The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel (often shortened to The Alchemyst) is the first installment in the six volume fantasy novel series, The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel.[1] 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.[2]
The "Alchemyst" refers to the historical character of Nicolas Flamel, a French scrivener and manuscript seller, although being referred to as "Nicholas Flamel" with an "h" in the name in the series. Flamel developed a posthumous reputation for being an alchemist and for his search for the philosopher's stone and immortality.
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, comes into the bookstore for a book, the Codex – or Book of Abraham the Mage. Josh witnesses both Nick and Perry using magic. 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 (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, a powerful three-faced Elder, who can awaken the twins' magical potential. Dee discovers this, and enlists the aid of Bastet and the Morrigan. The trio mount a massive assault on Hekate's shadowrealm, to destroy Yggdrasill – 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. 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 (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 the Codex speaks of Sophie and Josh. He tempts Josh to join him while using necromancy 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, distracting Dee long enough to escape with Scathach, Sophie and Nicholas Flamel by using a leygate (a teleportation device where two or more lines of energy, ley lines, 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
The first related online game to be launched was The Codex Master.[13] 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.
In November 2009 it was announced that Lorenzo di Bonaventura had bought the film rights to the series.[16] Michael Scott and Barry Krost were set to be the executive producers, with the script writer being unannounced.
"Well, I have been promising news of the Flamel movie. Here's the press release. The movie was set up with New Line, but New Line were absorbed by Warner and the rights reverted to me. There has been tremendous interest in the series and eventually, it went to Lorenzo di Bonaventura, who is the man responsible for bringing Harry Potter to Warner when he was there. He genuinely loves this series. The next step now is to attach a writer - I will not write it, I have 3 more books to do!"
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.[18]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.[19]
Nicolas Flamel was a French scrivener 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 immortality. These legendary accounts first appeared in the 17th century.
A sorceress is a female practitioner of sorcery. Other uses include:
Magician or The Magician may refer to:
Palamedes is a Knight of the Round Table in the Arthurian legend. He is a Middle Eastern pagan who converts to Christianity later in his life, and his unrequited love for Iseult brings him into frequent conflict with Tristan. Palamedes' father King Esclabor and brothers Safir and Segwarides also join the Round Table. The romance Palamedes was named after him.
Aoife is an Irish feminine given name. The name is probably derived from the Irish Gaelic aoibh, which means "beauty" or "radiance". It has been compared to the Gaulish name Esvios, which may be related to the tribal name Esuvii and the theonym Esus.
Perenelle Flamel was the wife of the famous 14th-century scribe Nicolas Flamel. She was a generous benefactress who invested her wealth in churches and hostels and commissioned religious sculptures. Due to legends which first appeared in the 17th century, she has since developed a reputation as a successful alchemist. Like her husband, Perenelle has had a street in Paris, France named after her, Rue Pernelle.
Cully Hamner is an American comic book artist, known for his work on such books as Green Lantern: Mosaic, Blue Beetle, Black Lightning: Year One, and Detective Comics. He is the co-creator and illustrator of the 2003 graphic novel Red, which was adapted into a 2010 feature film of the same name starring Bruce Willis, as well as a 2013 sequel. He is also the co-creator of Jaime Reyes, the DC Comics character at the center of the 2023 feature film Blue Beetle.
Events from the year 2007 in Ireland.
Lorenzo di Bonaventura 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 $7 billion at the box office.
Michael Peter Scott is an Irish writer of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and, under the name Anna Dillon, romance novels. He is also a collector and editor of folklore. Scott is best known for his The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel book series.
A necromancer is a person who practices necromancy, which is magic used to communicate with the dead by summoning their spirits to foretell the future.
Alcatraz Island has appeared many times in popular culture. Its appeal in film derives from its picturesque setting, natural beauty, isolation, and its history as a U.S. penitentiary – from which, officially, no prisoner ever successfully escaped.
The Magician: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel is a fantasy novel by Michael Scott. It is the sequel to The Alchemyst, and the second installment in the six part book series, The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel. It was released on 5 June 2008 in the United Kingdom, and 24 June 2008 in the United States. It was nominated for an Irish Book of the Year Award, The Dublin Airport Authority Irish Children's Book of the Year – Senior Category.
The Sorceress: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel is a fantasy novel and the third installment in the six-book series The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel written by Michael Scott. It serves as the sequel to The Magician, and was released on 26 May 2009 in the US, 1 June 2009 in Australia, and 25 June 2009 in the UK. The titular sorceress refers to Perenelle Flamel.
The Necromancer: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel is the fourth book of the series The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, written by Irish author Michael Scott. It was published in the United States and United Kingdom on 25 May 2010, by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House. A new edition was released on 5 August 2010 featuring a redesigned cover.
The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel is a series of six fantasy novels written by Irish author Michael Scott, completed in 2012. The first book in the series, The Alchemyst, was released in 2007, and the sequels were released at the rate of one per year, concluding with The Enchantress in 2012. The cover artist for the series is Michael Wagner.
The Warlock: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel is the fifth book of the series The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel written by Irish author Michael Scott. The novel was released in the USA on May 24, 2011, published by Delacorte Press, which is an imprint of Random House. The UK release date was June 2, 2011, and it made its debut on the USA Today Best Selling List at #13 on the same day.
The Enchantress: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicolas Flamel is the final novel in the six book series, The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel. It was written by Irish author Michael Scott and was published by Random House Inc. on 22 May 2012 in the US, and by Doubleday Publishing an imprint of Random House UK on 24 May 2012 in the UK and Ireland.
G.I. Joe is a series of American military science fiction action films based on the toy line of the same name. Development for the first film began in 2003, but when the United States launched the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, Hasbro suggested adapting the Transformers instead. In 2009, the first film was released, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. A second film, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, was released in 2013. A third film, centered on Snake Eyes titled Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins, also serving as a reboot of the series, was released in 2021, and a fourth film, G.I. Joe: Ever Vigilant, is confirmed to be in active development. A crossover film with the Transformers is also being developed.
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