The mighty sorceress

Cover of the German first edition

The mighty sorceress (Original title: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel - The Sorceress ) is a fantasy novel by the Irish author Michael Scott from 2009 and forms the third part of the series The Secrets of Nicholas Flamel . The German edition was translated by Ursula Höfker and was published by cbj- Verlag on February 15, 2010 .

construction

There is a power gate back to San Francisco in Stonehenge

The book has 528 pages and consists of a preface by Nicholas Flamel (“from the diary of Nicholas Flamel, Alchemyst”), 70 chapters (dated Monday, June 4th and Tuesday, June 5th), an epilogue , a “Note of the Autors ”, in which Michael Scott talks about Stonehenge and Point Zéro (both important locations in the book), and an acknowledgment. In addition, the first chapter of the fourth volume was inserted before the acknowledgment . The dedication of the book reads:

"For Courtney
ex animo "

" From the soul "

- Michael Scott

title

The title refers to the sorceress Perenelle , Nicholas Flamel's wife.

prehistory

→ Main article : “Worldview and Prehistory” in the article The Secrets of Nicholas Flamel

→ Main article : “Action” in the article The Immortal Alchemyst

→ Main article : “Plot” in the article The Dark Magician

The plot follows on from the previous volume .

action

In London , Flamel and the twins meet King Gilgamesh

Flamel and the twins take a train to London . As soon as they arrive, they are attacked by three Genii Cucullati , Dees' spies . However, the alchemist manages to put her into a 366-day sleep with a spell from the first-ever Iris , the goddess of the rainbow. The Count of Saint-Germain hires the Saracen knight Palamedes from Paris , who takes Flamel, Josh and Sophie in a taxi to a perfectly camouflaged metal fortress in a car junkyard in London. In addition to Palamedes, an army of Gabriel dogs (werhunde) and the immortal William Shakespeare live there .

The immortal sorceress Perenelle Flamel and Areop-Enap , the original spider, are meanwhile trapped on Alcatraz . The sea around the island is populated by the Nereids who block the waterway and there is a risk that their father Nereus will come ashore. Then the immortal Billy the Kid sends a huge, poisoned swarm of flies to the island: all the spiders under Areop-Enap's command die in the fight with the insects, the original spider itself is weakened. But the sorceress manages to drive away the flies in time. With the help of Shakespeare, Flamel manages to get in touch with his wife. When she is attacked by two vetalas who have just awakened from sleep, the alchemist amplifies her aura with his own and that of the twins. With this fourfold power she can turn off the Vetalas and the Sphinx . In London, however, Josh and Sophie's use of the auras showed the elders their point of view.

Dee and Bastet join the Wild Hunt in London , whose leader, the Archon Cernunnos , wants to pay off a debt with a former man and therefore agrees to storm Palamedes' fortress. Palamedes, Shakespeare, the Gabriel dogs, the alchemist and the twins defend the fortress and then retreat behind a wall of fire. Dee threatens to freeze the fire with Excalibur , but Josh stops him with Clarent. The magician then lets it rain to put out the fire. Shakespeare uses his imagination to create fiery beings that attack the wild hunt and the archon. Josh fights Dee with Clarent and Sophie sets Cernunnos on fire with fire magic. Finally, all five of them escape in the taxi and on the way take the oldest of the times, King Gilgamesh , with them, because of whom Flamel came to London in the first place.

Meanwhile, Perenelle is talking to the captured Morrigan , who is getting weaker and weaker. Instead of her, her sisters Badb and Macha take over the body again and take the side of the sorceress. But even without the help of the goddesses, Perenelle can defeat Nereus, who has come to the island. She then establishes a connection with Scathach , who promises to come to Alcatraz with Johanna von Orléans . Via the Point Zéro of Paris they use a line of force to Mount Tamalpais . Niccolò Machiavelli , however, manipulated the line of force so that the two women end up in the Pleistocene . So Perenelle is still on her own. Machiavelli is now joining Billy the Kid; together the two immortals drive to the island. The apparent crow goddess distracts her while the sorceress steals her boat. Badb / Macha and Perenelle go ashore together.

Palamedes takes everyone to a barn outside London. Gilgamesh teaches Josh and Sophie the magic of water. But Dee and Cernunnos track them down. They then flee to Stonehenge . The Wild Hunt and Shakespeare's Gabriel Hounds fight one last time on the Salisbury Plain , while the twins open the power gate of Stonehenge and disappear with the alchemist to San Francisco . There they meet with Perenelle Flamel.

Dr. John Dee has finally failed, but now has both twin swords: Excalibur and Clarent, which Josh lost on the run. The two swords unite and become a single sword. Gilgamesh mumbles the prophecy: "The two that are one, the one that is all."

characters

The poet William Shakespeare

→ Main article : Characters from The Secrets of Nicholas Flamel

New in the third volume are:

• The Genii Cucullati : They are three carnivores. In their true form they look like wolverines, otherwise they appear in human form. At Dee's orders, they try to kill Flamel and catch the twins. You sink into a 366-day sleep through a magic of the iris cast by Flamel.
• Palamedes : The Saracen knight once belonged to Arthur's round table and saw the king of Cernunnos killed. He always behaved neutrally in the struggles between Humani and the first beings. He built a well-defended fortress out of junk in a car junkyard in London. He is part of the Green Knights who liberate Humani from realms of shadow.
• Billy the Kid : This immortal has the task of destroying Perenelle on Alcatraz and is given Machiavelli to the side when he fails to do so. He owns a Thunderbird convertible, which is his pride and joy.
• William Shakespeare : The famous poet was an apprentice Flamel in his youth. However, Dee seduced him and brought him immortal fame. But when Shakespeare fathered twins (Hamnet and Judith), Dee thought they were the legendary twins and tried to awaken them. Shakespeare's son died in the process. The immortal then turned to the other side and lives with Palamedes in London. The collaboration with the alchemist turns out to be difficult, because he does not trust the "traitor". He never washes himself because he wants to preserve the skin's natural oils.
• Nereus with the Nereids : The old man from the sea has been commissioned to kill Perenelle while the sea nymphs prevent her from coming off the island. Nereus loses several of his legs during this assignment.
• Vetalas : They are blood-sucking vampires . Dee had two of them imprisoned in the Alcatraz cells, where they eventually attack Perenelle.
• Cernunnos and the Wild Hunt : Cernunnos is the leader of the Wild Hunt. He comes from an earlier generation, older than the first: He is an archon. Antlers grow on his beautiful head. He is the owner of the sword Clarent, with which he killed both King Arthur and his son Mordred. Since he has to settle a debt with a first-person, he hunts Flamel and the twins with the wild. Even John Dee is afraid of the Archon.
• The Gabriel dogs : They are Werhunde (Torc Madra), so they transform from humans into dogs. The dogs defend the metal fortress of Palamedes. Although they do not differ in appearance from the dogs of the wild hunt ( Cŵn Annwn ), they are on the good side.
• Badb and Macha : The Morrigan sisters originally shared the body with their sister, so that each of the three goddesses could dispose of the body for a certain period of time. After the Morrigan had managed to keep her sisters imprisoned in their bodies, they were only released again when Perenelle Flamel weakens the crow goddess. They turn out to be Perenelle's helpers.
• King Gilgamesh : The elder of the times was the first human immortal; this is what Abraham, the author of the Codex, had made him. He was ruler of the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Gauls, Celts, Vikings, Rus and Huns. He has vast knowledge but no aura. Therefore he cannot use magic although he has mastered all branches of element magic. Over time, he became forgetful and insane. He trains Sophie and Josh in the magic of water. His greatest wish is to finally live his life to the end.

reception

See also : “Reception” in the article The Secrets of Nicholas Flamel

Reviews

Tim Wadham reviewed the book in the School Library Journal . He said the hunting and escape scenes were scattered pretty thinly and emphasized the fact that this series felt bloated. It might not take six volumes to tell the story. The incorporation of historical figures like Shakespeare or Billy the Kid seems to be a gimmick, and these two figures in particular looked strangely timeless. The book is a must for the fans of the series, but even they would get tired if the author didn't get to the point within a reasonable period of time.

Deanna Romriell reviewed the audio book in the School Library Journal . She described the story as "fast-paced, complex and rich in figures".

Kirkus Reviews called Michael Scott a "masterful spinner"; he expertly increases the tension while keeping his now numerous figures in rapid motion. He continues to blur the lines between the two pages, confusing readers with ambiguous parts. The "Pageturner" ends with a mess of revelations, reunions and unexplained plot lines and promises a lot of action in the following volumes.

Anna Carey called the book "extremely entertaining" in the Irish Times . An introduction need not be clumsy; Scott brings new readers up to date quickly and discreetly. It is true that the introduction of the many historical figures is handled stiffly and formally in an almost comical way and the author can learn a lot from Alan Moore in this sense . But the book is also overflowing with fantastic ideas and really terrifying moments and Scott has the fast-moving story under control.

Nominations

• Cybills (Fantasy & Science-Fiction: Elementary / Middle Years) - 2009

Placements

The book reached number 28 (hardcover / fiction) and number 8 (youth books) on the SPIEGEL bestseller list. The original edition was ranked 7th on Amazon.com for 2009 's Children's Books: Middle Readers category and 41st on USA Today . The book series debuted at number 5 on the New York Times ' bestseller list for teenagers .

particularities

In 2009 the publisher started the Summer of the Sorceress campaign in America, which aimed to bring the book series even more into the public eye and to stimulate the publication of volume three. From April 25, 2009, volume one was available free of charge on the Internet for three days.

In the original, the book was reissued on November 28, 2010 (the birthday of Nicholas Flamel and Michael Scott) together with the previous volumes The Immortal Alchemyst and The Dark Magician in a slipcase under the title The First Codex ("The First Codex"). These are the paperback editions.

Book editions

• Michael Scott: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel - The Sorceress . Delacorte Press, New York 2009, ISBN 978-0-385-73529-2 .
• Michael Scott: The Secrets of Nicholas Flamel - The Mighty Sorceress . cbj, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-570-13784-0 .
• Michael Scott: The Secrets of Nicholas Flamel - The Mighty Sorceress . cbj, Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-570-40104-0 (paperback edition).

Audio book

In contrast to the previous volumes, no German audio book has been published.

The English audio book is unabridged and will be read by Paul Boehmer. It was released on May 26, 2009 by the Listening Library ( Random House ). Deanna Romriell commended Boehmer in the School Library Journal for his remarkable work; he has a unique voice ready for each character, both for the monsters and for the centuries-old Flamels or the twins. He mastered the challenge of the breakneck pace and the constant change of continent with ease.

Web links

• Official German website for the series
• The book in the publisher's online catalog
• Official American website for the series
• Official website of Michael Scott

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Michael Scott: Title Figures of Volumes 1-3 . Flamel's Secret Forum. June 30, 2010. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
2. ↑ Tim Wadham: Review of The Sorceress ( English ) School Library Journal . July 1, 2009. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
3. ^ ^{A b} Deanna Romriell: The Sorceress: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel . In: School Library Journal . Vol. 55, No. October 10 , 2009, ISSN  0362-8930 , p. 65 ( online [accessed November 13, 2012]).
4. ↑ Review of The Sorceress ( English ) Kirkus Reviews. April 15, 2009. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
5. ^ Anna Carey: Children's Books 10-12: Lemons Snicket has a lot to answer for . In: The Irish Times . September 12, 2009.
6. ↑ Cybills (fantasy & science fiction) ( en ) Dadtalk.typepad.com. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
7. ↑ Book on the book report bestseller list . Archived from the original on March 7, 2014. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
8. ↑ Best Children's Books 2009 ( en ) Amazon.com. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
9. ↑ Volume 3 at USATODAY ( en ) Retrieved on August 10, 2012.
10. ^ Youth series bestseller list ( s ) New York Times . June 14, 2009. Retrieved August 10, 2012.
11. ↑ Shannon Maughan , 'The Sorceress' Heats Up with Marketing Muscle . (No longer available online.) Publishers Weekly , April 30, 2009, archived from the original on December 5, 2016 ; accessed on January 6, 2019 (English, original website no longer available).  
12. ^ The First Codex . Random House. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
13. ↑ Michael Scott: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel - The First Codex . Delacorte Press, New York 2010, ISBN 978-0-375-87311-9 .
14. ↑ English audio book ( English ) Listening Library. Retrieved October 5, 2012.