The alchemyst series movie
The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel
Fantasy book series by Irish author Michael Scott
The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel is a series of sixfantasy novels written by Irish author Michael Scott, completed in The first book in the series, The Alchemyst, was released in , and the sequels were released at the rate of one per year, concluding with The Enchantress in The cover artist for the series is Michael Wagner.
English-language versions are printed by Doubleday (hardback) and Corgi (paperback) (imprints of Random House) in the UK and Australia, and by Delacorte Press (hardback and paperback; also an imprint of Random House) in the US. As of November[update], the translation rights have been purchased by 37 countries and the books have been translated into 20 languages.[1] Each of the first four titles featured in the top ten of the New York Times Best Seller Children's Books list.
The Alchemyst reached No. 2 on 26 August [2] and as of 24 March it had sold in excess of , copies.[3]The Magician reached No. 4 on 13 July [4]The Sorceress reached No. 5,[5] and The Necromancer reached No. 3.[6] The books have been nominated for various teen literary and reader's awards.
The film rights to the series have been bought by AMPCO Films.[7]
Plot overview
The main story arc charts the adventures of fifteen-year-old American twins, named Sophie and Josh Newman, whose regular lives working at their summer jobs (Sophie works in a coffee shop, Josh in a bookstore) are turned upside down by the arrival of Dr.
John Dee. Dr. Dee engages the bookstore owner, Nick Fleming, in a battle of magic in an attempt to steal an ancient book, The Book of Abraham the Mage (a.k.a. the Codex) from him. Dr. John Dee snatches the book from Josh's grasp, but Josh manages to retain two pages. Dr. John Dee also kidnaps Nick's wife Perry Fleming and imprisons her on Alcatraz Island.
After the battle, Nick Fleming confesses to Josh and Sophie that his real name is Nicholas Flamel, that he is the French alchemist from history, that he is also immortal, and that the twins, himself, and Perry (his immortal wife, Perenelle Flamel), are in grave danger. Nicholas tells the twins that he believes them to be mentioned in a prophecy within the Codex, and that the fate of the world as they know it could depend on his success in getting their latent magical abilities fully awakened.
He also tells them that without the Codex, both he and Perry will die within a month, as their immortality, prolonged youth, and longevity depend on a recipe for a special elixir found only within its pages. This elixir changes monthly and cannot be memorised.
Meanwhile, Dr. John Dee has found out that he is missing two vital pages from the Codex.
The pages are the Final Summoning, needed by him to return his masters, the Dark Elders, to earth and so begins a fast-paced race as Dee pursues the twins and Nicholas for the pages of the Codex, whilst Nicholas, aided by Scáthach and others, race to get the twins' latent magical auras awakened, to get them schooled in the use of the elemental magics – Water, Fire, Earth, Air, and Aether – and to rescue his wife, Perry.
The stories criss-cross the globe, featuring well-known places and sights, such as San Francisco, London, the Eiffel Tower, Stonehenge, and the Golden Gate Bridge. Many characters from history and mythology help both sides pursue their goals. In the first four books alone, Scáthach, Hekate, Prometheus, the Witch of Endor, Gilgamesh, Niccolò Machiavelli, Bastet, Odin, William Shakespeare, Joan of Arc, Billy the Kid, Virginia Dare, the Count of St.
Germain, and Mars Ultor enter the series.
Development
The idea for the series as a whole began in May Initially, the series had Dr. Dee in the leading role, and was going to be called The Secrets of John Dee,[8] a historical character who Scott knew well, having featured him in three of his other titles: Image, Reflection, and The Merchant Prince.
He wanted to bring Dr. Dee into the 21st Century and introduce him to a young audience that may not have heard of the historical doctor before,[9] but he decided that Dr. Dee was too sinister and had dubious motivation. Inspiration struck one night in , when Scott took a wrong turn whilst wandering around Paris and happened upon Nicholas Flamel's house in the Rue du Montmorency.[10] Having decided that he had found the perfect mentor for the twins, Scott began plotting the series in earnest, planning the storyline of each chapter.
He soon decided that it would be a six-book series, which would allow him to introduce many figures from history and mythology. In the six books, readers have been introduced to characters from the Greco-Roman, Egyptian, Norse, and Celtic mythologies and historical characters from the Elizabethan, Renaissance, Egyptian, and Gilded eras.
He plotted the whole series to such an intricate level that his plot script is currently in excess of 80, words, equivalent to a book itself, and that he knew in what the last words to the series would be.[8]
Main characters
Further information: Figuren aus Die Geheimnisse des Nicholas Flamel on German Wikipedia
Nicholas Flamel – The title character, an alchemyst.
Along with his wife, Perenelle, he has lived for nearly years searching for Josh and Sophie Newman, the Gold and Silver twins of legend, who can save the Shadowrealm of Earth from the mad Dr. John Dee and the Dark Elders who seek to destroy it. Flamel is a legend who built his fortune through alchemy, which he uses to amazing effect to combat the horrors Dee sends after the twins and himself.
Despite good intentions, however, he is not without flaws, like being selfish and not learning from his mistakes and seeks glory for training Josh and Sophie.
Josh Newman – The Gold twin of legend. Awakened by Mars Ultor, Josh is a lover of history and a natural strategist. However, he is suspicious of Nicholas Flamel, due to his not telling them of the previous twins' demise, a fact that causes Josh to temporarily shift alliances, though he remains cautious of Dee.
Eventually, he sides with Flamel.
Sophie Newman – The Silver twin of legend. Awakened by Hekate (the Goddess of Three Faces), and later trained by The Witch of Endor, who infuses her memories and experiences into her. Sophie is protective of Josh and more patient, though she is also horrified by the twins' fates. She decides to side with the Flamels to save Earth, but seeks out her brother eventually.
Dr. John Dee – The main antagonist. An English magician and necromancer who formerly advised Queen Elizabeth I, he seeks to bring back to Earth the Dark Elders, who wish to destroy and rebuild it. However, after he is declared utlaga, or outlaw, for failing them, he decides to use the four swords of power – Excalibur, Clarent, Joyeuse and Durendal – to go back in time to Danu Talis and destroy them, convincing Josh to join his side with the promise of a renewed Earth.
Eventually he sides with the Flamels but by then it is too late.
Perenelle Flamel – The wife of Nicholas, and a powerful sorceress. Being the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, she can contact ghosts and has a long-standing feud with Machiavelli. Many have suggested, correctly, that she is much more powerful than Nicholas, as she has proven as she tries to save San Francisco from the horrors on nearby Alcatraz.
Niccolò Machiavelli – A renowned Italian philosopher and eventual warlock, or waerloga, who is tasked with releasing an army from Alcatraz after helping Dee in Paris. He and Josh have an understanding, as they are both human in spirit, a trait which he later shares with Billy the Kid. This trait causes Machiavelli to re-evaluate his opinions of the Dark Elders and reform and break his oaths to them, choosing not to release the monsters on the humani.
Scathach - The Celtic goddess of the war. She has a grey aura. She is an Elder of the 2nd generation and a vegetarian vampire. She is approximately years old but looks 17 and claims to be She will accompany the alchemist and the twins in their adventures but will be taken by Dagon in the Seine. It is the great friend of Joan of Arc, that she educated.
She was the creator of most of the martial arts and formed the biggest Heroes of the History.
Nicholas flamel series in order Some have high hopes for this series, in the future installments due to the promise found in this one. In the wrong hands, it would destroy the world. Omnibus Editions. When a sequence is entered, indicators show when the player has the right colour and also when a colour is in the right or wrong position to enable them to apply logic and guess the correct sequence.To have helped the human beings during the Fall of Danu Talis, she was rejected by her family before saving their life a few years later. She speaks few his parents and her brother. She has a twin sister ( Aifé) but they would have long ago become muddled because of a boy, they do not speak to each other any more. Scathach is also called "the Shadow", the "Goddess Warrior", "the King Maker", "the Warrior Maiden" "the Daemon Slayer" and Scatty.
Her grandmother is the Witch of Endor, her presumed grandfather being Mars Ultor.
Titles' significance
On 1 July Michael Scott issued this statement incontrovertibly naming the title characters so far.
"Each book in the series is named after a character. Some are easy to guess (The Alchemyst is Flamel, for example), but others require a closer reading of the text.
So here, to avoid endless Wikipedia changes, is the (almost) definitive list.
- The Alchemyst is Nicholas Flamel.
- The Magician is Dr. John Dee.
- The Sorceress is Perenelle Flamel.
- The Necromancer is Josh Newman.
- The Warlock is Mars Ultor.
- The Enchantress is Sophie Newman.
Special editions and cover variations
On 5 August in the UK Necromancer was released featuring a new-style cover; it was joined by The Alchemyst, The Magician and The Sorceress which were re-released with new covers in the same style.
The Alchemyst, The Magician and The Sorceress were released as a special edition boxed set called The First Codex in the USA on 28 September
Series chronology
In published order:
- "The Death of Joan of Arc" – released 24 August in eBook format[11]
- "Billy the Kid and the Vampyres of Vegas: A Lost Story from the Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel" – released 22 November [12]
Online games
The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series has spawned online games.
The first related online game to be launched was The Codex Master[13] The game is to guess a secret code consisting of a sequence of coloured orbs by inputting various sequences and using logic.
Nicholas flamel series book order list The monsters gathered on Alcatraz Island have been released and are heading toward the city. I just want to thank everyone for visiting the site. John Dee has found out that he is missing two vital pages from the Codex. This trait causes Machiavelli to re-evaluate his opinions of the Dark Elders and reform and break his oaths to them, choosing not to release the monsters on the humani.When a sequence is entered, indicators show when the player has the right colour and also when a colour is in the right or wrong position to enable them to apply logic and guess the correct sequence.
An online game was created to celebrate the release of The Sorceress.[14] It was called The Challenges of the Elder[15] and launched on 21 April Players are guided through the game, which is a set of four challenges, by video scenes featuring Michael Scott.
The first task, the Alchemyst's challenge, required players to assemble a moving jigsaw of the series' logo against a countdown clock. The second task, the Magician's challenge, required players to turn over two books from a series of books and find matching symbols; when a matching pair was found both books burst into flames and disappeared.
Nicholas flamel series book order romantic There has never been a more powerful book. It is no sweet homecoming, though. There are some stories published from this universe. The Alchemyst Amazon.The task was complete when all the books had been matched. The third task, the Sorceress' challenge, was a colour sequencing game where players chose coloured flasks and would have to repeat the sequence that they were shown in. Players then advanced to meet The Elder, who asked them a set of knowledge questions about the books, and were given a 'coloured aura ranking' calculated from their scores and time taken to complete the tasks.
To promote the USA release of The Necromancer, Random House released an online game called The Quest for the Codex.[16] Players were presented with a grid containing numbered squares and had to click on the squares to uncover hidden rewards, playing pieces and mini-games. When they completed the game they received online access to the first 6 chapters of The Necromancer.
Awards and nominations
The Alchemyst
The Magician
- Irish Book of the Year – The Dublin Airport Authority Irish Children's Book of the Year – Snr Category[24]
The Sorceress
- Amazon – Best Books of , Top 10 Children's Books: Middle Readers[25]
- Cybills (Children and Young Bloggers Literary Awards) – Nominations, fantasy & science-fiction: Elementary/Middle Years[26]
Audiobooks
The six titles have all been recorded as unabridged audiobooks.
The Alchemyst was narrated by Denis O'Hare. The Magician was narrated by Erik Singer. The Sorceress, The Necromancer, The Warlock and The Enchantress were narrated by Paul Boehmer.
Film adaptation
Film rights were initially sold in to New Line Cinema.[27] New Line was absorbed by Warner and the rights reverted to Michael Scott, and in Lorenzo di Bonaventura bought the film rights to the series.[28]
In Michael Scott stated:
"There has been tremendous interest in the series and eventually, it went to Lorenzo di Bonaventura, who is the man responsible for bringing Harry Potter to Warner when he was there.
He genuinely loves this series. The next step now is to attach a writer – I will not write it, I have 3 more books to do!" [29]
In , it was announced that AMPCO Films had acquired the film rights. Production was set to begin in February in Australia and New Zealand. Michael Scott was scheduled to write the screenplay, saying he would like it to be true to the books.[30]
References
- ^Michael Scott.
"Michael Scott-The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel-The Alchemyst". Archived from the original on 18 September Retrieved 24 November
- ^"Children's Books-New York Times ".Nicholas flamel series book order John Dee, the big villain of the series, is both a necromancer and English magician. She is approximately years old but looks 17 and claims to be Archived from the original on 25 February Perenelle Flamel is the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, which makes her able to contact ghosts.
New York Times. 26 August Retrieved 10 July
- ^Roback, Diane (24 March ). "Publishers Weekly". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 2 January Retrieved 24 November
- ^"Children's Books-New York Times ". New York Times. 13 July Retrieved 10 July
- ^"Children's Books-New York Times ".
New York Times. 5 June Retrieved 10 July
- ^"Children's Books-New York Times ".
Michael scott: Toggle Menu Close. Sophie and Josh seem to proving they are the twins in the Prophecy and Flamel has to keep them and the pages safe from the clutches of the Dark Elders. Perenelle is still locked up back in Alcatraz and Paris is teeming with enemies. Michael Scott.
New York Times. 4 June Retrieved 10 July
- ^"AMPCO to produce The Alchemyst"(PDF). AMPCO. July Retrieved 24 July
- ^ ab"Author Q&A with Michael Scott". Random House. June Retrieved 25 November
- ^"eBookG-Interview with Michael Scott Q&A".
eBookG. 28 August Archived from the original on 10 July Retrieved 25 November
- ^Goodnow, Cecilia (10 June ). "'The Alchemyst' could be the start of something Harry big in young-adult fantasy". Seattle PI. Retrieved 25 November
- ^"The Death of Joan of Arc".
Amazon. 24 August Retrieved 5 September
- ^Billy the Kid and the Vampyres of Vegas by Michael Scott. ISBN. Retrieved 5 November
- ^Random House, Teens (). "The Codex Master Game". Random House, U.S.A. Retrieved 25 November
- ^Maughan, Shannon (30 April ).
"The Sorceress' Heats Up with Marketing Muscle". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 10 June Retrieved 25 November
- ^Asylum, Creative (22 April ). "The Challenges of the Elder". RHCB. Archived from the original on 6 December Retrieved 25 November
- ^Random House, Teens (). "The Quest for the Codex".
Random House, U.S.A. Archived from the original on 8 May Retrieved 1 July
- ^"Book Award Shortlist". 27 March Retrieved 27 November
- ^" Master List The Kentucky Bluegrass Award". Kentucky Bluegrass Award. Archived from the original on 15 December Retrieved 27 November
- ^"Maine Student Book Award –".
Maine Library Association, Maine Association of School Libraries, and Maine Reading Association. Retrieved 27 November
[dead link] - ^"Nevada Young Readers' Award". Nevada Library Association. Archived from the original on 25 February Retrieved 27 November
- ^"NCSLMA YA BOOK AWARD – High School Voting Ballot".
North Carolina School Library Media Association. Archived from the original on 10 March Retrieved 27 November
- ^" RI Teen Book Award Winner". Rhode Island Office of Library and Information Services. 19 March Archived from the original on 26 November Retrieved 27 November
- ^" RI Teen Book Award Winner – Press Release"(PDF).
Rhode Island Office of Library and Information Services. 17 March Archived from the original(PDF) on 8 January Retrieved 27 November
- ^"Irish Book Awards Category page". Archived from the original on 15 November Retrieved 22 November
- ^"Best Children's Books of ".
Retrieved 27 November
- ^" Nominations, fantasy & science fiction". Retrieved 27 November
- ^Arendt, Paul (21 November ). "High Noon-New Line Immortalises Flamel". Retrieved 24 November
- ^McNary, Dave (18 November ). "DiBonaventura sets up 'Secret' Company to produce 'Nicholas Flamel' series".
Variety. Retrieved 22 November
- ^"For Flamel Fans -> Film Updates". Archived from the original on 11 July Retrieved 24 November
- ^Contrada, Andrew (20 June ). "Popular Fantasy Novel 'The Alchemyst' Getting the Film Treatment". Retrieved 22 June