Magyk (Septimus Heap #1) by Angie Sage - Review

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Septimus Heap, the seventh son of a seventh son, is pronounced dead and is stolen by the midwife the night of his birth. At the same time, his father comes across a baby girl with violet eyes bundled up out in the snow all alone. The Heap family takes her in and raises her as their own daughter, Jenna Heap. A few months later her mother, Sarah Heap, learns that the queen was murdered and that the ExtraOrdinary Wizard rescued the queen's newborn daughter. Sarah realizes that Jenna must actually be the princess. Unfortunately a spy, realizes, approximately ten years later, the same thing and tells the evil Supreme Custodian, who promptly orders Jenna and the Heaps' deaths. The ExtraOrdinary Wizard, Marcia, warns them of what's coming and spirits away Jenna and recommends that the Heaps' hide in the forest until they can be sure they are safe. Then, there is also the question of what will be done with Boy 412, the nearly dead ten year-old sentry boy Marcia revived outside of the Wizard Tower with Jenna.

I loved listening to this engaging and inventive tale on audiobook. Our narrator Allan Corduner gives a wonderful performance voicing the full cast. The magykal world-building is fantastic, but what really makes it stand out are the diverse characters Sage has created, even the supporting cast and non-human cast. All of the characters work well and compliment each other (not literally, of course!) in terms of the story as a whole. I also liked the sense of adventure and the brand of humor, which definitely reminded me of the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. It's filled with twists and turns, and although being somewhat predictable, I couldn't stop listening to see where this delightfully detailed story would go next.

I highly recommend Magyk by Angie Sage for fans of the Harry Potter series and Terry Pratchett's Discworld books. I will be back for the rest of the series!


I read this from September 17 - 25, 2014 and my review is also on Goodreads.