Product Description

Septimus faces a perilous quest to find Nicko and Snorri, who have been trapped back in time. Everyone at the Castle is realising that Nicko and Snorri's chances of coming back are slim. Septimus, aided by Alchemist Marcellus Pye, learns of a place where all time meets: the House of Foryx. But how does he get there? Jenna and Septimus find Nicko's notes from the past and discover that he knows of the House of Foryx as well and has been creating a map to plot the house's hidden location. With the help of the Questing Stone and Nicko's faded maps, will Septimus be able to save Nicko and Snorri? Meanwhile, Simon Heap has taken on Merrin Meredith, former apprentice to DomDaniel, as his own apprentice, giving Merrin an opportunity he has been waiting years for. With the help of a frightening creature called a Thing, Merrin plans to reclaim the identity he used to have that of Septimus Heap.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17934 in Books
• Published on: 2009-04-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 608 pages

Review
PRAISE FOR SEPTIMUS HEAP: 'Warm, funny and humane, Sage takes care with the destiny of even her smallest characters, and is a real discovery' The Times 'Full of hurtle-paced humour' Telegraph 'Her yarn scoots along like a dragon-boat with the wind in its sails' Sunday Times 'Wonderfully imaginative Children of all ages will relish this' Waterstone's Guide to Kid's Books

About the Author
Angie Sage began her career illustrating books, and then started writing: first toddler books, later chapter books and now, Septimus Heap. She lives in a fifteenth-century house in Somerset. She has two grown up daughters.

Customer Reviews

Your first QUESTE is to read the other books
This is the fourth book in the Septimus Heap series, and also the biggest at 596 pages. The first three books, in order are:

Magyk
Flyte
Physik

In order to fully appreciate book four, I would recommend reading the three preceding books first, to make sure that you don't miss a thing.

The main character is Septimus Heap, the seventh son of a seventh son, apprenticed to the Extra-Ordinary Wizard, and always finding himself in the middle of perilous adventures. Septimus and his friends are usually found battling against DARKE magyk, and this book is no exception.

One of his enemies has returned, bringing the nasty old remains of the evil DomDaniel, and with it the DARKE magyk plus all the creepy things that come with the package.

But that's not all.

This fast-paced book also has Septimus, his adopted sister Princess Jenna and his friend Beetle trying to save his brother Nicko and his friend Snorri, who are trapped five hundred years in the past. While all this is going on, Septimus is tricked into embarking on a QUESTE, from which no apprentice has ever returned. With the help of the alchemist Marcellus Pye and restoration expert Ephaniah Grebe, the QUESTE leads them to the House of Foryx where all time meets.

Angie Sage has created a wonderful fantasy series for readers from around ten years old, and I'm looking forward to 2010, when the movie based on Magyk is due to be released.

Note: This book also includes one of those cute little CD-ROMs, and when you play it through your computer, you get a choice of eight "questing stones" leading to information and activities, as follows:


1. About Queste
2. About the Author
3. Ice Tunnel Sledding (a game)
4. Trading Cards for supporting characters Lucy Gringe, Ullr, Ephaniah Grebe, Tertius Fume and Boris Catchpole, with a link to the interactive website where you can find all the characters.
5. Spells for "Pure water" and "Darkening"
6. Tips for traveling to the House of Foryx
7. Top selling sweets at Ma Custard's All-Day-All-Night Sweet Shop
8. QUESTE screensaver for PC and MAC

Worth the money and then some



Amanda Richards

Great Read - what happened to the print quality
I can't fault this series of books regarding the storytelling - fast paced, humerous - great entertainment. My 11 yr old son had not read any books of a "weighty" variety until I introduced him to this series - he has read one Septimus Heap book a week and is now about to embark on Queste.

With regard to the print quality though - I purchased Physik and Queste together and on their arrival immediately noticed a variation in print quality. The earlier books appear to have been printed in the UK whilst Queste has been printed in the USA. The way the pages have been trimmed in Queste is very ragged - and even if it is done to create an aged effect and make the pages easier to turn the book feels inferior.

As a father of undoubted grumpiness I'd reflect that the books were cheaper to produce and a CD was thrown in to keep the punters happy - but who's to know?

Anyway - don't let this put you off the book - its brilliant - just felt shortchanged when I put the two books side by side!

Still brilliant!
Yes, we want more... and more... and just alittle more please?

Sage is great at creating her whimsical, humouristic world. Her characters are strong and well made, and her style is impecable. The only complaint I do have is that in this last installment the plot does seem to wander alittle here and there. And you might have to pay close attention to all the red strings. I also missed the presence of a certain loveable ghost. And the short part with the necromance was abit anoying. I didnt really understand what he gave to *this* particular story...

But by all means, it's still one of those stories you find yourself lost in. And reading each page feels like chocolate. That warm fuzzy feeling of a hug!

We begin where we left the Heaps in Physik. And they are on a mission to save their brother, that was left in the wrong time... Needless to say we bump into a few obstacles on the way :)

I must dissagree with people that compare this to Harry Potter. I find these books alot different, and their own in every way. Sage has created a very original and fun setting, and saying this is HP rip-off is like saying all childrens fantasy is just "another HP"... whihc it is not. HP is HP, Septimus Heap is Septimus Heap!

I wonder if there'll be more?