The Alchemyst

The Alchemyst

by Michael Scott (2007)

I generally try to stay away from books that

a) Son #2 retells me for a breathless hour every morning,
b) looks to be part of a series of 6 (minimum) books,
c) and, in sort of a combo deal of a and b, Son #2 reads said series at a pace of a book a night so that by the end of the week his summaries are so fantasy-imbibed and sleep-deprived as to be fairly incomprehensible...

But of course he's still cute enough to convince me once in a while to try a book.  I like this one for the sibling rivalry and the mythical characters -- of all cultures and times, mixed together in a good vs evil plot -- but as I look at how few pages I have left compared to how many unresolved issues (what about the brother's powers? do we trust this Flammel guy?!?), I know I've been sucked in again.  Fast paced, lots of characters, a little humor, contemporary setting/references.