Book Review of The Sorceress - The Secrets of The Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott

Book Three in the New York Times bestselling series.

Nicholas Flamel's heart almost broke as he watched his beloved Paris crumble before him. The city was destroyed by Dee and Machiavelli, but Flamel played his own role in the destruction. Sophie and Josh Newman show every sign of being the twins of prophecy, and Flamel had to protect them and the pages from the Dark Elders.

But Nicholas grows weaker with each passing day. Perenelle is still trapped in Alcatraz, and now that Scatty has gone missing, the group is without protection. Except for Clarent—the twin sword to Excalibur. But Clarent’s power is unthinkable, its evil making it nearly impossible to use without its darkness seeping into the soul of whoever wields it.

If he hopes to defeat Dee, Nicholas must find an Elder who can teach Josh and Sophie the third elemental magic—Water Magic. The problem? The only one who can do that is Gilgamesh, and he is quite, quite insane.

The Sorceress is the third, in the six book series from Michael Scott, The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel.

Following on from The Magician, Nicholas Flamel, Josh and Sophie leave Paris after only just escaping Dr John Dee and Niccolo Machiavelli. They head to London, which seems to be their only option, although, this is Dee's hometown, where he is most strongest, it is also the only place in Europe where they will find someone to train the Twins in the third elemental magic of Water.

Josh and Sophie are now both awakened and need to master this element quickly. Luckily for the twins, Gilgamesh the King can be found at Stonehenge, where if convinced, he can train them both to use this new power.

Little do the Twins know, Nicholas has not been honest with them, Gilgamesh is totally insane and may refuse to train them. If this happens they will not be able to get home and will be stuck in London to once again face Dee and his evil ways.

Scott again introduces more of exciting and legendary characters to the story including Palamedes, who is pretty integral in helping the twins and Flammel. He puts them up in his home, a junkyard in London, where with his help they manage to briefly contact Perenelle, who is still trapped on Alcatraz.

This book is mainly about Perenelle and focuses on the amazing Sorceress’s abilities that aid in her escape from Alcatraz. She befriends Areop-Enap, an unlikely ally, who helps her evade the Sphinx and defeat the Morrigan. Perenelle is determined to get off Alcatraz and with the help of Aerop-Enap she fends off a swarm of poisoned flies, then outsmarts Billy the Kid and Machiavelli where she steals their boat and escapes to the mainland.

In the meantime Nicholas, The Twins, Palamedes and William Shakespeare are embroiled in a major battle with an ancient being summoned by the Dark Elders and Dee. Althought the group escape barely, Josh loses Clarent which is slyly picked up by Dee who in turn reunites it with its twin, Excalibur.

The Sorceress is by far my favourite of the series. Scott continues to intrigue me with even more exciting characters from history, legend and myth. I love the fast paced nature and all the action that it brings.

I was so amazed with the way the Sorceress ends that I had to start reading the fourth book, The Necromancer, straight away.

If you are a fan of fantasy, mythology and legend and have not read these books I thoroughly recommend this series.

“The line between confidence and arrogance is very fine, Josh,” Flamel said quietly.

“And the line between arrogance and stupidity even finer. Sophie,” he added, without looking at her.

“There have always been people like you, Nicholas Flamel. People who think they know what's best, who decide what people should see and read and listen to, who ultimately try to shape how the rest of the world think and acts. I've spent my entire life fighting the likes of you.”