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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Physician, heal thyself - but if that fails, get some help, 21 April 2007
Fans of Magyk and Flyte will be very pleased to know that Angie Sage has done it again. Physik is the third in the young adult series about that OTHER wizard boy named Septimus Heap, and as I understand it, there will be two more books in the making. Physik is pretty long at over 500 pages, and rivals the more recent Potter books for complexity of plot, skullduggery and dark deeds.
Although the book deals with some very DARKE subject matter, Sage manages to keep it light with just the right touch of humor, juggling her characters with consummate skill, while adding her exciting new characters into the mix. In Physik, we see Septimus becoming extremely interested in the study of Alchemie, and more specifically, ancient medicines and cures as discovered by Marcellus Pye five hundred years before. This is terribly upsetting to Marcia Overstrand, the ExtraOrdinary Wizard to whom he is still apprenticed, as she'd much rather that he concentrate on studying for his Prediction exams than meddle with such "drivel".
Unfortunately for the majority of the characters, old and new, major or minor, there's a new villainess in town, and when the quite substantial ghost of the dreaded Queen Etheldredda is accidentally let loose, along with her venomous pet Aie Aie, you can make a safe bet that there's going to be lots of trouble. Coincidentally, or maybe not, a deadly "sickenesse" befalls the populace, and just at the wrong time, a young trader named Snorri (who sees dead people) arrives with not much else but her boatload of merchandise and her pet cat for protection. She soon finds herself in the middle of a time warping adventure with Septimus, Jenna and Nicko, as they muck around with not only boats, but looking glasses, fume cupboards, ancient potions, sheep bones and a flatulent dragon that needs to be in diapers. With a little help from their friends, they must get Septimus back to Marcia's for safe keeping, cure the deadly "sickenesse", and foil the evil Queen's plan for living forever.
You should be warned that the author has no misgivings about killing off a character here and there, and of course, some characters have actually been dead for centuries, but the story is so well told that the only part sure to send a shiver up your spine is the thought of the Queen's duckling a l'orange dinner. Highly recommended if you've read Magyk and Flyte, but not until then.
Amanda Richards
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by Angie Sage
by Angie Sage
by Angie Sage
by Angie Sage
by Angie Sage
