Physik by Angie Sage

Book Jacket

When Silas Heap unSeals a forgotten room in the Palace, he releases the ghost of a Queen who live five hundred years earlier.  Queen Etheldredda is as awful in death as she was in life, and she's still up to no good.  Her diabolical plan to give herself everlasting life requires Jenna's compliance, Septimus's disappearance, and the talents of her son, Marcellus Pye, a famous Alchemist and Physician.  And if Queen Etheldredda's plot involves Jenna and Septimus, then it will surely involve Nicko, Alther Mella, Marcia Overstrand, Beetle, Stanley, Sarah, Silas, Spit Fyre, Aunt Zelda, and all of the other wacky, wonderful characters that made Magyk and Flyte so memorable.

With heart-stopping action and a dash of humor, Angie Sage continues the fantastical journey of Septimus Heap.

Review

Sage just gets better and better with each new Septimus Heap book.  Or maybe it's the fact that, like television shows, I've gotten to know and love the characters as time has gone by.  Seriously, I actually think "Yay, it's Wolf Boy!" when he appears on the page, or "Alther!  I've missed you."  If there is one thing Sage does best, I think it is developing a huge cast of supporting characters who have individual personalities and their own little side stories.

Physik is a simple story, really.  A Queen from the past does everything she can to achieve eternal life, and Septimus and Jenna must stop her.  But along the way, there is so much awesome!  Time travel, alchemy, dragon antics, ghostly taverns, and so much more.

The world of Castle and the Ramblings is one in which I would gladly set up home.  It's enchanting and delightful as ever.  Such a great series.

Four out of five named silver bullets.

Release Date:  March 2007
Reading Level:  Grade 4+
Where In Dunlap Public Library's Collection:  YPL SAG