Physik

Physik by Angie Sage

I cannot tell you the last time that I wanted to sit and read and read and read until I was finished with a book. I think it might have been last November. Whew! Of course, it helped that I was given the opportunity to sit and read hundreds of pages in practically one sitting. Happy Independence Day America! Since I began this book, I have averaged nearly 200 pages a day and I just didn’t want to stop. I was fascinated by the new characters and I was invested in their well-being or their just demise.

The conflict of this book begins by the innocent opening of a door. Okay, not so innocent and more lack of common sense on the part of Septimus Heap’s father, Silas. Silas is looking for a place to keep his animated game pieces so that they will learn and grow without escaping or disappearing. He finds a room in the attic that will suffice. The door is Sealed and Silas should have had second thoughts. Unfortunately, Silas, being Silas, does not have even first thoughts and he immediately Unseals the door without considering why it might be Sealed in the first place. What has been purposefully kept inside?

The answer is the Substantial Spirit of a long dead and quite dreadful Queen… Etheldredda and her pet aie-aie. Queen Ethel-Dreadful, 500 years ago, had plans in place to live forever and as soon as she is freed from her enchanted portrait in the attic room, she sets her sights on the throne with the intent to be Queen forever… But first, she must get rid of Jenna, the Queen-in-waiting. And before that, she must send a seventh son of a seventh son back 500 years to finish the tincture for the Eternal Life potion. She needs Jenna to lure Septimus in.

The always disapproving Queen blackmails Jenna into convincing Septimus to look into a Looking Glass and Septimus finds himself a prisoner in Time. It is actually not as bad as you might think. Imagine going back in time and not only meeting your hero, but being his apprentice. Septimus has been fascinated by Marcellus Pye, famous Alchemist and Physician, since beginning his apprenticeship to ExtraOrdinary Wizard, Marcia Overstrand. Marcia is not impressed with Pye’s line of work and discourages Septimus from digging deep into the studies of Physik. Picture Septimus’ surprise to find himself apprenticed to Pye himself.

Over the course of 169 days, Septimus is immersed in all things Alchemie and Physik. This is a very good thing. When Queen Etheldredda was released from her prison, a horrible Sicknesse was also unleashed upon the town’s inhabitants. A deadly Sicknesse for which there is no known cure. Little does Jenna know that she will be saving the residents of the The Castle as well as her brother as she and her compatriots rush to find Septimus with the help of Spit Fyre the dragon.

I loved the first book in the Septimus Heap series, Magyk. I was less entranced with its sequel, Flyte. Physik gives me hope for the remaining volumes. I am recommending it for voracious 5^th grade readers as well as for those in junior high. It’s over 500 pages long, but it flies by swiftly. Being more of a mind game, than an action adventure, this series seems to have a greater female following. It is a less sinister and violent Harry Potter. I was only squeamish when the Queen served plucked and alive baby ducklings in soup bowls to be scalded with orange sauce for a banquet. That was truly the worst moment. You are warned.