A few weeks ago I posted about the first two books in the Nicholas Flamel series, The Alchemyst and The Magician. Since then, I have read all the remaining books in the series. All four. I have an addiction problem when it comes to book series.

Since I have put it off and now have four more in a series to tell you about, I’m going to do it all at once.

And what is more, I don’t want to tell you too much about plot points, as I wouldn’t want you to lose the discoveries for yourselves as you go through the series. But here are some things I will tell you.

First of all, the names of the different books are titled to reflect which of the many characters will be focused on and central to the plot throughout that particular installment. Interestingly enough, Nicholas Flamel, though an instigator in the beginning of the series, becomes more of a side character as it goes on. The real story focuses on the twins, Sophie and Josh. They are teenagers who are thrust into a world of magic and legend. They have magical powers that are slowly awakened throughout the books and they learn of a war between different factions of mythical beings. There are the Elders, who protect and encourage humanity, and the Dark Elders, who wish to return to the world and either destroy or enslave humanity. Sophie and Josh must constantly question who they should be fighting for. No one is ever fully honest with them and everyone has something to gain from having them on their sides. And while the answer might seem obvious, the agents of the Dark elders can be very convincing and devious.

The adventures take the reader and the characters through many alternate worlds and even through time. Along the way we meet many exciting figures from legend such as Mars, the god of war, Prometheus, and Odin. Machiavelli continues to play an important role in the stories and is very fun to watch. We meet William Shakespeare and Billy the Kid. There are also exciting monsters, such as the Sphinx, a seven headed water dragon, and the many legged Nereus, the Old Man of the Sea, and his horrible and deadly mermaid daughters.

Honestly, I’m not sure this series needed to be 6 books. Some of the middle books felt like not enough progress was being made in the story. Sure, fun things were happening, but there seemed to be some dragging out of the story. However, the final book was the best of the series. Everything came together in the end in a very satisfying way and much of the information you accumulated along the way that seemed inconsequential at the time, turned out to be important.

I’m pretty sure this series will not become a new classic. It isn’t going to stand up to Narnia or Harry Potter in the hearts of young people, but it was a good time. It might make someone want to learn more about these characters from myth and history. I certainly didn’t know who Virginia Dare was until this book.

I wish that I had not purchased the whole series on my Kindle. One, because it probably cost more in the end than I would have liked to spend for the series, but two, because I wish that I had the collection in physical form to share with others. The series was a good time. The kind of light reading that will make these winter days fly by.