I was very surprised how much I like this book. It was well written, kept the reader engaged and flowed very smoothly. I liked it enough to go out and now purchase the next in the series. Thanks for a good book Mr. Scott.

A very imaginative and entertaining story; perhaps targeted to teenagers; but extraordinarily fun for adults too

I have never been a huge fan of fantasy but in 2001 I began reading the Harry Potter books and loved them. I have tried reading other fantasy books for young adults but they are simply not as good. I only recently discovered this series and I have to say that so far (I'm almost done with the second book) it is really good.

I have always been a fan of mythology so this is right up my alley. I love that the author has taken many of the myths from the world over and combined them. What an original and interesting idea. I am also learning about myths that I had never heard of. I am constantly googling these creatures for more information.

I am also caught up in the mystery. It seems that in each book we learn just a bit more about the main characters, especially the immortal ones. We are given enough information to keep us interested and left with just enough of a thirst for more to keep us reading. I will say that if all of the mysteries are not cleared up and the questions answered by the end of the series (I believe there is to be 6 books in all) then I will be disappointed. So far I am just getting the books from the library although if the entire series is as good as the first two and all of my questions are answered then I may consider purchasing the entire set to re-read. I guess I will just have to wait and see.

The books do read fast; I am devouring them quickly. I am eagerly awaiting the release of the 4th one. As an adult and a teacher I would have no problem recommending these books for my own children and students to read. I believe the trick to increasing literacy in our young people is encouraging them to read good contemporary young adult fiction.

This is the first novel of an entirely gripping series: The Alchemyst, The Magician, and The Sorceress are already out, with three more to come. The story takes place in contemporary San Francisco, Paris, and London (so far). The protagonists are twin American teenagers with extraordinary magical abilities. They are, however, pawns in a larger conflict, involving "Immortals" - historical characters such as Nicholas Flamel and Machiavelli who are trying to encourage/prevent the return of the "Ancients" who aim to enslave humankind. This series is at least as good as, perhaps better than, Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series

I enjoyed The Alchemyst very much. I love adventures and this book is one great adventure. I am now reading the magician. It is equally as good.

Intriguing story but has a cliff hangar ending because of the sequals. Don't buy until book six (the last book of the series ([...])is out. This is NOT AT ALL related to harry potter despite suspicions because of the sorcer's stone was maade by nicholas flamel but nicholas is a common character because of his reputation. Book 1 The Alchemyst, Book 2 The Magician, Book 3 the sorceress, book 4 the necromancer, book 5 the warlock, book 6 the enchantress.

Michael Scott is, in a word, genius. When I saw The Sorceress on the NYT best seller list, I wanted to read the series from the beginning. I was not disappointed. The action is fast paced, the characters are engaging and Scott has created a fantasmagorical world of mystery and mahem that is addictive. Can't wait to dive into the other books. I hope he writes hundreds of books in this series!!!!!!!!!!!

I think it was a great book and I already able to tell that the entire series is going to be great. I it was so good that I ripped through the book so fast I was sad when it ended. I hope everyone enjoys this book.

The Alchemyst was fun to read. The characters were exciting and well developed. The story was based on some things known about real people and the story line was very well played out. Many unusual if not unbelievable aspects and abilities portrayed would keep most fantastic readers in to the finish. Which by the way doesn't end. More to come.

I was actually pleasantly surprised by this book. That's not a slight against the author, but I had read many reviews saying the book was only so-so and was lacking in substance and character development. Anyway, I actually very much enjoyed The Alchemyst. I wouldn't say it's in my top 5 or anything, but it makes the list of favorites. I enjoyed all the mythology, although I do think that perhaps there were a few too many myths and legends stuffed in without having too much of a point in being there. All in all though, as I am not a mythology expert, I found myself wanting to know more about the creatures described. So that's good. The story itself is an intriguing one, and I love the characters of Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel. The characters I weren't too thrilled about were Josh and Sophie. It wasn't that I hated them, I just didn't LOVE them, nor did I care too much about what happened to either one of them. I just didn't get to know them. So maybe there could have been a tad more character development in the case of the twins.

Overall, though, the book was really fun to read and offered an interesting and engaging storyline. I found myself actually unable to put it down towards the end, which is good. I've bought the second in the series, The Magician, and hope that it is even better. Good read!

Good story. Lots of action. Very good character development. Will probably read the rest of the series.

I was intrigued by the premise of this book and really looking forward to a story revolving around Nicholas Flamel, a person from history with a good deal of mystery swirling around him. The Alchemyst simply did not deliver.

The lack of characterization was, for me, the book's biggest flaw. Not only was Flamel himself dull but, with the exception of Perenelle Flamel (who didn't appear often enough to satisfy me), the other characters struck me as flat and uninteresting. And because I wasn't involved with them, I found myself unable to care about the dangers they faced.

Aside from wondering why on earth Josh and Sophie would agree to the 'Awakening' when they were told it was highly dangerous, even potentially deadly and cringing each time Scathach was refered to as "Scatty", I found myself, fairly early on, distracted by plot issues. Why, I wondered, when there was an explosion that shook an entire building and blew out some windows in a retail area of a large U.S. city, did no cops show up? I know the main characters chose not to call them, but wouldn't someone else? Could we have, at least, heard approaching sirens? Why was there a fire extinguisher in the car? Do lots of people carry these behind the front seat? Were the twins really born only 28 seconds apart? Was it a c-section? When Yggdrasill - which was "the height and circumference of a large skyscraper" - "shattered and came crashing down on the ice statue of Hekate, crushing it to dust" why weren't Dee, Morrigan and Bastet, who were close enough to see Hekate's eyes, buried or struck by any rumble? And if Hekate was crushed to dust - and under something that huge - how was Dee finding pieces of her to work his spell on?

Okay, okay, I'll admit this sounds nitpicky. But once my mind starts asking these kinds of questions, I am totally pulled out of the story. And unfortunately, The Alchemyst never managed to pull me back in.

I had waited to read The Alchemyst until a couple more books in the series were available, planning to make a weekend out of it. Instead, The Magician and The Sorceress will be going back. A disappointment all around.

I did enjoy this book, but I felt that his writing set up the story that was going to happen for you instead of just letting the story happen. He seemed a little too literal in his explanations of things, which in turn made it very obvious what was going to happen in the book. I think there was only one thing that I didn't already know in advance was going to happen, where I thought one thing was and then another did, and that was only at the very end. (So I won't share what it was here), so I was a bit disappointed in the suspense aspect of this book. However, having said that, I did not want to put it down. Even though I knew what was going to happen, I still wanted to read it. So that is a good thing. I am glad I made it through because his second book in the series is much better on not laying everything out for you before it happens. So it has been a much more enjoyable read. This is a decent sized book at about 5800 kindle locations.

Rachel

Nicholas Flamel was originally introduced to me in Harry Potter. I now have found him in many books and was curious on how this one would play out(and some of the other characters here also). I loved this book and am continuing to read the series. This is not your ordinary use of mythological beasts, gods, people, and fictional folks. It is a well written rollercoaster ride that you don't want to get off.

THIS BOOK AND THE TWO OTHERS THAT FOLLOW IT HAD ME SPELL BOUND. I READ ALL THREE IN THREE WEEKS. THE LAST ONE, "THE SORCERESS" HAD ME SO CAPTAVATED I READ IT IN THREE DAYS! THERE IS NOT A WHOLE LOT I CAN SAY WITH OUT GIVING A WAY THE THE WHOLE STORY. THERE ISN'T ANY THING I COULD SAY TO DO IT JUSTICE. JUST READ IT! YOU WON'T REGRET IT.

I have to respond to the reviewer who compared this series to HP. There is none. Rowling's series is much better written and much more sophisticated. While the beginning of the Magician was fairly good, the quality was not maintained. The pace was frenetic without offering depth of characters or plotting. I felt very unsatisfied reading this series. I am a librarian and a huge HP fan. While Rowling isn't perfect, I feel she offers the reader much more in all facets of a novel. If you're pining for more HP, forget it!

There are things I like and don't like about this book.

I love the storyline, but I don't like the way it's written. It's like a not so great bedtime story where the storyteller keeps going back to fill in the gaps about the background on this character or that, jumps to the main characters, then veers off on another minor story to fill in another gap.

I love the characters, but I don't like that there's not much depth to them. I would've liked to know more about the friend Sophie was talking to when the book started, or about poor Bernice who'll probably die through no fault of her own, or Senuhet and his misguided decision to serve the cat goddess. The author also glosses over the twins family but I think that would've added more dimension to their personalities, made them more real.

It's at least an easy read and although it's not that well written, I'm still going to follow the story by picking up the next book in the series.

They say that out of the mouths of babes...etc. In this case, I borrowed a book from a grandson. He was right. This is a terrific story and a great family adventure. I see that some of these reviews, in fact, most were not necessarily written by young adults. It's always clear. And though I kept in mind as I was reading that this was not specifically addressed to my generation, still I fell under the considerable spell of a really good story which transcended age. When I see a review getting very very literal and probing,even"erudite" I must say, I have my doubts as to the reviewers intentions. I was up for a good read, plain and simple and I got it. The ability for young readers to Google every single character except the twins is unparalleled in fiction. My grandson showed me how and what could be more engaging. It lends a life beyond the story. Great!

I'm kind of sorry that I discovered this series now, because I'm going to blast through the first three books and then I'm going to have to wait for the next one to be published. What more can you ask of a book, than that you keep turning pages because you can't wait to find out what happens next?

After the ending of the wonderful Harry Potter series, I was looking for another series to get into, and I found this one quite by accident. While looking on Amazon.com for a copy of God Emperor of Dune, I found a link to this book. After reading the sample chapter on this site, I was hooked and wanted to learn more about this tale. From the beginning, this book really sucks you into its world, where you as a reader meet many of the people and creatures that we've all read about in mythology in a fun and delightful way. Before learning that there were six planned novels in this series, the first book really leaves you with that cliffhanger feeling. You care and WANT to know what happens to these characters. If you are looking to get into a really good series of books, I recommend it. I certainly can't wait to see what happens next.

If you ever read Harry Potter, you will remember the name Nicholas Flemel who apparently was a real person in the world's history.

Here, Nicholas Flemel is the alchemyst, and him and his wife have roamed the earth, protecting a book (lamely named the codex) for about 500 years.

Throw in the mix a huge slew of mythical caharacters from goobal mythology in some good vs evil tacky story line.

Still sounds salvageable , right?

Now throw in a pair of fraternal twins, who apparently have 'rare auras' and get crazy supernatural powers and will 'save the world' (and you have to read about the angst of one of them losing their ipod, no joke).

gaaaag

Now, when I hit the last page, I was like 'DARN' but it wasn't worth it enough to pay the $ to download the next in the series on my kindle. The good news is, this book is free to download for your kindle. For FREE, it's worth reading. If you get it from the library, and don't pay for overdue fees, it's worth reading.

Buying , though? Not for anyone over 18 years old. if was 14 and read this, I'd think it was teh [sic] awesomest book since Harry Potter. But fortunately, I am not 14 any longer. The question is - are you?

A fast paced exciting read for grades 5-8, it moves quickly and has lots of action. Characters are interesting and hold readers attention, but you are left hanging and can't wait for the next book, The Magician, which is of equal quality. A student of faith might come away with some quesitons, just remember it is "ficiton", but a great read.

Anyone who enjoyed Harry Potter will enjoy the adventures of these teenagers. This is a good and easy read; I look forward to reading the next 2 books by this author.

I am a Potter fan and was having geek withdrawals and needed a new adventure type series to get into and I found these on Amazon and I love them. All of the characters exist in real mythology so it's fun to learn about them and study them separately. A great adventure, I have already pre-ordered the Sorceress.

Sophie Newman is at work when the world changes forever. Across the street from her, a sleek black car pulls up outside the book shop where her twin brother Josh is working over summer for Nick and Perry Fleming. Moments later the shop appears to explode, sending Sophie racing across the road to her brother and directly into the pages of history. For the owner of the shop isn't Nick Fleming but Nicholas Flamel, better known as the Alchemyst, and the Codex he has been guarding for centuries has been stolen by Dr John Dee, former magician to Queen Elizabeth the First.

Except this is happening in modern day San Francisco and Sophie and Josh have never dealt with magic before.

The Alchemyst doesn't stop, right from the very first pages the characters are given no opportunity to rest and neither is the reader. From meeting a 2000 year old Warrior Maiden who looks like a 17 year old girl to meeting the Goddess Hekate living inside the World Tree, the book keeps going and every page bring an ever increasing sense of danger and urgency to the storyline.

Characters from mythology and history are bought to life and fleshed out and set loose on the modern world, some hell bent on bringing about the destruction of humanity and some desperate to save it. Could Josh and Sophie be the twins of legend, the two that are one and the one that is all? Could these two teenaged humans have enough magical power within them to prevent Armageddon? Only time will tell, but the next instalments of this book will not come out soon enough.

It's rare to find a book that sucks you in so completely, even stranger to find one that sends you racing into other books to find out everything you can about the people in it. Every single character in The Alchemyst is real, apart from the Twins. From millennia ago to the recent past, names you've heard, names you'll know will leap out at you.

If you like mythology, history, danger, drama, death, sadness, love and above all, magic, you need this book in your life. Now.