*PLOT spoiler if you haven't read The Alchemist.
Perenelle, too, is dying.
The spell that has kept us alive these six hundred years is fading, and now we age a year for every day that passes. I need the Codex, the Book of Abraham the Mage, to re-create the immortality spell; without it, we have less than a month to live.
The morning of May 31st Sophie and Josh led quiet lives. Two days later, everything has changed. Hecate awakened Sophie's powers, Perenelle has been imprisoned on Alcatraz, and the most dangerous magician in the world is chasing them, determined to do anything to get the last two pages of the Codex.
Traveling through a leygate, Nicholas, Sophie, Josh, and Scathach are now in Paris. And not only is Dr. John Dee chasing them, Niccolo Machiavelli, the most powerful man in France, is joining in the chase.
"Find Flamel and the twins," Dee demanded. "Capture them. Kill Scathach if you can."
Flamel is able to find a friend in Paris, the Comte de Saint-Germain and his wife. The Comte, Francis, and his wife, Joan (Joan of Arc), can offer the much-needed rest and food the group desperately needs.
Josh can't help but feel jealous because his powers have not yet been awakened, and he sees the tremendous distance growing between him and Sophie. He is not convinced that Flamel is to be trusted.
"Sis, we know next to nothing about these people...Flamel, Perenelle and Scathach. The only thing we do know is that they've made you different - dangerously different. They've taken us halfway across the world, and look where we are now...We can't trust them, Soph. We shouldn't."
To try to earn Josh's trust, Nicholas gives him two gifts: the last two pages of the Codex and the infamous Clarent - the sword of fire. Using the sword, Josh realizes he'll do anything for his powers to be awakened.
Dr. Dee and Machiavelli are forced to fight the twins, Scatty and Flamel in Paris, and Dee will do anything to get what he wants. Usually what Dee wants, Dee gets.
Meanwhile, Perenelle is held prisoner on Alcatraz.
Can Sophie, Josh, Scatty, and Joan fight off the terrible monsters Dee and Machiavelli call upon to kill them? Can Josh and Sophie stay united?
I loved this book for a bunch of reasons. It's packed with really interesting history, takes place in Paris, and the characters are easy to connect with. There are parts of the book where you can't help but yell out, NO! And feel the adrenaline of battle, the thrill of victory.
After I graduated from college, I backpacked through western Europe. I visited Paris three times. The first time was a huge disappointment. The second time was bitterly cold, but my third visit was everything I'd imagined. I spent three weeks scouring all of the sights of the city, including the famous Ossuary of Denfert Rochereau (before it was remodeled). My guide book said that I needed a flashlight for my visit to the catacombs, but I was traveling very light and on a tight budget. And since it was a tourist sight, I figured how bad could it be? I have never been so scared in my entire life! A mile below the streets of Paris, water dripping from the curved ceiling, a low-watt bulb every 100+ feet, no one in sight, and millions of bones. I loved that part of the story took place in one of the creepiest places I've ever seen.
I also loved when Nicholas went to visit his home in Paris. Here are a couple of pictures of his house, which are cool to see after you read that part of the book.
Rating: 10 out of 10 stars
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