Product Description

Its California. In the hands of Dr. John Dee and the Dark Elders, the book of Abraham the Mage could mean the destruction of the world as we know it. The most powerful book of all time, it holds the secret to eternal life. A secret more dangerous than any one man should ever hold. And Dee is two pages away from the knowledge that would bring the Dark Elders into ultimate power. His only obstacle? Josh and Sophie Newman - who are 8,000 miles away. Its Paris. After fleeing Ojai, Nicholas, Sophie, Josh, and Scatty emerge in Paris. The City of Lights. Home for Nicholas Flamel. Only this homecoming is anything but sweet. Perenell is still locked up back in Alcatraz and Paris is burning - with it, the last hopes for the human race. Nicollo Machiavelli, immortal author and celebrated art collector, is working for Dee. He's after them, and time is running out for Nicholas and Perenell.Every day spent without the book they age one year - their magic becomes weaker and their bodies, more frail. For Flamel the Prophesy is becoming more and more clear. It's time for Sophie to learn the second elemental magic. Fire Magic. And there's only one man who can teach it to her. Flamel's old student The Comte de Saint Germain - alchemist, magician, and rock star. Josh and Sophie Newman are the world's only hope. If they don't turn on each other first.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #569638 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 496 pages

From the Inside Flap
Ashes to Ashes . . .
California:
In the hands of Dr John Dee and the Dark Elders, the book of Abraham the Mage could mean the destruction of the world as we know it. The most powerful book of all time, it holds the secret of eternal life - a secret more dangerous than any one man should possess. And Dee is two pages away from the knowledge that would bring the Dark Elders into ultimate power.
His only obstacle? Josh and Soph Newman -who are eight thousand miles away.

Paris:
After fleeing Ojai, Nicholas, Sophie, Josh and Scatty emerge in Paris. The City of Lights. Home to Nicholas Flamel. Only, this homecoming is anything but sweet.
Niccolo Machiavelli, immortal author and celebrated art collector, lives in Paris and is working for Dee. He's in hot pursuit and time is running out for Nicholas and Perenelle. Every day they spend without the book, they age one year: their magic becomes weaker and their bodies more frail. For Flamel, the Prophecy is growing clearer and clearer. It's time for Sophie to learn the second elemental magic.
Fire magic.
And there's only one man who can teach it to her: Flamel's old student the Comte de Saint-Germain -alchemist, magician, and rock star. Josh and Sophie Newman are the world's only hopw. If they don't turn on each other first.

From the Back Cover
Praise for the New York Times bestseller

THE ALCHEMYST
THE SECRETS OF THE IMMORTAL
NICHOLAS FLAMEL

"Scott offers a classic fantasy . . . that will put readers on the edge of their seats as they rush to the final page . . . [An] exhilarating fantasy" Booklist

"A cracking adventure" The Bookseller

About the Author
Dublin-born Michael Scott began writing eighteen years ago, and has published such diverse works as a critically-acclaimed fantasy trilogy entitled Tales of the Bard, the best-selling historical novel, Seasons, the non-fiction An Irish Herbal, the definitive Irish Folk and Fairy Tales series, and a number of highly successful books for children. He writes for all ages, from very young readers (Fungie and the Magical Kingdom) to Teenagers (Judith and the Traveller and Vampyre). Michael was a writer in Residence during Dublin's tenure as European City of Culture in 1991, and has conducted workshops and writing courses in libraries and schools in Ireland and America. He is a Trustee of the Children's Book Trust, sits on the Board of Governors of the Irish Writers Centre and is chairman of the Irish Copyright Licensing Agency.

Customer Reviews

In a class of its own, brilliant.
I am bound to cause controversy when I claim that this series is better than Harry Potter; better than the Northern Lights trilogy; better than Abhorsen; better by far than a whole host of similar genre novels - all of which I have thoroughly enjoyed, but I haven't enjoyed anything quite as much as this unputdownable series from Irish author, Michael Scott. You won't find even the smallest amount of space-filling or extraneous writing here - it is all fantastic. And, no, I don't know the author, I don't work for the publishing house, I just really love these books and would like to see the author receive the recognition he deserves. He's right up there with J. K. Rowling, with Philip Pullman, Stephenie Meyer and a whole host of other world class fantasy writers in my opinion.

Josh and Sophie Newman, twins, ordinary American teenagers until their latent magical powers were recently recognised by six-hundred-year old Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel; these two are absolutely vital in the quest to save civilisation and prevent the Dark Elders from seizing ultimate power and destroying vast swathes of the world and its inhabitants. Josh and Sophie are the world's last and only hope.

'The Magician' is book two of the series, following on from 'The Alchemyst'. The Codex is the key - the ancient book of Abraham the Mage - Nicholas and Perenelle need the book to enable them to keep renewing their spell of immortality but the book has already been snatched from their grasp by Dr. John Dee, working on behalf of his dark masters, some of the most powerful Dark Elders in the universe. However, Nicholas and the twins managed to hold onto the last two pages and these are vital to unlocking the secrets of the book and the Dark Elders cannot act without them. Sophie's magical powers have been awakened but Nicholas now hopes to find a way to have Josh's powers awakened too. These two, he is convinced, are the twins of legend; twins with auras of gold and silver which together makes them pretty nigh invincible. This brother and sister, it is written in the ancient Codex, will have the power to either save or destroy the world, but they are new to this underworld of magic, their powers are yet young and they will need to be trained in the elemental magics and learn a lot very quickly. Can Nicholas and the extremely ancient (yet still youthful) vampire warrior Scatty teach them enough to protect themselves? Not only are they fighting against the magic of the powerful Dee, but now sly and cunning Niccolo Machiavelli has combined forces to capture the missing last pages of the Codex. Will it be too little too late for Perenelle who has been captured and is held prisoner by magical beasts on the island of Alcatraz? Will Josh and Sophie put their trust in Nicholas, or will his limited revelations and his lack of openness lead the twins to question their faith in the ancient Parisienne?

Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. Start with 'The Alchemyst'. For ages 11+ but can be enjoyed by all ages. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Great read - not just for kids!
I read this following on from "The Alchemyst" and really enjoyed it. It's very cleverly written and well researched - it is set in Paris with obvious effort being taken from Scott to accomplish an accurate novel. I also loved the historical snippets that were planted throughout - even down to names and identities of various Dark Elders and guardians. Suberbly done, with a nice feel to the book as I was reading - I really felt as if I was watching the progress of the pages in front of me. I cannot wait for the next one to come out!

The Magician - Review by Seamus McDonnell-For people who want to be on the edge of their seats the whole time.
I enjoyed this book a lot. I hadn't read the previous book but I liked this one so much that I went out and bought "The Alchemist". The reason I liked this book is because it had a very good storyline and was a great read. The book is about two children who have magical powers. It has its basis in Harry Potter but it is much better than that. The kids travel from California to Paris whilst being chased by the evil Dr Dee who wants something they have. Can they save the world from the clutches of evil or will they be killed in the process. A brilliant book involving fighting, mystery and a lot of magic. For people who want to be on the edge of their seats the whole time. I loved it.