The Sorceress is the third in the series of fantasy books by author Michael Scott. What first drew my husband's and my attention to this book series is the recently released Alchemyst Game . . . Challenges of the Elder. Being a huge fan of fantasy and science fiction novels, my husband gladly volunteered to review this book.
Picking up where the first two books in the series The Alchemyst and The Magician left off, The Sorceress continues the tale of the good and the evil immortals who exist all around us without our knowledge. The couple Nicholas and Perenelle Fleming seek out the Twins (a.k.a. the Two that are One) in order to prevent the evil immortals from restoring the ways of a darker time when evil prevailed.
What my husband thought about this book:
1) His favorite character was Perenelle. She is the most complex character of the book. Her appeal is that she is perceived to be very powerful, both by the reader and the other characters in the book, but she is a human immortal who shows vulnerability despite her power.
2) My husband's favorite part of the book was the battle at the junk yard fortress. He thought Scott did an excellent job helping the reader visualize the battle.
3) He liked that there were references throughout the story of real life places and events. For example, the volcanic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius was explained to have been the result of a heated battle between the two sides of good and evil immortals.
4) He believed the author did well with writing the story so that the reader did not have any conflict about the possibility, no matter how minute, that immortals could actually exist all around us.
5) He found it to be an interesting character trait that the immortals have lived so long that each is knowledgeable about almost every language and dialect in existence. What was even more interesting was that the characters would revert back to the language they feel most comfortable with when they found themselves to be in a stressful situation.
6) Although he found it interesting, my husband thought the idea of famous people in history, such as Joan of Arc, Billy the Kid, and William Shakespeare, actually being immortal was overplayed. He thought maybe the mention of just one or two would have sufficed.
7) My husband thought the author did a good job easing the reader into the story in the beginning. You do not necessarily need to read the previous two books in the series to understand The Sorceress. However, he did think the book ended very abruptly. He felt that a few things should have been resolved even if there was still a cliffhanger at the end.
Overall, my husband enjoyed the book very much. He definitely would like to read Volumes 4 and 5 when they are available. Although he does not need to read the first two volumes, he definitely would not turn down a chance to read them both.
The Sorceress is now available to be ordered on RandomHouse.com . You can also find it locally and online in most places where fiction books are sold.
Thank you to Random House for providing us with a review product free of charge.
