Michael Scott

Tales of the Bard — (1987-1989) Publisher: A figure stepped out from beneath the trees-and the bard stopped in his tracks. The shape was man-like, a head and taller than Paedur, as thin as a sword — and completely enveloped from head to foot in a cloak of seared and withered leaves. ‘Bard come forth; face me.’ So begin the extraordinary adventures of Paedur the Bard. Confronted by the hideous figure of Mannam, Lord of the Dead, Sovereign of the Silent Wood, a perilous deal is struck. And in the course of its mysterious fulfilment, Paedur travels through awesome, magical realms of enchantment, terror and brutal powers, where the forces of darkness are always at his heels, threatening to engulf the enlightenment he so boldly upholds…

The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel — (2007-2012) Young adult. Publisher: He holds the secret that can end the world. The truth: Nicholas Flamel was born in Paris on September 28, 1330. Nearly 700 years later, he is acknowledged as the greatest Alchemyst of his day. It is said that he discovered the secret of eternal life. The records show that he died in 1418. But his tomb is empty. The legend: Nicholas Flamel lives. But only because he has been making the elixir of life for centuries. The secret of eternal life is hidden within the book he protects — the Book of Abraham the Mage. It's the most powerful book that has ever existed. In the wrong hands, it will destroy the world. That's exactly what Dr. John Dee plans to do when he steals it. Humankind won't know what's happening until it's too late. And if the prophecy is right, Sophie and Josh Newman are the only ones with the power to save the world as we know it. Sometimes legends are true. And Sophie and Josh Newman are about to find themselves in the middle of the greatest legend of all time.

Available for download at Audible.com

The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel

The 14th century alchemist alchemyst Nicholas Flamel has the secret codex containing the recipe for the elixir of life hanging around his neck. For centuries, Dr. John Dee has been hunting for him because he wants that book. Dee has finally traced Flamel to his bookstore in 21^st century California. He busts in, gets all but the last two pages of the book, and kidnaps Flamel’s wife. Now the world is in danger because Dee plans to bring the dark Elder gods to power and they will enslave humans. When twins Josh and Sophie witness the crime, they get dragged into the mess. Along the way, they learn that, OMG, there’s a prophecy about twins saving the world!

The most intriguing aspect of The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel is the overall worldview that Michael Scott has developed. His elder god mythology accounts for all the other known pantheons, numerous archeological discoveries, various myths and legends (e.g., vampires, ghosts, Atlantis), historical events (e.g., the flood, the great fire of London, the Irish famine), real historical figures, and even fictional characters such as Frankenstein. I’ve seen this done before and I think it’s a fun idea and has tons of educational potential for its YA audience, but I tend to become gradually annoyed as the author continues to add more and more to it until it just gets messy. I groaned out loud when Excalibur showed up and then nearly turned off the audiobook when the Witch of Endor had a New York accent and claimed to have given humans both fire and the alphabet. I have to admit, though, that the thought of the Morrigan shopping on eBay is pretty funny.

Unfortunately, this world-building seems to be the main intent of the book, so the plot and characterization suffer. The characters are only superficially developed. We’re told a lot about each of them, but by the end of the book it feels more like we’ve read their biographies than that we really got to know them. The plot mostly consists of running away, hiding, discovering prophecies, and suddenly gaining magical powers. It’s predictable and lacks intensity and excitement. Instead, there’s lots of dialogue and repetitive explanations designed to incorporate all of those disparate mythological and historical elements into the worldview.

The plot has other problems — people just don’t behave reasonably. It was hard to take The Alchemyst seriously from the very beginning when, after centuries of hiding the codex from Dr. Dee and after telling him it had been destroyed, Nicholas Flamel whips it out so he can consult it to cast a spell at Dee... What? You’ve had that little book around your neck for 600 years and you didn’t bother to learn the spell you need to cast against the enemy who’s been chasing you for that long? And then you whip it out right in front of him when you know he’s stronger than you? Unforgiveable.

The Alchemyst is likely to be enjoyable for YA readers who like learning about mythology and history — they’ll learn a lot and perhaps their zeal will make them less prone to notice the shallow plot and characters. Adults with full bookshelves will probably be less satisfied. I read the audiobook version of The Alchemyst and found that the performance of the narrator, Denis O'Hare, made this book bearable for me. His delightful accents and inflections, and his genuinely serious performance, were entertaining. I hope to read more from him in the future. —Kat Hooper

Select stand-alone novels:

Etruscans: Beloved of the Gods — (1999) With Morgan Llywelyn. Publisher: In the early days of the Roman Empire, the noble Etruscan civilization in Italy is waning, Vesi, a young Etruscan noblewoman, is violated by a renegade supernatural being. Outcast then from Etruria, Vesi bears Horatrim, a child who carries inexplicable knowledge and grows to manhood in only six years. But a savage Roman attack leaves Vesi unresponsive and Horatrim homeless and vulnerable, and he travels to Rome where his talents confound powerful businessman Propertius, who arranges to adopt Horatrim as a son, changing his name to Horatius. And all the while his demon father is seeking him to kill him, for Horatius is a conduit through which the demon might be found and destroyed.

The Thirteen Hallows — (2011) With Colette Freedman. Publisher: The Hallows. Ancient artifacts imbued with a primal and deadly power. But are they protectors of this world, or the keys to its destruction? A gruesome murder in London reveals a sinister plot to uncover a two-thousand-year-old secret. For decades, the Keepers guarded these Hallows, keeping them safe and hidden and apart from each other. But now the Keepers are being brutally murdered, their prizes stolen, the ancient objects bathed in their blood. Now, only a few remain. With her dying breath, one of the Keepers convinces Sarah Miller, a practical stranger, to deliver her Hallow — a broken sword with devastating powers — to her American nephew, Owen. The duo quickly become suspects in a series of murders as they are chased by both the police and the sadistic Dark Man and his nubile mistress. As Sarah and Owen search for the surviving Keepers, they unravel the deadly secret the Keepers were charged to protect. The mystery leads Sarah and Owen on a cat-and-mouse chase through England and Wales, and history itself, as they discover that the sword may be the only thing standing between the world… and a horror beyond imagining. The Thirteen Hallows is the beginning of a spellbinding new saga, a thrilling tale of ancient magic and modern times by a New York Times bestselling author and an award-winning playwright.

Thirteen Hallows

I don’t generally read urban fantasy, but this one looked too good to ignore. Thirteen Hallows is an incredibly dark, urban, mystery/suspense novel based on the legend of the thirteen hallows, which I had never heard about before I read this book. The hallows fill the book with an interesting and appealing history that may inspire readers to research these legendary objects on their own.

Thirteen Hallows is told from multiple points of view and while some of these perspectives are done better than others, switching perspectives helps keep this fast-paced book fresh without overly exhausting the reader with the nearly constant action. That being said, Thirteen Hallows is almost overflowing with bad guys, who are so purely evil that their chapters are almost unbelievable. Furthermore, this overflow of evil gives the book an overall hopeless feel; it’s hard to believe that good could ever triumph as the evil has limitless resources to further its goals.

Thirteen Hallows doesn’t focus intensely on characterization. Instead, it is more driven by plot and action. The characters always seem to be running, and rarely are there any confrontations. The nearly constant chases give the book a rootless feel. While the English setting could have been interesting and revitalizing to the book, it whirled by so quickly I rarely had time to enjoy or absorb it. All these chases contribute to the weak characterization as well. While the two main protagonists, Owen and Sarah, are enjoyable to follow, they spend so much time running that the readers really don’t get a feel for who they are without all the drama surrounding them. They seem to have no history — just their present situation. Furthermore, as mentioned above, the evil characters seem are so incredibly evil, they are almost completely unbelievable.

The incompetence of the police is also a flaw in Thirteen Hallows. There were numerous situations where the police could have lifted fingerprints or taken other evidence and discredited their suspicions, but they almost never did. Instead they assumed almost everything and acted on those assumptions. Reading about these inept police procedures became exhausting, when simple fingerprinting or more research into the situation would have cleared up nearly everything and could have cut the overall drama in half.

Thirteen Hallows is filled with plenty of blood and torture as well as sex. While the sex isn’t graphic, the violence often is, and readers should be aware of that. The book builds into a quick, yet satisfying end which clearly sets up the reader for the second book in the series.

Thirteen Hallows is the start of a new dark urban fantasy series. While it does have problems, there is plenty here for readers to enjoy. Thirteen Hallows is filled with plenty of history, a unique English setting, and two protagonists who are easy to follow through their adventures. The plot is breakneck and absolutely relentless and will probably leave readers on the edge of their seats gasping for breath. For readers who are more plot-focused that character-focused, and not afraid of incredibly dark books, Thirteen Hallows could be quite a hit. —Sarah Chorn    
FanLit thanks Sarah Chorn from Bookworm Blues for contributing this guest review.