Novel Summary
The Alchemyst by Michael Scott is the extraordinary first novel in The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series. This book starts the adventures of twins Josh and Sophie Newman as they discover their hidden powers with the help of the mysterious 700-year-old magician Nicholas Flamel who seeks to recover his key to continuing his immortality: the Book of Abraham the Mage.
Josh and Sophie Newman are twins minding their own business in modern day San Francisco when their new friend Nick Fleming and his wife Perry are attacked by golems sent by the magician Dr. John Dee. They soon learn that Nick and Perry Fleming are the famous Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel. Nicholas, Perenelle, and John Dee were in fact real people from various times in history.
John Dee is most known as the court magician and advisor to Queen Elizabeth I. Nicholas Flamel and his wife were from 14th Century France where Nicholas was a noted thinker and alchemist of his time. His theories and activities bordered on early chemistry. His reknown in alchemy were of such note that J.K Rowling used him as a secondary character in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
Beyond historical figures, author Michael Scott carefully weaves a story of existing mythology with that of his own. He uses figures from Roman mythology like Hecate the goddess of magic, and also the war goddess Bastet from Egyptian mythology. Scott uniquely weaves together his own mythology where all of these mythical gods from past civilizations were in fact creatures that actually existed, but part of another Earthly race called the Elder Race. It is one part of the story that truly grabs the reader and demands to be noticed.
In contrary to many popular children and teen fantasy novels, The Alchemyst has an extremely fast paced plot with a tempo that borders on urgency. Books such as Harry Potter and the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series have the ability to hold onto its readers even while the plot takes a drastic pause as time ticks by. The Alchemyst does have times where the plot slows, as it naturally has to, but Michael Scott has developed such a complex plot that he can shift the storyline elsewhere until the main plotline has time to develop without time inside the book moving by too fast.
For example, as Josh and Sophie learn that they contain unprecedented powers within their auras, the plot shifts to the captive Perenelle Flamel who is being held prisoner by Dr. John Dee as a bargaining chip for the last pages of the Book of Abraham the Mage. The switching between plots is a spectacular feature of The Alchemyst, which helps build the entire novel given it is the first in a series.
The excellent characters, ingenious mythical world, and general originality of Michael Scott's The Alchemyst makes it a great triumph in young adult writing after the time of Harry Potter. It's difficult to draw in readers still addicted to the memory of Harry Potter, but The Alchemyst is an adequate heir to J.K. Rowling's literary legacy as this series continues.
REMINDER: download ebook of The Alchemyst onto your PC, laptop, tablet, e-reader, or smartphone at http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/search.jsp?Ntt=the+alchemyst
TIP: the e-book has a search box at the top right-hand corner in which you can insert the first 3-4 words of the quote and it will automatically locate it for you within the text!
REMINDER: download ebook of The Alchemyst onto your PC, laptop, tablet, e-reader, or smartphone at http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/search.jsp?Ntt=the+alchemyst
TIP: the e-book has a search box at the top right-hand corner in which you can insert the first 3-4 words of the quote and it will automatically locate it for you within the text!
Novel Task
Below are 30+ key quotes from The Alchemyst. Working with a partner, select any 10 and consider the following questions for each:
- Who said it?
- In what context was it said?
- What does quote reveal about the person's character traits?
- Is the quote meaningful? Ironic? Humorous? or other?
- Is the quote connected to story’s theme?
- Does the quote offer an interesting point of view?
- What are your personal thoughts/opinions about what was said?
“OK," Josh said evenly, "I've seen men made of mud, I guess I can accept spying rats. Do they talk?" he wondered aloud. Don't be ridiculous," Flamel snapped, "They're rats." Josh really didn't think it was a ridiculous suggestion.”
“You must learn to heed your senses. Humans use but a tiny percentage of theirs. They barely look, they rarely listen, they never smell, and they think that they can only experience feelings through their skin. But they talk, oh, do they talk.”
“Magic is really only the utilization of the entire spectrum of the senses. Humans have cut themselves off from their senses. Now they see only a tiny portion of the visible spectrum, hear only the loudest of sounds, their sense of smell is shockingly poor and they can only distinguish the sweetest and sourest of tastes.”
“At the heart of every legend there is a grain of truth.”
“But what science cannot understand, it dismisses.”
“Every story starts with an idea, but it is the characters that move this idea forward.”
“To remain unknown in this modern world: that, indeed, is real power.”
“Wait. Look. Notice. If you keep those three words in mind, you just might survive the next few days.”
"Great change always comes down to the actions of a single person.”
“Love is the water of life, drink deeply.”
“The two that are one, the one that is all!”
“Once you have been touched by magic, you are forever changed. You leave a trail.”
“The SUV was the only car moving. Josh had his foot pressed flat to the floor, and the needle on the speedometer hovered close to eighty. He was becoming more comfortable with the controls—he hadn't hit anything for at least a minute.”
“Adults, Sophie has decided a long time before, were really bad at making up good excuses.”
“What you call magic is nothing more than an act of the imagination fired by the senses, then given shape by the power of your aura.”
“We had little or no emotion. We lacked the capacity to feel fear, to experience love, to enjoy the sensations of happiness and delight.The finest warriors are not only those who do not fear, but those who are without anger.”
“He who retreats lives longer.”
“When you've lived as long as I have, nothing much surprises you.”
“He is many things - dangerous and devious, cunning and deadly, a good friend and an implacable enemy - but he comes from an age when a man's word was indeed precious.”
“The Elders had nothing but contempt for human emotion; they considered it their biggest weakness. Perenelle knew it was humankind's greatest strength.”
“I'm not a magician. I'm an alchemyst, a man of science, though perhaps not the science you would be familiar with.”
“Here words can kill - literally.”
“The fifth force was the magic of Time, the greatest of all the magics.”
“Nicholas: One of the oldest secrets of alchemy is that every living thing, from the most complex creatures right down to the simplest leaf, carries the seeds of its creation within itself. Josh: DNA.”
“And once begun, change cannot be reversed.”
“You're saying we lost the powers of magic because we grew lazy.”
“Dee's search for knowledge was always his greatest strength... and his weakness.”
“A boy and a girl, dressed in the T-shirts and denim that are the shabby uniform of this age.”
“But magic, like everything else, follows certain natural laws. Magic needs energy wherever it can find it. If no other source of energy is available, it will take the life force of the magician who created it. That is why every use of magic weakens the magician.”
“But magic is really only the utilization of the entire spectrum of the senses.”
“I can see a sticker on the back of that truck! Would you like me to tell you what it says? I just want to be normal again! Like you!”
“Great change always comes down to the actions of a single person.”
“Josh: I didn't know.... Nicholas: No reason why you should have - except that your ignorance could have gotten you killed... or worse.”
“The Egyptians got it wrong. They wrapped the dead. They did not realize I wrapped the living.”
“Kamera, video, telepon, dan internet membuat bersembunyi semakin sulit dilakukan sekarang ini" - Nicholas Flamel”
“Its mouth was wide and its teeth were wickedly pointed. He managed a brief "Hey!" and jerked away from the window...just as the rat hit the glass with a furry, wet thump. It slid down to the alley one floor below, where it staggered around in stunned surprise.”
History Prezi: New France - A Royal Colony
Evidence & Steven: http://prezi.com/tix_g2huplxe/untitled-prezi/
Sarah & Josie: http://prezi.com/cd8ejtp3fe_j/history-by-sarah-josie/
Gabby & Bruno: http://prezi.com/ma6olwc59zmv/edit/#6_123787
Sofia & Karen: http://prezi.com/ieif8u4ct0tc/new-france/
Franny & Vernon: http://prezi.com/hfba7vcu3ut3/untitled-prezi/
Concetta, Emily & Megan: http://prezi.com/1hy2u7kqdlu2/new-france/
Angela & Rachel: http://prezi.com/ho3jy-hrc85s/
Math: Subtracting Fractions & Mid-Chapter take home quiz
Concetta, Emily & Megan: http://prezi.com/1hy2u7kqdlu2/new-france/
Angela & Rachel: http://prezi.com/ho3jy-hrc85s/
Evan & James: http://prezi.com/rjwn9uwtryjb/edit/#2
Leala & Sergio: http://prezi.com/kgnxadt0e3kh/edit/#3Math: Subtracting Fractions & Mid-Chapter take home quiz
Kahn Academy Fractions Tutorials at
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