Septimus Heap’s first book opens with loads and loads of details about things that Angie Sage writes about the very first time. Starting a series is always a tough ask because there is no option of leaving any loose ends because it will directly have an impact on the next part.
Septimus Heap emerges as a legend because the boy is so many things at the same time, he is a powerful wizard and a must have item for many people. Everyone is looking for the boy in order to fulfill something that he or she wants.
The moment we open the book we get the smell of the potions and the sound of spells in the voice of Allan Corduner. There is so much in it that we think that we have entered into the domain of a magical place where everything can come true within no time. There is humor but it was never the main focus of the writer because he wanted us to feel something that has long been forgotten i.e magic.
Fiction and stories related to science and technology are so common these days that we usually don’t have space for books with magic on our shelves anymore. In order to go on with the journey in the mysterious world one has to listen to Flyte and Physik because it is only then one would be able to get hold of the whole tale.
After the introduction the author never gives more time to characterization, it is all story and a strong one that is the expectation at the beginning of course. No loose ends are ever present at any stage and in any department.
NO SPOILERS Let’s start with the good first, if there was an award for cover design by genre this series would walk away with the title. The worst thing about this book is the author made poverty a central theme of the protagonists and that is elitist. The performance of Mr. Corduner is brilliant, I read a few chapters and found the audiobooks far superior. I thought the writing was adequate, it was the story itself that I found lacking, almost like the writer was trying to cram aspects and creatures into the story or a weak plot. Take the introduction of Boggart for example, what a boggart is was not covered sufficiently in my opinion, and this happens repeatedly, what if the reader missed Professor Lupin’s class? Especially in a children’s book it’s a big faux pas to assume the audience knows. Still, I gave it 2 stars, because there are some positives about this book. Understand that I believe in order for criticism to be constructive and credible, it must be balanced.