The Magician: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel
First Edition USA cover of The Magician: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel
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| Author | Michael Scott |
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| Cover artist | Michael Wagner |
| Country | Ireland |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel |
| Genre | Fantasy, Thriller, Mythology novel |
| Publisher | Random House |
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Publication date
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5 June 2008 (UK) |
| Media type | Print (hardback) |
| Pages | 461 pp (US Hardback) |
| ISBN | (UK) (US) |
| Preceded by | The Alchemyst |
| Followed by | The Sorceress |
| Website | [1] |
The Magician: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel (often shortened to The Magician) is the second novel in the six book fantasy fiction series The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel and is the sequel to The Alchemyst. It was released on 5 June 2008 in the United Kingdom, and 24 June 2008 in the United States. It was nominated for an Irish Book of the Year Award, The Dublin Airport Authority Irish Children's Book of the Year – Senior Category.
The book's title, The Magician, refers to the villain, John Dee, who works for the Dark Elders and for their return to dominance on Earth.
"Dee had so many talents, he could have been any of the characters – indeed, I have written elsewhere that he was the original hero of this series. He was The Alchemyst of the title. In his own time, he was always principally known as 'The Magician.'"
Sophie and Josh Newman – 15-year-old twins – are in Paris with the alchemyst, Nicholas Flamel, and his friend, Scathach. They now face Niccolò Machiavelli and his colleague, but also rival, John Dee, who both work for the Dark Elders. Machiavelli is plotting to capture the twins and Flamel with the missing pages of the Codex – or Book of Abraham the Mage – before Dee can arrive in France from San Francisco. The twins seek out a friend and student to Nicholas, Comte de Saint-Germain, who teaches Sophie to use the elemental magic of Fire. Saint-Germain's wife, Joan of Arc, helps Sophie to learn to control her aura and to sort out the Witch of Endor's memories from her own. Josh is given the legendary stone sword Clarent, twin blade of Excalibur, by Nicholas. Clarent is an ancient Fire Elemental sword. Josh, Joan, and Scathach encounter three Disir, more commonly referred to as Valkyries. The Disir are ancient enemies of Scathach and bring along the soul-devouring Nidhogg, a ferocious monster once trapped in the roots of Yggdrasil – the world tree. The monster was freed after Dee destroyed Yggdrasil and attacks Scathach but fails to slay her. Instead, it captures Scathach in its claws, but flees with Scathach when the ancient sword Clarent, wielded by Josh, wounds it. Meanwhile, Nicholas' wife, Perenelle Flamel, who had been captured, is taken to Alcatraz as a prisoner.
While Josh is fighting Nidhogg, Joan of Arc and Sophie are busy fighting two of the Disir. After a lengthy battle, Sophie manages to freeze the two in an iceberg. They chase after Nidhogg. As Nidhogg flees, Dee, Machiavelli and Dagon (Machiavelli's assistant), who are watching, express remorse at the Disir's failure. Machiavelli then allows Dagon to chase Nidhogg and kill Scathach if the beast fails to do so. The monster escapes through the streets of Paris, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. One of the trio of Disir, as well as Josh (who is still trying to save Scathach) follow. They arrive on the banks of the Seine and, with the help of Dee, Josh manages to stall the Disir and escape. He then leaves with Dee and Machiavelli. Sophie, Joan, and Nicholas arrive, defeat the Disir and Nidhogg, but Scathach gets pulled into the water by Dagon. She isn't seen for the rest of the book.
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