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Critics' Opinion:
Readers' Opinion:
First Published:
Mar 2005, 576 pages
Paperback:
Mar 2006, 592 pages
Book Reviewed by:
BookBrowse Review Team
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The first part of an enthralling new series leads readers on a fantastic journey filled with quirky characters, clever charms, potions and spells. Ages 9+.
The 7th son of the 7th son, aptly named Septimus Heap, is stolen the night he
is born by a midwife who pronounces him dead. That same night, the baby's
father, Silas Heap, comes across a bundle in the snow containing a newborn girl
with violet eyes. The Heaps take this helpless newborn into their home, name her
Jenna, and raise her as their own. But who is this mysterious baby girl, and
what really happened to their beloved son, Septimus?
The first part of this enthralling new series leads readers on a fantastic
journey filled with quirky characters, clever charms, potions and spells, and a
yearning to uncover the mystery at the heart of this story...who is Septimus
Heap?
Angie Sage writes in the tradition of great British storytellers. Her
inventive fantasy is filled with humor and heart: Magyk will have readers
laughing and begging for more.
Chapter One
Something in the Snow
Silas Heap pulled his cloak tightly around him against the snow.
It had been a long walk through the Forest, and he was chilled to the bone. But
in his pockets he had the herbs that Galen, the Physik Woman, had given him for
his new baby boy, Septimus, who had been born earlier that day.
Silas drew closer to the Castle, and he could see the lights
flickering through the trees as candles were placed in the windows of the tall
narrow houses clustered along the outside walls. It was the longest night of the
year, and the candles would be kept burning until dawn, to help keep the dark at
bay. Silas always loved this walk to the Castle. He had no fear of the Forest by
day and enjoyed the peaceful walk along the narrow track that threaded its way
through the dense trees for mile after mile. He was near the edge of the Forest
now, the tall trees had begun to thin out, and as the track began to dip down to
the valley floor, Silas could see ...
The first part of a planned trilogy leads readers on a fantastic journey filled with quirky characters, clever charms, potions and spells, and a yearning to uncover the mystery at the heart of this story...who is Septimus Heap?..continued
Full Review
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(Reviewed by BookBrowse Review Team).
Clive Barker
Septimus Heap: Magyk is a book full of wonders, charms, and surprises. Beautifully written and richly imagined, it invites us into a world we never want to leave. Marvelous.Sage says
that all the locations in the book are inspired by areas
around where she lives, and that the whole 'slightly
off-the-wall felling of the place comes from living in
Cornwall.'
About Cornwall:
The Peninsula at the South-West tip of England is the former
Celtic nation (and now county of) Cornwall.
It's southerly location and the fact that it's on the path
of the Gulf Stream gives it a mild climate which, combined
with its endless beaches, makes it a favorite destination
for British holiday makers (the resident population is about
half a million, but around 4 million visit each year).
The last native Cornish...
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