From the Shelf: The Necromancer (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel book 4)

Title: The Necromancer (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel book 4)

Author: Michael Scott

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Magic, Mythology

Date read: June 2, 2013
Dawn Rates: ★★★★ (4/5)

Summary (cr: goodreads)

San Francisco:
Josh and Sophie Newman are finally home. And they're both more confused than ever about their future. Neither of them has mastered the magics they'll need to protect themselves, they've lost Scatty, and they're still being pursued by Dr. John Dee. Most disturbing of all, however, is that now they must ask themselves, can they trust Nicholas Flamel? Can they trust anyone?

Alcatraz:
Dr. Dee underestimated Perenelle Flamel's power. Alcatraz could not hold her, Nereus was no match for her, and she was able to align herself with the most unlikely of allies. But she wasn't the only one being held on the island. Behind the prison's bars and protective sigils were a menagerie of monsters, and now Machiavelli has come to Alcatraz to loose them on San Francisco.

Perenelle might be powerful, but each day she weakens, and even with Nicholas back at her side, a battle of this size could be too much for her. Nicholas and Perenelle must fight to protect the city, but the effort will probably kill them both.

London:
Having been unable to regain the two final pages of the Codex, Dee has failed his Elder and is now an outlaw.

But the Magician has a plan. With the Codex and the creatures on Alcatraz, he can control the world. All he needs is the help of the Archons. But for his plan to work, he must raise the Mother of the Gods from the dead. For that, he'll have to train a necromancer.

My Review: (also in goodreads)

Here comes the 4th book of the seies (The Alchemyst, The Magician, The Sorceress) hours after the event wherein the trio (Nicholas, Josh and Sophie) came back to San Francisco through the leygate of the Stonehenge in London...as well as the reunion of Perenelle and Nicholas. Everyone temporarily went back to their lives but was forced to go back and face the magic when new characters Aoife (Scatty's twin) and Niten went looking for the shadow warrior. Finally, Josh learns the magic of the elemental fire straight from Prometheus. But as long as the Flamels keep a part of the bigger picture from the twins and leave them in the dark, the antagonists could use that against them and it could be the start of their downfall. What's interesting is that whoever was awakened is now connected for life to the elder that awakened them...and that the elders who awakened the twins were once married (that's a shocker). And obviously, the necromancer being pertained is John Dee. 

This book is far more interesting for me compared to the other books. Although the characters aren't together, the flow of the story line wasn't compromised and scattered. There was a hint of the right cliffhanger as the scenes shift to another set of characters (or chapter). More doubts are entertained; and honestly I didn't know if anyone says the truth anymore and for some reason I'm having these thoughts that maybe Josh and Sophie's parents are also involved in the magical world. oh, well...let's see. New characters are being introduced and loyalties are being tested. What I'm really curious at the moment is the identity of the hook-handed man; it seems like he anticipated what was happening and that everything and everyone were pawns to his game. He always had a mark in everyone's past. I don't know where the story goes, I just hope that it clears every cliffhanger and question introduced in the series.

Till the next read...