Michael Scott

Fifteen-year-old Josh has chosen to side neither with his twin sister Sophie nor with the Alchemyst, Nicholas Flamel, but rather to fight alongside Dr. John Dee and the mysterious Virginia Dare, while the immortal Machiavelli and Billy the Kid follow the Elders' plans to set loose the monsters of Alcatraz on San Francisco and trigger the end of the human race.

The Warlock

A latest entry in the best-selling series finds Sophie continuing on her own in the face of the ever-weakening Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel, a situation that causes her to turn to Niten for help in finding an immortal who can teach her Earth Magic. By the author of The Alchemyst.

(Bre)anne✨

She had seen Marethyu sitting with his right hand covering his eyes, his shoulders shaking, and she knew he was weeping for the death and destruction he had caused. It had been necessary, she knew, and she had no doubt that he had saved their lives. But in that moment, seeing him weep for what he had done, she trusted him more than she had at any time in the past. She knew then that whatever he was—whoever he was—he had not lost his humanity.

“She was immeasurably powerful: maiden in the morning, matron in the afternoon and ancient in the evening. She represented the entire scope of woman's knowledge and power.” Tsagaglalal leaned forward, her lined face inches from Sophie's. “You are the maiden, Perenelle is the matron and I am the ancient crone. Together we have extraordinary knowledge and remarkable power. Together the three of us can stand and defend this city."

“You said that all choices are made out of love or hate. He's my brother. I'm going after him. That's my choice.”

And Sophie suddenly remembered why the jasmine was so familiar. It was Aunt Agnes's favorite perfume. And the scent of Tsagaglalal, She Who Watches. And then the world spun around her and turned black. 

When I was a child, more than six hundred and eighty years ago, my grandmother introduced me to a hooded man with a hook in place of his left hand. He told me my future, and the future of the world. And then he swore me to secrecy. I have been waiting for this day my entire life. Now that the end is almost upon us, I know what I have to do.

Savindi Jinasena

** spoiler alert **
           I’m finally finished with The Warlock! I finished the book while I was at the bus stop, waiting to get home. I’m kind of kicking myself right now because I didn’t bring The Enchantress home with me. Why you ask, well for one thing it’s bigger than The Warlock and I’m really careful with my new books; especially hardcovers. I didn’t want the cover to get damaged while it was in my backpack, currently The Enchantress is sitting on my bed back in Guelph. I’ll start it once I go back.

Let the cover gushing begin! If I was being honest, I think The Warlock is probably the my least favourite cover of the series. I won’t deny that it is beautiful in its own right, but there’s something about it that just doesn’t sit right with me. I feel like it’s missing some magic in comparison to the previous covers. I like that the cover is printed on gold paper and the symbols in all corners of the cover are important and you’ll find out why.

I’m a bit disappointed to say this, but I personally did not care too much for this book. I hate saying that because I wanted to like this book more. The Necromancer ended on such a highly suspenseful note that I expected this be the same way. Don’t get me wrong it did end on a surprising note, but that was about all there was to it. Like I said it really makes me sad that I didn’t like this book that much.

Plot wise…well I found the plot to be all over the place. There were new characters introduced; Odin, Hel, Abraham the Mage, Aten etc. However this book was such an information overload that I found myself thinking “okay I get it, now get on with the story already.”I thought the twist with Aunt Agnes was well done and the introduction of Isis and Osiris is sure to make The Enchantress a good read. However, what irritated me with this story was despite Aunt Agnes telling Sophie that she had a “free will” in reality she didn’t. It was more like Sophie was guilt tripped because she is one of the twins of legend and therefore she has to save the world. There was nothing “free” about it. She had no choice and that irked me. I guess the wording of the whole argument did. The book started out with a lot of promise but as I got into the story more, I felt like it was a slow burner and I couldn’t wait to get to the end.

As for the characters, I really dislike Pernelle Flamel. I don’t think I found any redeeming qualities in her in this one. She’s selfish, arrogant, ill-tempered, my list of her character traits that annoy me can go on and on. The development of Dr. John Dee, especially into an individual who suffers from a serious case of megalomania was executed really well. As for Sophie and Josh…it pains me to say this but I found that I didn’t particularly care for either one of them. I found them to be weak characters in this book. I wasn’t enthusiastic about them at all. While Josh was shown to be struggling with his own choices of following Dee, there wasn’t anything else about him that made me want him to be safe, which is so disappointing because he’s one of my favourite characters. I really enjoyed Machiavelli and Billy’s storyline in this book. They were two of the characters that I did care for and I’m looking forward to reading their story in The Enchantress. 

Referring to the titular character, I think there was more than one warlock in this book. There wasn’t one specific character you could say was the warlock, there were at least three, so I guess even the title doesn’t fit with the story that well.

Overall, The Warlock was a disappointing read. It read like a bit like textbook; there was no depth to the story and that was disheartening. There were so many ways Scott could have made this story better. As always Scott’s knowledge and inclusion of so many mythological figures to weave a wonderful story fascinates me and this time it didn’t. The characters were not strong enough for me, hence by lack of emotion toward them. Hopefully I’ll be impressed with The Enchantress more.

My Rating: 2.5/5

Would I recommend it? Maybe (only because I think readers of the series will want to know how it ends and this book is a stepping stone just like the others)

4.25 stars, rounded up. Josh is still majorly annoying. The ending!!!!!!!

TW to be added later

4.25 stars, rounded up. Josh is still majorly annoying. The ending!!!!!!!

Maggie Hepditch

These books are getting exhausting to read. There are far too many characters, far too many plot lines, and far too many universes in one book. It is still a fun quick read tho so even tho I think this should be two stars I'm going to give it a generous three. Also the plot twist? Cmon. Like really?

Laura Kehoe

This was such a great addition to the series! I loved getting to know these characters better! They’re all so complex and well developed! I can’t wait to read the last book!!!!

Jeni Enjaian

Some series lose all their luster after a prolonged absence. This book epitomizes that statement. After reading all of Rick Riorden's mythology based books, Scott appear to be (and most certainly are) an absolutely ridiculous jumbled mess. Everyone has apparently existed for thousand upon thousands of years. Each new layer of beings stretches back into the eons. One can do that only so much before it becomes ridiculous. Scott did not stop while he was a head. The narrative jumps between way too many narrators. Scott also indulges in what I suppose could be called post-modern musing on what's really right and wrong. (Are the Flamel's helping or hurting the Twins?) All that questioning leaves the narrative without a solid foundation to stand on. With nothing to anchor to, the narrative flounders tremendously. Having read five out of the six books in the series now, I feel obligated to finish the series. If it weren't for my own idiosyncrasies, there's no way that I would pick up that last book. I do not recommend this series.

The Warlock

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