Magyk

I finished reading Angie Sage's book entitled Magyk. It is the first book chronicling the adventures of Septimus Heap. He is like Harry Potter in the sense that they are both boy wizards. But unlike in the Harry Potter series where the setting is contemporary, the story of Septimus Heap seems to have taken place long ago and in a far away land.

Septimus Heap is the seventh son of a seventh son. He was kidnapped by a midwife on the day he was born. He was supposed to have been made the Apprentice of a wicked wizard named DomDaniel but somehow became part of the Young Army. At age 10, he met the Heap family again. At that time, the Heaps have Jenna, who is of the same age as Septimus. Jenna is actually the Princess, daughter to the murdered Queen. She was given to the Heaps for safekeeping by a wizard named Marcia Overstrand, on the same day Septimus was kidnapped. This secret was discovered by the enemies making it necessary for Jenna to be brought elsewhere.

The story continues with the journey of Jenna, Marcia, Silas (Septimus's father), Maxie (a dog), Nicko (a son of Silas), and Septimus (known to the others at that time as Boy 412, a boy soldier in the Young Army). They were pursued by a group led by the Hunter, whom they eluded. They managed to reach the abode of a witch named Aunt Zelda in the Marram Marshes.

DomDaniel later found the hiding place and went there on a ship called The Vengeance. Septimus (still known to the others as Boy 412), with Nicko and Jenna, piloted their recently-discovered Dragon Boat and engaged DomDaniel, who lost. Later in the story, the mysteries of the Dragon Boat and Septimus himself were unraveled.

What did this Book One tell me? Well, it is this -- what you have been born with, no one can take away from you. It is just then a matter of time and of preparedness, before you can be what you were made to be.

Book Two is entitled Flyte. In this book, I think Simon (another son of Silas and therefore a brother of Septimus) crossed over to DomDaniel's fold.

By the way, I bought Magyk at PowerBooks, Mall of Asia. Paperback. PhP 335.