The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel Series by Michael Scott

First book published May 22, 2007

Final book published January 1, 2012

This is another one of my favorite fantasy series, and it was born out of my love for Harry Potter. In the first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, there was a character briefly mentioned-Nicholas Flamel. I never thought much about this character until two years ago when I had a student reading this series who excitedly told me that I HAD to read this series! Well, two years later, I have read the series and here I am!

This will be a different review post because I have read this series over the time period of a year. I just finished the final book, however I do not believe I could write a good review on each book unless I reread because I did not make notes on my favorite quotes and parts of the book. If you would like separate reviews, let me know and I would be happy to write it up for you!

Here is what I am going to do, I will give a summary of the first book in the series, my rating of the series as whole, and a list of the series in order, with links to Goodreads for more information.

 

Book 1: The Alchemyst

Published May 22, 2007

Nicholas Flamel was born in Paris on 28 September 1330. Nearly seven hundred years later, he is acknowledged as the greatest Alchemyst of his day. It is said that he discovered the secret of eternal life. The records show that he died in 1418. But his tomb is empty and Nicholas Flamel lives. The secret of eternal life is hidden within the book he protects – the Book of Abraham the Mage. It’s the most powerful book that has ever existed. In the wrong hands, it will destroy the world. And that’s exactly what Dr. John Dee plans to do when he steals it. Humankind won’t know what’s happening until it’s too late. And if the prophecy is right, Sophie and Josh Newman are the only ones with the power to save the world as we know it. Sometimes legends are true. And Sophie and Josh Newman are about to find themselves in the middle of the greatest legend of all time. 

(From the 6th book) The two that are one must become the one that is all. One to save the world, one to destroy it. -Goodreads

Now, this is a very brief summary. I will elaborate a little more, just to get you hooked. The main characters are Sophie and Josh Newman. Throughout this series you watch these two characters grow, both in the powers and as people.

What I love:

• The non-stop adventure and action
• Historical characters-please research them quickly if you don’t know who they are. It will make it very interesting!
• Mythical creatures-again, I suggest looking up pictures and background. There are some crazy creatures mentioned!
• Ancient gods and goddesses-research about their roles and what society they were from. Look up images too.
• Magic
• Time
• Ties with historical events

What I think could be done better:

• I would have liked to have more character development in Sophie and Josh. I never felt a connection with either character, I was just rooting for them to save the world. I never read the book to see what would happen to them, just the world.
• Illustrations would be very interesting. There are so many characters that were difficult for me to visualize-although Michael Scott did a good job describing the characters and didn’t assume you knew who everything about who they were. However, he did leave some details out, so research helped it come alive in my mind more. Illustrations would have helped because I think more detailed descriptions would just get overwhelming.
• The last two books felt like it too forever to get through. I think I was ready to figure it all out. It was a little drawn out. Also, this series took place over one or two weeks. Six books filled with action, an abundance of characters, and multiple problems was a lot and got a little redundant. However, the ending of the final book made me love it all again, so it definitely redeemed itself!
• Mentioned early, but INFORMATION OVERLOAD. This book has a lot in it and it can be hard to keep track sometimes.

Overall, I give this series FOUR STARS. I loved the historical connections, the mythology, the descriptions, the action, and the adventure. What brought it down to four stars was the lack of character development. I did not really care about the main characters-I definitely rooted for the minor characters more.

Recommendation

I recommend this series for those that love history, mythology, creatures, action, and adventure. You will not be disappointed!

Here are the books in order:

1. The Alchemyst
2. The Magician
3. The Sorceress
4. The Necromancer 
5. The Warlock 
6. The Enchantress

There are also 2 additional books that I have not read:

The Death of Joan of Arc-Book 4.5

Billy the Kid and the Vampyres of Vegas-Book 5.5

 Let me know what you think!

Happy Reading