anandafeliciano

This review covers the entire series. This series is probably one of my favorites in the fantasy genre. I understand that this series is classified under YA, but dagnabbit, this shit is amazing! I have always had a thing for legends and myths which was cemented in high school when a friend gave me this really old and dilapidated book about Greek and Norse mythology. And this series totally feeds into that. I started with The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel around 2008, after the second book came out. What attracted me initially were three things: (1) the cover art, (2) Nicholas Flamel, and (3) the book itself which was printed on thick parchment-like, deckle-edged paper. I haven’t looked back since. The story revolves around Josh and Sophie Newman — the twins of legend, and a handful of prominent historical (Nicholas Flamel, John Dee, Perenelle Flamel, Billy the Kid, Niccolo Machiavelli, Joan of Arc, and Shakespeare, among many others) and mythological (Odin, Hekate, Scathac, The Morrigan, The Witch of Endor, Mars Ultor, Bastet, and many more) figures who want to use the twins’ inherent powers to either save or enslave humanity. There’s loads of magic (without the wands!), action (the battle scenes are wonderful), vampires (YES, there are vampires. And no, they don’t sparkle. These are the cool vampires), zombies (YES-er!!), love, betrayal, and even the famous sword from Arthurian legend – Excalibur, and its sibling, Clarent. One of the best things about this series is that the entire story takes place in less than a month. This is like the TV series 24, only on paper. The only fault I can find about this series is that I was left with a HUGE cliffhanger at the end of The Warlock. And when you consider it, this so-called fault isn’t even really a bad thing at all! I actually learned a lot from reading this series. There were a lot of characters I wasn’t very familiar with, like John Dee, Scathac and Comte de Saint-Germain. Whenever I’d come across new-ish names, I’d go online and look them up. Can you say FUN?! These books didn’t just give me a good story, they made me want to learn more about the characters and their backgrounds — which is something I think good books, especially those written for younger audiences, should do. These are the books that keep on giving. I have nothing but love for this series, and I’m sure anyone who reads this will feel the same. http://loonycookie.com/2011/09/michae...

2020-09-05 14:19