Nicholas Flamel was born in Paris on 28 September 1330. Nearly seven hundred years later, he is acknowledged as the greatest Alchemyst of his day. It is said that he discovered the secret of eternal life. The records show that he died in 1418. But his tomb is empty and Nicholas Flamel lives. The secret of eternal life is hidden within the book he protects - the Book of Abraham the Mage. It's the most powerful book that has ever existed. In the wrong hands, it will destroy the world. And that's exactly what Dr. John Dee plans to do when he steals it. Humankind won't know what's happening until it's too late. And if the prophecy is right, Sophie and Josh Newman are the only ones with the power to save the world as we know it. Sometimes legends are true. And Sophie and Josh Newman are about to find themselves in the middle of the greatest legend of all time.

The Alchemyst: Book 1 (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel)

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Product details

Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Doubleday Childrens; First Edition edition (24 May 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0385612931
ISBN-13: 978-0385612937
Product Dimensions: 16.3 x 3.3 x 22.3 cm
Average Customer Review: 67 customer reviews
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,128,307 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #6991 in Books > Young Adult > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Sword & Sorcery
- #8257 in Books > Young Adult > Love & Romance > Paranormal & Fantasy
- #10119 in Books > Young Adult > Action & Adventure

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Product description

Review

The king of fantasy. (The Irish Times)

A cracking adventure. (The Bookseller)

Clever and exciting modern fantasy (The Glasgow Herald 2007-05-19)

Already a bestseller in the US and with a film adaptation on the way, Michael Scott's beautifully produced new children's novel, The Alchemyst, now arrives on this side of the atlantic. (Robert Dunbar Irish Times 2007-10-06)

Cracking characters, sizzling action scenes; an excellent read (Irish Independent 2007-12-11)

This flambouyantly stylish work succeeds in weaving a mesmerising plot around an impressive mythological framework. Essentially, this intertextually complex story bridges fantasy and realism. (Inis 2008-07-01)

Book Description

An ancient book is lost and the modern world could be ripped apart at the seams.

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars

5 star		44
4 star		13
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2 star		3
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Top customer reviews

Great book for kids and adults.

ByBen Peytonon 27 April 2011

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I love action / adventure books by authors such as Matthew Reilly, James Rollins, Andy McDermott and Scott Mariani, to name just a few. The first two writers I mentioned have also written books for young adults which are hugely entertaining and so, I'm not against reading books meant for a younger audience. I'm 33 and enjoy feeling younger through the excitement only a book can bring.

Michael Scott has created a highly entertaining world of magic and legend that has the energy and action to appeal to adults as well as younger people. The frenetic pace kicks off immediately and hardly lets up making this a real page turner.

I've already bought book two and look forward to reading it.

It's not just Harry Potter that is capable of casting a spell over readers.

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Four Stars

Bystuon 11 August 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Good books but expensive .

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"I am legend. Death has no claim over me, illness cannot touch me. . . For I am the immortal Nicholas Flamel".

ByBridaTOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE VOICEon 26 August 2008

Format: Paperback

THE ALCHEMYST is the beginning of a new children's series with magic firmly at its heart.

Sophie and Josh Newman are twins who are staying in San Francisco during the summer while their parents are on an archeological dig. Josh has a job at a small bookshop, Sophie works in a coffee shop directly across the road. On May 31st, their life changes forever as they are drawn into a battle that has been going on for more than a lifetime. For Josh's boss, Nick Fleming, is really Nicholas Flamel, the famous alchemyst who discovered the secret to eternal life. For centuries, Nicholas has been guarding the sacred book The Book of Abraham the Mage, as this book enables him and his wife to stay youthful, but also because the power it contains could destroy the world if in the wrong hands. For years, Dr. John Dee has been trying to steal this book, and on May 31st, he does just that. Now nothing will ever be the same again.

That is basically the plot. Sounds pretty good, and the action starts straight away. However, I came away from this book feeling slightly disappointed. For me, the writing was not as exciting as it could have been. Whilst the beginning was brilliant, in the middle the pace did slow down quite dramatically. And I don't feel that Scott did a very good job of developing his characters - I cannot really say that I cared for either Josh or Sophie particularly. However, what I did love about THE ALCHEMYST was Scott's use of mythology and science as well as magic. It gave the book a little extra something, rather than just relying on magic to excite.
Still can't say that I was enthralled by it though - and I'm not sure if I'm going to bother checking out the next installment.

22 Comments 13 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel book 1

BySarah (Feeling Fictional)TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE VOICEon 3 August 2010

Format: Paperback

Fifteen year old Sophie is spending the summer working in a coffee shop while her twin brother Josh works in the book shop over the road. When she sees a strange car turn up outside the book shop she is worried for her brothers safety and goes over to check on him. She soon realises that both she & Josh have stumbled into a world of magic and placed themselves in great danger. It turns out that Josh's boss is the famous alchemyst Nicholas Flamel and he has been protecting a book that contains secrets that could cause the end of the world for almost seven hundred years. Nicholas' enemy John Dee has finally caught up with him and when he escapes - with the book and Nicholas' wife Perenelle as a hostage - life will never be the same again. Josh manages to keep hold of the last 2 pages of the book but now Dee is searching for them, wanting to steal the missing pages. They are going to need to find powerful friends if they are going to keep the pages out of Dee's hands and survive his attacks.

The lovely publicist Corinne from Random House Children's Books spoke so highly of this series that I was really looking forward to giving it a try. I'm so glad I did as I found The Alchemyst a really enjoyable fantasy adventure story. Michael Scott has created a detailed world full of magic & myths with a bit of world history thrown in for good measure. I loved the way he has woven legends alongside real events to create a fun adventure story that will be popular with both boys and girls. Although I liked both Sophie and Josh it was Nick, Perry and Scatty who were my favorite characters and who really jumped out of the pages at me.

Sophie and Josh have been thrust into a secret world of immortals, Goddesses and mythological creatures that they never would have suspected existed. It isn't an easy world to be introduced to and what they have seen has placed them in great danger. Nick is very good at only telling part of the story so they can never be quite sure if he has told them everything they need to know and they are wary of trusting him fully. It quickly becomes clear that Nick believes that the twins are the key to saving the world from the Dark Elders (immortals who want to take over the world, reducing humanity to their slaves) but it is going to take time to train them and for them to grow into their full powers. Time that they may not have when Dee is on their trail and determined to destroy them.

Overall The Alchemyst is an enjoyable start to the series and will appeal to fantasy fans young and old. Having both male and female main characters mean it will appeal to both boys and girls and I'd definitely recommend you give the series a try if you've yet to discover it. I already have a copy of The Magician and after the cliffhanger ending of The Alchemyst it won't be long before I'm picking it up to continue the adventure.

0Comment 5 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

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Most recent customer reviews

Five Stars

brought as a present

Published 6 months ago by Amazon Customer

Five Stars

brilliant

Published 11 months ago by w bates

amazing

an epic opening to an amazing series.
the mix of magic and modern society grips the reader and makes you want to read more
love it.

Published 11 months ago by Amazon Customer

Fantastic book series for kids and adults alike

I bought this book a couple of years ago for my 7 year old daughter, it's a fab read, we have adventured with Nicholas and Perenelle, Sophie, Josh and Scathach throughout the...Read more

Published 1 year ago by Kerry

Read if you like Harry potter

Excellent book! Loved the connections to Harry Potter, but the story was good in its own right!

Published 1 year ago by Amazon Customer

Brilliant, can't wait to read the next

Brilliant book, characters are deep and wonderful. Story is compelling! Perhaps slow to start but perfect once it got going!

Published 1 year ago by Amazon Customer

Amazing!

What an amazing book! I'd say suitable for children from around 9 years old - if they are really confident readers. Then suitable up to adults.Read more

Published 1 year ago by hk

Ok, but I won't be continuing the series.

The story is ok, but the writing was at times predictable. The characters felt a little one dimensional and generally lacking depth.

Published 1 year ago by @fee_lucy

Amazing

Well written, unputdownable, book.

Published 1 year ago by Samantha Gleave

Brilliant

Wow,another author to delight, inform and intrigue....I can't wait to get started on the next book in this series...definitely worth a read

Published 1 year ago by SkullWitchery

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