Rashmi bookmarks “The Alchemyst”

The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel is the first novel in the six book fantasy fiction series ‘The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel’ by Michael Scott.

Before humans ever came into being, there existed the race of Elders. History calls them gods. From their time come the elements we all know - fire, earth, water, air - and a fifth element which is “the greatest of all the magics” … it is the battle for the stolen codex that brings together two ancient warring powers, Nicholas Flamel and John Dee, and forms the basis of this tale - a story that takes us from an ordinary street in San Francisco to the heart of Yggdrasill in a fantastic shadowrealm, weaving its way through the worlds of the Great Queen Morrigan and The Mistress of Air, the Witch of Endor.

Overall, I thought the concept of the story was brilliant - it was a really good fantasy story, with some truly memorable characters and moments. From the undead stone Golems that come marching in to the small bookshop where Josh Newman works, to Hekate’s house in the parallel universe of the shadowrealm where Sophie and Josh, Nicholas and Scathach take refuge, this was a fantastic world.

I also liked how the ancient myth in the story is constantly linked to actual history and legend that we are all aware of, thereby heightening the sense of credibility. To take an example, the earliest gods such as Anubis are said to have animal shapes because of the Toc clans that lived along with humans hundreds of years ago.

“The two that are one, the one that is all” … I thought that the prophecy in this story was awesome. In fact, it was a little disappointing that the second part of this prophecy, where there is confusion about the interpretation pertaining to saving or destroying the world, was not explored a little more. Josh’s introduction to necromancy serving as a nemesis to Sophie’s Awakening was barely touched upon before being abandoned hurriedly. Then again, this was the first book of a series; the subject may be broached later.

For me, where the book fell short of being truly memorable was in its telling. With the rich ideas that form its core, I feel a lot more could have been done with the narrative. The pace seemed to lag at times, making the reading quite boring. And when all was said and done, not a lot really happened - it really came down to a fight, a run to another place, another big fight, another escape, the end. A good story somehow missed the mark in its story telling.

Still, this was a good read, and I will definitely be checking out the next in the series!