Reviews: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel (The Necromancer, The Warlock, The Enchantress)

Where to start with this series? On previous occasions I've read and reviewed The Alchemyst, the Magician, and The Sorceress, the first three books in this six book series. The pace with which I've read these books is not due to them being slow-paced, but more because I didn't own all of the books from the get-go. Indeed, each of these books is very fast-paced. As with any lengthy series, I'll stick to just reviewing the whole series to avoid spoilers.

Let me start with the strengths of the series and in them I will point out the negatives along the way:

1st: They are imaginative.

Myths from all over the world are incorporated into the storyline. And not only myths, but also historical figures. The author has been quoted as saying that the only characters he invented for the series were the twins. You see, this story deals with Josh and Sophie Newman who, through a series of events, wind up going along with Nicholas Flamel who is very much alive due to an immortality spell that he uses from a book called the Codex, a book that tells of a prophecy of twins and of the destruction or preservation of the world. Among the many other human figures brought into the story are Machiavelli, Billy the Kid, Shakespeare, John Dee, Musashi, and Joan of Arc. From mythology are included such as Odin, Isis, Bastet, Hekate, Mars, and Gilgamesh. And let's not forget places such as Stonehenge, the Catacombs, Atlantis, Yggdrasil or artifacts such as Excalibur. And I haven't begun to scrape the surface. A negative from this is that it's hard to predict what will be brought in next to the story, making foreshadowing almost impossible. Also, because magic plays a role in the series and it's powers and limitations are never clearly defined (you can tell that there are rules, but you learn as you go and you never learn it all), again it makes you never sure what a character can pull out of their sleeve.

2nd: They are complex.

Some may view this as a negative, but I love it when I can tell that the author has the end in mind from the beginning. And especially by the ending you can tell that that's true. It's been said that the author's written linear plot progression notes are as long as a book and I believe it. Now, one thing that some readers may have difficulty with is the constant narration switch. Even from book one there are multiple narrators and it never gets better. In fact, the only downside of the ending is that there are too many things going on at the same time (even if it makes sense). We know who the main characters are, but still it feels slightly disjointed at times.

3rd: They are informative.

As one would hope with a series so full of material, much of the myth and legend is explained. Much of it is interwoven to an interesting effect. But my favorite was to learn about the history behind several of the historical characters, even if there was definitely a little bit of creative license added in places to help mold them into the story.

4th: They are insightful.

Because of the constant references to both myth and history, commentary is also made about what can be learned from those two entities which I found very interesting and worth understanding. In addition, this learning is then often applied to the characters, from which we can also learn how to apply these things to ourselves. Perhaps the only trouble is that the books have so many characters that none of them became so important that I became incredibly invested in them. Don't get me wrong; I liked the characters plenty, but there weren't many, if any, moments to cry over. And there wasn't any romance, which is also a negative for me.

The only extra downside I can think of that isn't in contrast to a strength is that the book didn't have a good denouement. Not that the ending was rushed - enough was given to make it not feel rushed - but that the ending could have been a lot fuller and still not dragged on in my opinion. With so many characters to follow I was impressed that most loose ends were tied up, but they weren't strongly tied. I would've preferred more.

All in all, a solid series. I may not read them again, but then again I may (since they will be lying around). Regardless, they are worth reading at least once especially for any fan of myth, history, and fantasy.