Michael Scott’s series finale for The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel hit bookshelves late last month, following up on the promises the author made in his interview back in August (you can read that here). The Enchantress filled in all the gaps, wrapping up loose plot-lines nicely and presenting us with the fun secrets that had been kept under wraps for years.
I wondered when I picked it up if it would meet my expectations. Admittedly, no. But then, they were rather high, ridiculous expectations. It’s not that the book wasn’t good enough, but that I thought it might be something else. And at a hefty five hundred pages, that ought to have presented me with a rather dissatisfying read, and one that might have ended half-way through when I wasn’t immediately happy with the way it was written. The truth, of course, was that the story I thought it might be wouldn’t have ended the series. I think that was my problem going in: I didn’t want it to end.
However, as endings go, it was brilliant. There were some times when I thought Scott might ruin one of my favourite series, but things were quickly turned around. New, exciting elements were introduced, on the backbone of previous suggestions and hints that not everything was as it seemed. It was obvious by the time I turned the last page that the series had indeed been plotted out in such great detail. Nothing that came as a surprise was without merit to at least one other book before it.
And the book still had the elements that made the series brilliant. There were still exciting new monsters from mythology to encounter, immortals to cheer on and despise, friendships that last a lifetime or more and magic that had a very strict set of rules. Indeed, the only thing missing, it seems, was a sequel.
I really loved this book. More so when I had finished it and could accept the things I didn’t fall in love with, mind you. It was a fun adventure, and there were never any promises that it would deliver something absolute, that the prophesy that has followed the twins would define what Scott had to write. With this, there was still a sense of mystery. The ending was also less heartbreaking than it might have been, and this makes sense to me. The way in which the book ended allowed for the series to fit into place neatly, so that nothing seemed wasted by the story of the twins. Not everything was about them, after all. It never has been. And in the opinion of this reviewer, the opinion of a fan of the series, the disappointments that came from expecting something different are greatly outweighed by what serves as a masterpiece of a conclusion.
This isn’t a series to be missed, and I encourage Young Adult fans to rush out and pick up The Alchemyst before everyone else does!
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
