• The Alchemyst

  • The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, Book 1
  • By: Michael Scott
  • Narrated by: Denis O'Hare
  • Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (4,851 ratings)

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The Alchemyst  By  cover art

The Alchemyst

By: Michael Scott
Narrated by: Denis O'Hare
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Publisher's summary

Nicholas Flamel appeared in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter - but did you know he really lived? And his secrets aren't safe! Discover the truth in book one of the New York Times best-selling series The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel.

The truth: Nicholas Flamel's tomb is empty.

The legend: Nicholas Flamel lives.

Nicholas Flamel is the greatest Alchemyst to ever live. The records show that he died in 1418, but what if he's actually been making the elixir of life for centuries?

The secrets to eternal life are hidden within the book he protects - the Book of Abraham the Mage. It's the most powerful book that has ever existed, and in the wrong hands, it will destroy the world. And that's exactly what Dr. John Dee plans to do when he steals it.

There is one hope. If the prophecy is true, Sophie and Josh Newman have the power to save everyone. Now they just have to learn to use it.

“The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel has everything you loved about Harry Potter, including magic, mystery, and a constant battle of good versus evil.” (Bustle)

A New York Times best-selling series
A USA Today best seller
A Kids' Indie Next List Selection
A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age
An ILA Young Adult Choice Book
An ILA Children’s Choice Winner

©2007 Michael Scott (P)2007 Random House Inc. Listening Library, an imprint of the Random House Audio Publishing Group

Critic reviews

“[A] riveting fantasy . . . fabulous read.” (School Library Journal, starred)

“Readers will be swept up.” (Kirkus Reviews, starred)

“An exciting and impeccably thought-out fantasy, well-suited for those left in the lurch by Harry Potter’s recent exeunt.” (Booklist)

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What listeners say about The Alchemyst

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,487
  • 4 Stars
    1,311
  • 3 Stars
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Performance
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  • 2 Stars
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Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    1,958
  • 4 Stars
    844
  • 3 Stars
    398
  • 2 Stars
    143
  • 1 Stars
    104

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Only for readers with HUGE attention spans

I was intrigued by the concept of the book and it's "is it fiction or not?" inspiring premise. I don't mind reading young adult fiction, in fact, some YA titles have been some of my favorite reads. When I finally became a reader I learned quickly that just because a book falls into the YA category doesn't mean it can't have depth and be entertaining. But this book's pacing was sooooo painfully slow I couldn't even finish it.

The writer kept having the characters go over the same plot points as a means of underscoring how amazing and fantastic the experience was. "Flamel is immortal?! But that means he must have met people..*gasp*... from history!!!" I get that characters are supposed to be stunned or experience disbelief in a sci-fi/fantasy setting, but once they've agreed to go on the adventure surely their must be more interesting things to talk about than the same shocking disbelief over and over.

The characters were flat and two dimensional and when they were put in danger, I found myself not really caring if the bad guys won or not. There was no sense or scope of tension for me as a reader to care if anyone was hurt or if the day was saved.

The narrator did a fine job. Nothing exceptionally good or bad about that aspect of the listen. I just don't think he had much to work with.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

badly written, badly read

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

not much more to say about this book other than this author needs a different editor and different talent for the audio version. very disappointing read/listen.

Has The Alchemyst turned you off from other books in this genre?

no. just this author.

What didn’t you like about Denis O'Hare’s performance?

mispronunciations mostly. but he also sounds as if this is is first read of the book. the characters aren't well developed and are one dimensional at best, but he could have put more effort into it.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

disappointment.

Any additional comments?

badly written. badly read.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

This book was really awful

Wretched, awful, terrible. Been a while since I read a book this bad. Perhaps good if you are ten, not sure. Lots of obnoxious and pointless exposition, to explain what is happening. I enjoyed the Harry Potter series, but I would stay away from this one.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Extremely derivative

I enjoy listening to YA books, which are often fast-paced and easier to listen to than some of the adult fantasy novels, which are better read than appreciated in audio format. There are many complex and highly imaginative YA novels available on Audible. This is not one of them. The heroes and Gods are all modernized and trivialized to resemble teenagers and even the twin teen main characters, who fit the PROPHECY (yawn) are not very interesting. The writing is repetitious - for instance, all of the Godesses are "tall and elegant". I got so bored listening to it, I couldn't finish it. Definitely for teens and younger only and only if they haven't read a lot of fantasy

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Couldn't finish it

When I read the review of this book, I read one that said that this book reads like a cheap scifi movie or something along that line. I depend on reviews when I buy a book and I should have really listened to this one. I am sorry to say that this was one of the dumbest audios I have listened to. Sorry, don't waste your credit here.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

This was a disappointment. Very derivative. The teenage leads were weakly drawn. The writing was repetitive. Enjoyed the title character and some of the settings. For kids.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Beginning of an amazing story

I read these books years ago, and the audio book version was just as magical. The narrator is AMAZING, and has done an excellent job keeping listener engaged, and every character is clearly different. Very well done.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great Story

Purchased on accident but glad I did, I purchased the entire series after finishing this book.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Didn’t get to chapter 2

This is very poorly written. The editor should also be slapped.

The first chapter it is established that something smells of sulfur. The smell of sulfide is described in no fewer than ten consecutive sentences with multiple metaphors. The main characters are described as twins. They are twins with one another and one twin happens to be the the aforementioned twin of the first twin.

Magic is real. It smells like sulfur.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

childish even for children

I read this series in highschool, never got past the second. I wanted to get back into it and finish and wow, this is kind of bad. the two main characters are supposed to have lots of knowledge about myths and legends because their parents, but only rarely show that. one of the side characters has an outfit described every 5 chapters and overall has way more description than anyone else because I guess the author really liked them. Josh is the most dense person I have ever met, is explained to that a certain spoiler moment will cause a certain spoiler result, then during them carrying out said moment is told there will be a much less worse result than what was described before and it turns into a forced "i cant trust the Gandalf character" trope. everything feels forced. maybe kids would miss that but kids aren't stupid, you don't have to spell every single thing out to them. worst even, sometimes he describes something as (from a characters point of view) "something I recognize" when we have no context to what that means. its not even something meant to be mysterious it was just the description of a hand gesture.

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