EVER BOUGHT A BOOK ON THE STRENGTH OF THE REVIEWS ON THE BACK???

If you are like us (and probably one of the many thousands of book lovers across the globe) and have had the misfortune of spending your hard-earned cash on an apparent "best-seller"; you will probably also have experienced the dull thud as you bang your head against the wall, thinking "Why did I listen to the reviews on the back?!" The truth is: reviews found on books are usually self-promoting, PR stunt-type hype and not necessarily a true reflection of the books' quality at all.

It is our aim to tell the truth about books, but don't for one second assume that that is synonymous with us creating a blog to 'diss' authors' work - to the contrary - our intention is to provide an honest appraisal of each and every book we read. If the book is any good - it'll get a good review. If it's awful and a tragedy to the literary world - then it won't. It's that simple.

Thursday 27 September 2007

The Alchemyst (The secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel) by Michael Scott (ISBN 978-0-385-61293-7)

I may be a little late to join the bandwagon of supporters for this new series - maybe not. Either way, I can understand the odd disquieted comment and murmuring about similarities with a rather more internationally renowned series of books which involve magic, but... and there's a HUGE but for me - you would be immeasurably misinformed if you were to dismiss this as anything other than uniquely brilliant!
Michael Scott manages with apparent effortless ease to bring together myth, legend, fact and history - OK, with a dash of magic involved - but it is so much more than simple magic - it is the story of Alchemy, of Nicholas Flamel, of the scientific wonders mankind can yet discover (or already has). Magic becomes obtainable to us, mere mortals. It opens up worlds of mystery and sorcery to us all (which is especially good for those of us who felt pangs of envy and suffered with 'why-couldn't-I-have-those-powers-itis' at the abilities of the select few in other fictional books).
Mark my words - someone, somewhere will recognise this series' potential - a film will be made - this has all the hallmarks of a colossal success... and I for one, cannot wait for the next book!!

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