The Alchemyst is the first book in Michael Scott’s series, The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel. Sophie Newman is a young teenager staying in California for the summer and working in a small coffee shop. Her twin brother Josh works across the street in a small bookshop. When Dr. Dee and his golems attack the bookstore and kidnap the owner’s wife; they discover that magic is real and the owner is actually the immortal Nicholas Flamel. Which also means that Perenelle Flamel, who is also a sorceress, is the one who was kidnapped. The attackers also managed to steal part of the book of Abraham which contains the recipe for immortality. Now the Flamels have about a month to live unless they can reclaim the book. Having got caught up in events Nicholas offers the twins an opportunity to tag along and learn more about this unknown world. Recruiting Scathach, an immortal warrior, they end up fleeing from the forces of Dr. Dee as he pursues the rest of the book. However, things get even more complicated for the twins when Nicholas reveals an ulterior motive, his belief that the twins are the subject of a prophecy in the book of Abraham.
This book was pretty good in that it seems to be a pretty unique take on the story of Nicholas Flamel. I think this is probably one of the only ones I’ve seen that is based in modern times and that also gives just as much focus to the role of Perenelle. Very few stories about him do either of those. That is actually a large part of what grabbed my attention about this book. Mind you, it does actually have a pretty good story as well with its fairly unique depictions of magic and myth. I don’t want to provide too many spoilers but overall I don’t think I have seen a similar system of magic, at least not yet. The story is fairly fast paced though as it seems to take place over just a couple of days even if there are times it feels longer than that. I was also fairly impressed by how well it handled the sibling dynamic between the twins as that could have easily been mishandled. It felt fairly realistic all things considered and pretty close to how many twins would actually feel in such a situation. I did enjoy the story and the plot overall as it was rather engrossing but I also felt like there was a lot going on and the characters seemed to never get a break to slow down and catch their breath. Not sure if that is a bad thing but definitely something I will be keeping an eye on as the series continues. A pretty good book that gets four out of five stars from me.
This is a teen fantasy series though it is more than likely aimed at younger teens so if you know any teenagers who enjoy fantasy you might suggest this series. It could also potentially be read by younger readers but I would recommend probably no younger than nine or ten. As evidenced by myself it could also be read and enjoyed by older readers. The only really problematic content is the twins leaving with a relative stranger and driving without a license, and the obvious violence already indicated. All things considered these are not necessarily the worst things to have happened. If this still sounds interesting consider trying it and feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.