Monday, January 27, 2020

The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, Book 1

Nicholas Flamel was actually a real person and a an alchemist. His legend of the philosophers stone and immortality have grown over the years and were even mentioned in Harry Potter. The novel knits together real historical figures, mythology and pure fiction. It also takes place in a number of "real" places in California. It could almost be considered "historical fiction" except for the fact it takes place today. (Well a decade or so ago. It does date itself with people still using iPods and searching on AltaVista. Would people really search in Altavista at the same time they use Google Earth?)
A pair of twins think they are working innocent jobs at a bookstore and coffeeshop in San Francisco. However, they soon realize that there is much more going on. They see giant magical battles and discover that they have some magic themselves (And are prophesied by Abraham the mage.) The "bad guy" attempts to play one against another. He also manages to destroy one of the elders with special powers. However, the battle has just begun. This was clearly intended as the first of a series.

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