Customer Reviews
Great Read! 
2008-02-13
I cant wait for the next! If you loved Harry potter, or the lord of the rings youll love it!
Ho, hum..... 
2008-02-11
Somewhat engaging, with plenty of different characters and challenges and dire escapes galore. Some interesting esoteric references and even a little physics (parallel worlds), but without the really "real" characters and creations of a true children's/young adult classic. Certainly a lot of opportunities for special effects for the movie "The Golden Compass". Don't even think about "Lyra's Oxford" - just a little extra chapter that could have gone into the book.
For Harry Potter Fans 
2008-02-06
Having read about the character of Nicholas Flamel in the first Harry Potter novel, I was intrigued to see another book mentioning the same person. I decided to give this book a try, and I loved it! All the characters are well written, and except for the twins, all the characters really existed. The true story of Nicholas and Perenelle (his wife) is equally mysterious. I anxiously await book #2 in this wonderful series!
Courtesy of Teens Read Too 2008-02-06
Two twins can change the world, but little do they realize their whole lives are about to change when Dr. Dee walks into the bookstore where Josh works. Sophie, who works across the street, senses something suspicious after watching the strange man.
After a magical fight that involves both siblings, they discover Josh's boss isn't exactly who he's claiming to be.
He is in fact the famous Nicolas Flamel, whose tomb lies empty. He and his wife have been on the run to escape Dr. Dee's clutches and hide a magical book, which holds more secrets than anyone imagines. When Dr Dee captures Nicholas's wife and part of the book, Nicholas reacts quickly. Since the twins have already been exposed, he allows them to accompany him as he sets forth to recover both Perry and the book.
Michael Scott pens the first novel in a new series with action-packed adventure and fantasy. Harry Potter fans will, of course, recognize the name Nicholas Flamel, but that's where the similarities between the two stories end. THE ALCHEMYST delivers a fresh spin on magic that is sure to please.
Reviewed by: Jennifer Rummel
The Alchmyst 2008-02-01
I was first drawn towards this book because I thought it was a spin-off from Harry Potter. Well, it's not, but that doesn't mean it's not great. This book can hold it's own. I can't wait for the next book!
Enjoyable, highly entertaining 2008-07-20
Honestly, I really enjoyed this book. It's not perfect; it's not a masterpiece; but it enveloped me in a different world for awhile, forcing my imagination into overdrive--and isn't that what we all look for when we read fantasy fiction? If you love the Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter, then I can almost guarantee you you'll find this an enjoyable read. Mythology, as well as alchemy, have always fascinated me, and although the true practice of alchemy isn't really delved into, the book is still great. And truthfully, I'm not sure that a book aimed towards young adults should really be describing alchemy in detail anyway. The sparseness used in describing alchemy is well-intentioned, and I think serves the author well. This is meant to be an entertaining work of fiction, NOT a guidebook into the mystic realm, or whatever you want to call it. So in that aspect I find I must disagree with another reviewer who dismissed the book entirely based on its lack of descriptiveness.
All in all, I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys getting lost in another world for awhile. The main characters, in my estimation, are fully developed, and there are most definitely not too many to keep up with, as someone else stated. I had no trouble at all following them. (And I admit to hating books with too many characters--I know how tiresome it can become.)
Go! Buy! Read! And enjoy. :)
Great plot, writing style was a bit rough 2008-06-30
Let me first say that I am a reading teacher. I often pick up books like this to see if my students might be interested in it. I would expect my students (ages 10-14) would really enjoy this book. It is extraordinarily fast-paced, is very explicit in the plot line and there are tons of little myths, legends and facts spend throughout the book. The reason I don't give the book a 5-star rating is that I believe the author goes overboard with the pace and tells us things that would have been better shown or described. Of the series picks up fans i could see it being made into a movie though. It does have a really good plot and "universe" for the characters to run around in.
Dr. John Dee will set you free 2008-05-03
The twins Josh and Sophie start out thee day as normal to find that people they know, they really did not know, and a sane mundane world is anything but. Soon they find themselves part of a ten thousand year old prophecy that may bring about the demise of the world as we know it.
Needless to say I was drawn in to this title by the name of Nicolas Flámel. Instead of a biography I found a story that incorporated many mythical creatures and historic events into a consistent chase of bad guys against good guys that covers many of the major world's well know landmarks mostly in California or off shore. My favorite character is the Witch of Endor only a grand daughter could love.
One warning is that this book is a true cliffhanger and of no use without the second book.
The Magician: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel
A Pot of Stew 2008-04-28
This book is not a great book, but it's not a bad book either. Teen twins Josh and Sophie are working part time jobs right across the street from another and are happily going about their days when they are soon swept up into a world of magic and mayhem they never dreamed existed. I loved the aspect of the author creating fictional characters out of Flamel and Dee, but as one other reviewer mentioned, to title the book the Alchemyst, and then not have much alchemy in the book was very disappointing. If you are a reader who likes non-stop action and lots of cool magic, you'll love this book. But for me I felt it was all flash and bang, one action scene after another that just doesnt stop to take a breath, and in between there was no substance. The characters are well developed and all likeable, however I felt that the bad guy of John Dee, wasnt really a great evil enemy, he was a bit of a wimp if you ask me. He should have been much more terrifying, and like Flamel, he used minions to do his dirty work. In fact, I found both the characters of Dee and Flamel very lame. The magic used however is very creative and fun and used not in the ways that other YA fantasy stories use it. My major gripe with this book is that the author threw in way too many myths and legends, gods and goddesses and mythical beasts from around the world. It was too much and there were too many. The author had this big stew pot where he just tossed in every legendary myth and creature and then stirred it around and ladled out muck. I think if he had geared the story around one featured myth from one culture, say Norse, or Egyptian, or Celtic, it would have had much more depth to it. We find Egyptian sphinxes and cat goddesses, Excalibur, vampires, Odin, golems and ghosts, Babylonian, stories of Atlantis, Greek, African....it was just too much to throw all these elements in the pot to come out a polished novel. The other thing I found hard to swallow was that all the events in the book took place in two days. There was too much action and too much travel from one spot to the next, too many rollercoaster ride events to make a two day time span believable. But, if you are into thrill books that are fast paced and don't care too much about substance or a well developed background story, you might like this. There were aspects that I did like, some I didn't like, but on the whole I cant give this a rave review. I might pick up the sequel to see if the story develops more or just to see how it ends, but I cant say I'll be running right out on the release date to get it. It's a fun book but not fabulous.
Reads like a B-Movie Script 
2008-03-24
This book reads like you are watching a made for TV movie. It has an interesting premise, but the characters are completely flat, and it feels like the teens were added to the story after the fact as an attempt to find an audience for this poorly constucted book.
