The Alchemyst by Michael Scott (Book Review)

The Alchemyst (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel #1)

by Michael Scott

369 pages

Random House, May 2007

fantasy/thriller/fiction/mythology

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My Rating: ★★★ 1/2

Amazon.com | BN.com

"Ok -- answer me this: why would anyone want to wear an overcoat in San Francisco in the middle of summer?"

My Review: I made the mistake of reading opinions of others before reading this and in doing so my judgement of this book was a bit clouded as I read. I would hope you decided to read this book without other peoples opinions involved. Removing what others had to say, I found this book flowed well and had great imagery in its descriptions. There were several times throughout the book where the author would remind you of what you just read which can seem a bit repetitive but I welcomed the reminders since there is a lot of information to retain in the book.

The characters are real, with the exception of the two main characters, the twins, Sophie and Josh. Nicholas Flamel is real and so are those he encounters and battles in their pursuit to save the world. The book takes place in modern times and the author wastes no time in reminding the reader of that, by having the main characters use google and wikipedia several times as well as making reference to cell phones and iPods. It’s a balance of the modern with the ancient which I enjoy.

If you enjoy learning some truth about legends you will find this book and I’m sure (as I continue to read them) the series, quite fulfilling.

Summary: He holds the secret that can end the world.

The truth: Nicholas Flamel was born in Paris on September 28, 1330. Nearly 700 years later, he is acknowledged as the greatest Alchemyst of his day. It is said that he discovered the secret of eternal life.

The records show that he died in 1418.

But his tomb is empty.

The legend: Nicholas Flamel lives. But only because he has been making the elixir of life for centuries. The secret of eternal life is hidden within the book he protects—the Book of Abraham the Mage. It's the most powerful book that has ever existed. In the wrong hands, it will destroy the world. That's exactly what Dr. John Dee plans to do when he steals it. Humankind won't know what's happening until it's too late. And if the prophecy is right, Sophie and Josh Newman are the only ones with the power to save the world as we know it.

Sometimes legends are true.

And Sophie and Josh Newman are about to find themselves in the middle of the greatest legend of all time.

If you want to learn more about Michael Scott please visit his site.

The Artist (2012) (Movie Review)

Title: The Artist

Director: Michel Hazanavicius

Writer: Michel Hazanavicius

Music by: Ludovic Bource

Cinematography: Guillaume Schiffman

Producer: Thomas Langmann

Distributor: The Weinstein Company

Studio: La Petite Reine

Location: Los Angeles, CA
In Theaters: January 20th, 2012

Running Time: 100 minutes

Color: Black and White

Language: Silent

Starring: Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, Uggie, John Goodman, etc.

Genre(s): comedy/romance/drama

Storyline: (IMDb.com) Outside a movie premiere, enthusiastic fan Peppy Miller literally bumps into the swashbuckling hero of the silent film, George Valentin. The star reacts graciously and Peppy plants a kiss on his cheek as they are surrounded by photographers. The headlines demand: “Who’s That Girl?” and Peppy is inspired to audition for a dancing bit-part at the studio. However as Peppy slowly rises through the industry, the introduction of talking-pictures turns Valentin’s world upside-down. Written by L. Hamre

Movie Trailer:



My Review: This movie is unlike any other filmed since the roaring 20s. When silent films was on its way out and “talkies” were in. I’m aware of this time period because I’ve seen my share of silent films and Singing in the Rain as well. If you haven’t seen that movie I highly recommend it to all for a lot of reasons. But if you are looking for a movie that pays homage to the classic black and white cinema, filmed in the older 4:3 aspect ratio (meaning it’s a box instead of a rectangle/CinemaScope) then you’ve come to the right place.

Just keep in mind that about 99.99% of the movie is, in deed silent. Except for a brief moment when George Valentin, played by Jean Dujardin, is having a nightmare where things around him are producing sound, like a glass being placed on a table, but he is unable to speak. Why the nightmare? The head of the studio he works for explains they are stopping production on silent films and working primarily on talkies.

This movie, despite it’s dialogue, depended upon the expressions an actor can convey. Something many actors of today have lost the ability to do because they rely too heavily on technology to fix any mistakes or tell the story they were unable to do themselves. Silent movies shows a certain vulnerability you cannot get from the best technology, production company, director, or actors of the 21st century.

The score for the entire movie was flawless and was such a part of the emotion of the movie you almost forget it’s there. It’s so complimentary. And the story-line takes a more serious tone than I had anticipated it to take. Add sound and dialogue to this story line and you’d get any ordinary movie of a man on the edge after he’s been told his career is over. Take away sound and words and what you see on the screen is poetry in motion. Although I’ve seen this story and heard it first hand so many times before it was like experiencing it on such a deeper level. We (those in the theater) laughed, I know I cried and I’m sure others did, and when it was all over we clapped.

It ends, I must say (don’t read on if you don’t want a spoiler!!), with sound and words! After George loses everything (his wife, his career, his best friend) he gains it all back ten-fold when he lets go of his pride which was holding him back from moving forward with the times. He falls in love, get the girl who fell in love with him as well, and she brings him back together with his best friend as well as gets him started on a new career. He fears the audience who once loved him as a silent film actor who made his career by “mugging it” as Peppy Miller (his young love) says at one point in the movie, will not want to hear his voice. She comes up with the brilliant idea for a movie to be made around both of them tap dancing, which the head of the studio Al Zimmer (John Goodman) thinks is amazing. Thus a musical starring Peppy Miller and George Valentin is born. When they are done doing a tap dancing routine that reminds me of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers (but only for a while), what’s to be expected is heavy panting from all the energy exerted on their dance. And heavy panting is what we hear. The audience (myself included) gasp we are so shocked to hear this sound! Can you blame us? We just went an entire hour and thirty-five minutes without any sound beyond his nightmare scene where young girls are laughing annoyingly and a strange choice of background music, Penny’s From Heaven (words included). After they are done breathing heavily, Al takes a deep breath of satisfaction and speaks these words: “Cut! Perfect. Beautiful. Could you give me one more?” Valentin, in his only audible line, replies “With pleasure”, in a strong French accent. I think Al hit the nail right on the head, this movie is perfect and beautiful!

My Rating: A-

Will you…Run And Tell That?