Magyk

Title:               Magyk
Category:       Fantasy
Grade:            4-8
Author:          Angie Sage
Illustrator:      Mark Zug
Publisher:       Katherine Tegen Books
Date:               2005
Pages:              552

Summary:     

Septimus Heap was the seventh son of a seventh son, and should have been the most Magykal of all the Heap children.  Unfortunately, he died at birth, and in his place came the young foundling, Jenna.  Ten years later, Magyk has been outlawed, the queen and her trusted advisor Alther have been murdered, and the ExtraOrdinary Wizard Marcia has been deposed by an evil necromancer after the throne.  When spies reveal that young Jenna is actually the lost princess, Silas and his family flee into the marshes.  There with Aunt Zelda, a white witch, they struggle to prepare enough magic to protect their family, rescue their captive eldest son, and get the necromancer’s hunters and assassins off their case.  Along the way, they capture a boy soldier from the young army, Boy 412, who knows nothing of his past, but wields the power of Magyk with startling strength. 

Review:

Fantasies, though vastly different in detail, are often predictably tiresome in their basic structure, a reason I have avoided reading this book for a long time.  While certain parts of it were predictable, Magyk was anything but tiresome, told in colorful, reader-friendly prose that would lend itself readily to being read aloud.  Combining humor and magic with a great tale, Sage places herself readily among the ranks of writers like Rick Riordan and Jean Ferris, and a broad range of readers will enjoy this fast-paced, vivid and charming adventure.