The Sorceress: The Secrets of The Immortal Nicholas Flamel, by Michael Scott

So, again, I'm woefully behind on my writing, and again, the start and finish dates for this book escape me.  I picked up this book, the third in Michael Scott's series right after I finished The Magician.  And, this book picks up right where The Magician leaves off.

Midway through The Magician, Josh gets awakened at the behest of Dee and Machiavelli.  Mars Ultor does the awakening and leaves a little "gift" with Josh, much like Sophie received from the Witch of Endor.  Mars Ultor and his satyr guardians, Phobos and Deimos, two creatures I wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley, or any alley really, play a big role in this book.

After their trouble with the gargoyles and grotesques at Notre Dame, Nicholas, Josh, Sophie, and Joan escape to London.  This is a risky place to be, because just as Paris is Nicholas' home turf, London is Dee's.  With all that is going on with the Codex, the Dark Elders being hot to trot to rid this world of Nicholas and Perenelle, and you know, the rest of the plot by the Dark Elders to destroy and then take over the world, things are really starting to heat up.  They only wish it would be so easy to make their plot a reality...

Some new historical characters appear in this book - Palamedes (the Saracen Knight), good ole' William Shakespeare, Billy the Kid, Gilgamesh the King (who is insane).  It is amusing to see what historical characters will appear next.  Shakespeare, in this book, is an immortal and lives with Palamedes in a junkyard in London with some creatures called Gabriel Hounds - part man, part hound.

Twists and turns in the interactions of Dee, Machiavelli, Flamel, Billy the Kid, and the twins abound in this book.  Loyalties are called into question, and there are times when you don't know what is going to happen.  Scott is great at weaving together a very engaging and enthralling story that is action packed.  I really like being able to envision many of the places Scott uses in the books - Alcatraz, Paris, San Francisco, and London.  The Pleistocene Era makes an appearance too - I wonder what it would have been like in that Era in the Bay Area.  Scott is able to describe them in such a detailed way that even though you may not have been to a place, you can imagine the place - and the people too.

The end of this book, of course, leaves you wanting more...  About 100 pages before I finished this, I requested the next book (# 4 in the series), The Necromancer, from the library.  I knew that I'd want to start that one immediately.  And, of course I did want to, and actually did start it immediately.  Great book, quick read, entertaining.  Pick it up!