need to read the previous two books to get the full picture before trying this one. That being said I hope you will consider trying it or suggesting it to any younger readers that you may know. As always feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.