''The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel'' (often shortened to ''The Alchemyst'') is the first installment in the six volume

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

novel series, '' The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel''. It was written by Irish author Michael Scott and published in May 2007. ''The Alchemyst'' has been translated into 20 languages, and is available in 37 countries.

Title character

The "Alchemyst" refers to the historical character of

Nicholas Flamel Nicolas Flamel (; 1330 – 22 March 1418) was a French scribe and manuscript-seller. After his death, Flamel developed a reputation as an alchemist believed to have created and discovered the philosopher's stone and to have thereby achieved im ...

, a French

scrivener A scrivener (or scribe) was a person who could read and write or who wrote letters to court and legal documents. Scriveners were people who made their living by writing or copying written material. This usually indicated secretarial and admini ...

and

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...

seller. Flamel developed a posthumous reputation for being an

alchemist Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscience, protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in Chinese alchemy, C ...

and for his search for the

philosopher's stone The philosopher's stone or more properly philosophers' stone (Arabic: حجر الفلاسفة, , la, lapis philosophorum), is a mythic alchemical substance capable of turning base metals such as mercury into gold (, from the Greek , "gold", a ...

and immortality.

Plot summary

Sophie and Josh Newman are 15-year-old twins who are working at their summer jobs in The Coffee Cup in San Francisco (Sophie works at The Coffee Cup, Josh works at the bookstore on the other side of the street) when a mysterious man,

John Dee John Dee (13 July 1527 – 1608 or 1609) was an English mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, teacher, occultist, and alchemist. He was the court astronomer for, and advisor to, Elizabeth I, and spent much of his time on alchemy, divinatio ...

, comes into the bookstore for a book, the ''

Codex The codex (plural codices ) was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term ''codex'' is often used for ancient manuscript books, with ...

'' – or ''Book of Abraham the Mage''. Josh witnesses both Nick and Perry using

magic Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...

. He discovers that Nick is not an ordinary bookseller, but is the medieval and the legendary alchemist, Nicholas Flamel, being kept alive by making the

elixir of life The elixir of life, also known as elixir of immortality, is a potion that supposedly grants the drinker eternal life and/or eternal youth. This elixir was also said to cure all diseases. Alchemists in various ages and cultures sought the means ...

(a secret from the ''Codex'') for him and his wife, Perenelle. Dee also uses magic and takes the ''Codex'' by force while Josh is holding it – resulting in two pages being left behind; "The Final Summoning" pages that Dee needs to raise the Dark Elders, the beings whom Dee serves, and who have kept him immortal for several hundred years. Both Flamels need the ''Codex'' to make the elixir of life, or they will age rapidly and die within a month. Also, if they do not retrieve the ''Codex'', Dee will summon the Dark Elders to destroy the world and return to an age in which humans are but slaves and food. Flamel quickly takes Sophie and Josh to a hideout to enlist the aid of Scathach, a powerful Next Generation Elder. There, they are forced to run, threatened by rats sent by Dee, which is thwarted by Flamel and Scathach. Chased again almost immediately by tens of thousands of birds, Flamel then leads the twins and Scathach to secure the aid of

Hekate Hecate or Hekate, , ; grc-dor, Ἑκάτᾱ, Hekátā, ; la, Hecatē or . is a goddess in ancient Greek religion and mythology, most often shown holding a pair of torches, a key, snakes, or accompanied by dogs, and in later periods depicte ...

, a powerful three-faced Elder, who can awaken the twins' magical potential. Dee discovers this, and enlists the aid of

Bastet Bastet or Bast ( egy, bꜣstjt, cop, Ⲟⲩⲃⲁⲥⲧⲉ, Oubaste , Phoenician: 𐤀𐤁𐤎𐤕, romanized: ’bst, or 𐤁𐤎𐤕, romanized: bst) was a goddess of ancient Egyptian religion, worshipped as early as the Second Dynasty (289 ...

and the Morrigan. The trio mount a massive assault on Hekate's shadowrealm, to destroy

Yggdrasill Yggdrasil (from Old Norse ), in Norse cosmology, is an immense and central sacred tree. Around it exists all else, including the Nine Worlds. Yggdrasil is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'' compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional ...

– the world tree – that is the heart of Hekate's power. While Yggdrasill is attacked, Hekate awakens Sophie's magic abilities but does not have time to awaken Josh, as the tree has been set on fire by Dee. While she rushes to defend her home, Scathach, Flamel, and the twins attempt to escape the shadowrealm. While escaping, they encounter Dee and witness the power of the ancient Ice Elemental sword,

Excalibur Excalibur () is the legendary sword of King Arthur, sometimes also attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. It was associated with the Arthurian legend very early on. Excalibur and the Sword in th ...

. They see Dee transform a wereboar into pure ice, then shatter the statue. Scathach remarks that she thought that Excalibur had been lost when Artorius died. The twins, Scathach, and Flamel escape the shadowrealm, shortly before the destruction of Hekate, Yggdrasill, and the entire shadowrealm. As they escape, Dee uses Excalibur to freeze the tree, and Hekate, whose life and power is linked to it, transforms to ice as well. As this occurs, Dee is informed that the Flamels and Scathach have escaped with the twins. In his rage, he shatters Yggdrasill, which crushes Hekate into dust, killing her. Flamel, Scathach, and the twins travel to Scathach's grandmother, the

Witch of Endor The Witch of Endor ( he, ''baʿălaṯ-ʾōḇ bəʿĒyn Dōr'', "she who owns the ''ʾōḇ'' of Endor") is a woman who, according to the Hebrew Bible, was consulted by Saul to summon the spirit of the prophet Samuel. Saul wished to receive ad ...

(also called "The Mistress of Air"), who teaches Sophie her magical secrets quickly by giving the girl all the witch's knowledge and the power to know how to use air magic. While they are there, Dee has found out that a

prophecy In religion, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a ''prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain divine will or law, or prete ...

in the ''Codex'' speaks of Sophie and Josh. He tempts Josh to join him while using

necromancy Necromancy () is the practice of magic or black magic involving communication with the dead by summoning their spirits as apparitions or visions, or by resurrection for the purpose of divination; imparting the means to foretell future events; ...

to raise thousands of corpses to assault the Elders, Flamel, and Sophie. Josh almost agrees, but at the last moment, he realizes he will lose Sophie if he agrees. Dee brings all the dead in a nearby cemetery alive and they start to attack them, Josh hits Dee with their

Hummer Hummer (stylized as HUMMER) is a brand of pickups and SUVs that was first marketed in 1992 when AM General began selling a civilian version of the M998 Humvee. Although discontinued in 2010, Hummer returned as a sub-brand of GMC in 2020. ...

, distracting Dee long enough to escape with Scathach, Sophie and Nicholas Flamel by using a (a

teleportation Teleportation is the hypothetical transfer of matter or energy from one point to another without traversing the physical space between them. It is a common subject in science fiction literature and in other popular culture. Teleportation is oft ...

device where two or more lines of energy,

ley lines Ley lines () are straight alignments drawn between various historic structures and prominent landmarks. The idea was developed in early 20th-century Europe, with ley line believers arguing that these alignments were recognised by ancient socie ...

, cross each other) to go to Paris which is Nicholas Flamel's old home. The book ends when Dee surprises them.

Special editions and cover variations

On 5 August 2010 in the UK, ''The Alchemyst'', was re-released featuring an alternate cover. ''The Alchemyst'' was released as part of a special edition boxed 3 book set called ''The First Codex'' in the US on 28 September 2020

Audio book

''The Alchemyst'' is also available as an

unabridged An abridgement (or abridgment) is a condensing or reduction of a book or other creative work into a shorter form while maintaining the unity of the source. The abridgement can be true to the original work in terms of mood and tone (literature), t ...

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...

. It was released by the Listening Library on 22 May 2007 and narrated by

Denis O'Hare Denis Patrick Seamus O'Hare (born January 17, 1962) is an American actor, singer, and author noted for his award-winning performances in the plays '' Take Me Out'' and ''Sweet Charity'', as well as portraying vampire king Russell Edgington on HB ...

. The audiobook ISBN numbers are: (UK), (US).

Award nominations

* Irish Book of the Year – 2008 * Kentucky Bluegrass Book Award * Rhode Island Teen Book Award – 2008 (Winner) *Bisto Book of the Year Award – 2008 * CBI Shadowing Award – 2008 * Maine Student Book Award – ranked 10th * Nevada Young Readers Award * NCSLMA YA Book Award – 2010

Online games

The first related online game to be launched was ''The Codex Master''. The object is to get money and guess a secret code composed of a sequence of coloured orbs by inputting various sequences and using logic. When a sequence is entered, indicators show when the player has the right colour and also when a colour is in the right or wrong position to enable them to apply logic and guess the correct sequence.

Film adaptation

Film rights for the book were originally sold to

New Line Cinema New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after acq ...

and

Mark Burnett Productions Mark Burnett (born 17 July 1960) is a television producer who is the former Chairman of MGM Worldwide Television Group. He is best known for creating and producing the reality shows ''The Apprentice'', '' Survivor'', ''The Voice'', and ''Sh ...

in 2006.

Eric Bress Eric Bress is an American screenwriter, film director and producer, probably best known for his work on the ''Final Destination'' series and ''The Butterfly Effect''. He frequently collaborates with J. Mackye Gruber. His most recent project, '' ...

was confirmed as the writer in 2007. In November 2009 it was announced that

Lorenzo di Bonaventura Lorenzo di Bonaventura (; born January 13, 1957) is an American film producer and founder and owner of Di Bonaventura Pictures. He is best known for producing the G.I. Joe and ''Transformers'' film series. The films he produced have earned over ...

had bought the film rights to the series. Michael Scott and Barry Krost were set to be the executive producers, with the script writer being unannounced. On 20 June 2012 it was announced that the Australian company AMPCO Films had optioned the film. Michael Scott would write the screenplay. Production was due to start in early 2013 and filming would take place in Australia and New Zealand. Dick Cook Studios had boarded the production of the film by October 2019 with expectations that the film would start production as its second project in early 2021.

Sequels

The series continues in the sequel '' The Magician: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel'' which was released in the UK on 5 June 2008 and on 24 June 2008 in the US. The third book '' The Sorceress: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel'' was released on 26 May 2009 in the US and the fourth book was released on 25 June 2009 in the UK '' The Necromancer: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel'' followed with its US release on 25 May 2010. The fifth book, '' The Warlock: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel'' was released on 24 May 2011 in America. The final book in the series,'' The Enchantress: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel'', was released 24 May 2012.

References

External links

Author's website

Publisher's website

Official Flamel Forum
Author's fan forum. {{DEFAULTSORT:Alchemyst: The Secrets Of The Immortal Nicholas Flamel 2007 American novels Young adult fantasy novels American young adult novels American fantasy novels Novels by Michael Scott (Irish author) 2007 fantasy novels Fiction about alchemy Delacorte Press books Doubleday (publisher) books Novels set in San Francisco Celtic mythology in popular culture Greek and Roman deities in fiction Norse mythology in popular culture Bastet Hecate Witch of Endor