Hiiii haven't updated in a while but in my defence ive been in London and Amsterdam so I've been one busy bunny, but before i ramble about my ramblings I have to discuss this series of books I have read.
The Adventures of Septimus Heap.
Heard of it? No neither had I till since a few days ago. While being stuck in bed with a cold and nothing to read I raided my sister's bookcase and found this. There are currently 5 books out and I've read 4 of them.
The first two books were quite good and they gave off a spark which suggested that maybe 3 would be just as good, how wrong I was. The whole plot of the first book was charming what with the mix up of babies and the long lost princess. I found that it was a nice stroke of Sage's to make the the main character seem insignificant and cowardly throughout the first half but then find his feet and reclaim his name.
I liked the character of Marcia, strong willed wizard who is not intimated easily this is definitely refreshing but was slightly disappointed when in the second book she seems just childish and silly refusing to see Septimus point of view.
I sympathised with the character of Merrin he had spent the whole of his life been told his name was Septimus Heap it was'nt his fault, he was bound to feel some bitterness to the real Septimus but I can only roll my eyes at his stupidity and his constant repetitiveness of making the same mistake other and other again (of siding with the biggest bully in the play ground).
My favourite character was Simon Heap. I know too much about sibling jealously not to connect with him. He's hurt and annoyed that his younger long lost brother has been handed everything on a plate, I mean wouldn't you be if you had studied for years? Maybe it was a bit extreme to pull the skeleton of your brother's arch enemy out of the water but people have done stranger things. I've read on forums that people have type cast him as the typical bad guy that waits to long to kill their enemies. I can't believe that Simon would have ever of killed Jenna he would have let go at the last minute. He also genuinely loves the stubborn Lucy Gringe whose father is the mean gate keeper. His devotion is sweet and was the only thing i read about during book 5 the rest I skipped.
I didnt read book 3 as my sister didn't have it but if it was anything like book 4 and book 5 I am glad I missed it out. Sage seems to running out of ideas and recycling old ones. Something goes missing main character goes off to find them not before calling on sister or aunt to let them know what has happened, something old nemesis appears something unrelated happens blah blah blah *yawn* they have to travel somewhere and then come back, and then anti climax ending where a lot doesn't happen. I found myself scan reading most of the dialogue as a lot of it seemed unnecessary.
As the books go on the main characters seems to become more self righteous and more predictable is this Ms Sage's idea of character development?!?? As I would certainly not want to hang around with them in real life.
The illustrations in the book are lovely and I always looked forward to seeing the next one but they were always seemed to be repeated in other chapters. Was this laziness or way to cut expenses in the publishing department?? It would have been nice to see a new one in every chapter.
Another thing I liked was the catchup chapter they did it at the end where she told you what happened to less important characters which I thought was a nice touch.
I've read the reviews and have been surprised to see that there have been comparisons made to Harry Potter. Lets get things straight, when I first read HP i roared with laughter, after many rereads I still have a good chuckle. When I first read this i gave a weak smile and even if I did reread i hardly think that even a muscle would twitch in my face. Nothing can compare to HP NOTHING!!. HP is so easy to read you can just sit there and realise you've read a chapter without a blink of an eye. But with this it sometimes felt as if I was swimming in treacle.
Maybe I'm being a bit harsh they are targeted towards 12 year olds and maybe as a 12 year old I would have like it more. I just think Sage should have stopped at number 2!
As indivudally books the first 2 books get 3.5 stars out of 5
4 and 5 get one star out 5
Worth a read I guess if you got long train journey but its not a Rowling classic by any margin.
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