Tuesday, December 20, 2011

The Warlock: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel

The Warlock is the fifth book of the series The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel written by Irish author Michael Scott. The novel was released in the USA on May 24, 2011, published by Delacorte Press, which is an imprint of Random House.[1] The UK release date was June 2, 2011,[2] and it made its debut on the USA Today Best Selling List at #13 on the same day.[3] It is preceded by four other titles (in order of release): The Alchemyst, The Magician, The Sorceress and The Necromancer and will be followed by the release of The Enchantress which will be released on 22nd May,2012.

At the end of The Necromancer, twins Sophie and Josh Newman were separated. Sophie left with the now very weak protagonist Nicholas Flamel, his wife, Perenelle Flamel and Niten, an immortal Japanese swordsman; while Josh exited with the main antagonist Dr.John Dee and his accomplice Virginia Dare. Mars Ultor, the Avenger, sees Sophie, accompanied by Niten, seeking a way to reclaim her brother. Nicholas Flamel is unable to help her in the search as he lapsed into unconsciousness after the battle against Dr. Dee, Virginia Dare and the Archon, Coatlicue. Perenelle and Prometheus escapes from Hades, Prometheus's long drawn out punishment shadowrealm, which crumbles into nothing, because Prometheus uses most of his aura to feed the crystal skull.

Meanwhile, in the Catacombs underneath Paris the previously imprisoned and very powerful Elder, Mars Ultor has a conversation with the Egyptian Elders; Isis and Osiris and his wife, the Witch of Endor. The witch has come there to free him while Isis and Osiris are hunting down Dr. John Dee. In San Francisco, Niten leads Sophie to Tsagaglalal, She Who Watches, who is in reality Sophie's Aunt Agnes. Perenelle, Nicholas, and Prometheus join them shortly. Nicholas is set to die within the day and Perenelle two days later, but the mysterious Hook-Handed Man told Perenelle long ago that she could give her husband one more day of life in exchange for one of her own. Through a ritual that requires Tsagaglalal and Sophie's auras, Perenelle is able to keep Nicholas alive for another day as well as awaken him from his coma. In Danu Talis, Scathach, Saint Germain, Palamedes, Shakespeare, and Joan of Arc are captured and sent to a volcano prison. Marethyu, is captured and taken to the ruler of Danu Talis, Aten. Aten is facing betrayal from his brother, Anubis and mother Bastet. He fears the destruction of Danu Talis but also reaches an epiphany that if Danu Talis is not brought down, future civilizations will never be created. He asks the Hook-Handed Man for advice. Marethyu advises that Aten become an oath breaker, or a warlock, and turn the city over to Marethyu. He agrees but Anubis arrives to arrest Aten. Aten allows himself to be captured to let Marethyu escape in a crystal vimana (flying saucer).

In the presence Odin, Hel, Black Hawk and Mars Ultor arrive at Tsagaglalal's home to seek her wisdom. Tsagaglalal then gives everyone jade tablets that Abraham the Mage(who was her husband) wrote personally for them. Mars, Hel, and Odin then go to Alcatraz to kill Dee. Nicholas, Perenelle, Niten, and Prometheus go to the Embaracadero to stop The Lotan, a seven-headed sea monster released by Dee with the help of the elder Nereus. Sophie spends time with Tsagaglalal who teaches her the Magic of Earth. To her surprise, however, Sophie is taught that all magic is one; there is no true division, it is just pure imagination. Tsagagalal takes Sophie to reunite with Josh on Alcatraz. While spending time together on Alcatraz, Machiavelli bonds with Billy the Kid and they decide to break the oaths made to their Elder masters, and becoming warlocks. This angers Dee, who nearly allows the Sphinx to kill Billy, but he is stopped by Dare, who knows Billy from years past. Under the influence of Dee and the sword Clarent, Josh helps Dee release the wild and dangerous beasts being kept in the prison as a part of Dee's newest and most desperate scheme--he not only wants to destroy the Elders and rebuild the Earth, but also claim the other Shadowrealms and Danu Talis. Sophie reaches Alcatraz by leygate through her jade tablet and refuses to leave Josh. Dee, using the swords of power, forms a leygate to the past. Him, Dare, Josh and Sophie go back and time to Danu Talis where they meet Isis and Osiris. Josh and Sophie recognize them as their parents Sara and Richard Newman. Dee reveals that Sophie and Josh's parents were his masters.

The books titular character has been confirmed to be Niccolò Machiavelli.

"The Warlock - the oath-breaker - of the title refers to a character who has made the biggest change, the biggest decision and acts out of character. And that is ............... Niccolo Machiavelli."
— Michael Scott As posted on the series' official Fan Forum.[4]


Anubis - Brother of Aten, seeking to rule Danu Talis as his own.

Aten - One of the last rulers of Danu Talis. Brother of Anubis. Machiavelli's master.

Hel - Niece of Odin, seeking revenge on Dr Dee.

Isis - Goddess worshipped by the Ancient Egyptians. Revealed as Sophie and Josh Newman's mother and one of Dee's masters.

Osiris - God worshipped by the Ancient Egyptians. Revealed as Sophie and Josh Newman's father and one of Dee's masters.

Tsagaglalal - "She Who Watches" Previously appeared in the series as Aunt Agnes. Gilgamesh's sister. Abraham's wife.

The Warlock will be followed by the concluding installment to the series; The Enchantress. The Enchantress is due to be released on the 22nd of May 2012.[5]

The Warlock was released on 2nd June 2011 in the UK with a different cover.[6]

The Warlock audio book is narrated by Paul Boehmer.[7]

In published order:

* The Alchemyst
* The Magician
* The Sorceress
* The Necromancer
* The Warlock
* The Enchantress (Will be released 22 May, 2012)

No comments:

Post a Comment