Flyte (Septimus Heap, Book 2)
Grade 4-8&ndash;Septimus Heap, Apprentice to the ExtraOrdinary Wizard, is back in this sequel toMagyk(HarperCollins, 2005). The defeated, but not destroyed, DomDaniel is still bent on ruling the Castle as ExtraOrdinary Wizard by removing Jenna, the rightful heir to the throne. This time it's Simon Heap who, as the necromancer's new Apprentice, pursues Jenna through both new and familiar territory. Meanwhile, a sinister plot unfolds at the Castle to banish the current ExtraOrdinary Wizard, Marcia Overstrand, by means of a Darke Shadow that follows her around and grows ominously more visible by the day. Readers will find themselves quickly immersed in this imaginative world, moving from one well-crafted adventure to another at a suspenseful pace. While some intricacies of the plot may be lost due to the ungainly cast of characters (listed at the end of the book), others are simply not logical, such as when the good characters allow Simon to escape without so much as a second thought despite his many attempts to murder them. This seems to be an obvious lead-in to the next book in the series, though other questions surrounding Jenna's parents will nag at readers' minds. Those who have been waiting forFlyteto see Septimus Heap grow into his role as Apprentice will not be disappointed and are likely to return for more.&ndash;Emily Rodriguez, Alachua County Library District, Gainesville, FLCopyright &copy; Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.