very entertaining to read these books are very entertaining to read and any one child or adult who likes to read these kind of books would enjoy this story.
Great Books This is the best deal I found on the first of the series. They are great to share with the family. We read them together as a family and enjoy them as we do when we watch Harry Potter movies.
The first book is so dull I can only comment on the first 2/3s of the first book, because it was so dull and boring i called it quits and threw them out before i could finish both.
perhaps i was spoiled after reading "his dark materials" trilogy, but there was no suspense or mystery with book #1, i had no reason to keep reading each night, no excitement to pick up the book and find out whats next.
Septimus Heap rocks and this set is the best way to get started. Pitched at 4th-8th graders, the Septimus Heap books are awesome and have wider appeal (my second grade son is now reading the 3rd and his mother and I devoured these with glee). They are well written with relentless page turning pace and, while packed with danger and excitement, light enough not to cause nightmares or anxiety. Septimus Heap novels are situated in a Tolkien-style magical world of medieval technology humans and a vivid pantheon of light and dark magical creatures (witches, brownies, boggarts, wraiths, talking rats, dragons, enchanted insects, etc...) The society is dominated by a sort of bicameral government of wizards with magical power and a political power dimension of a queen/princess (although it's held by a corrupt tyranny through most of Magyk). I'm not going to give any spoilers but I will say that the protagonists are children (age 10) and various pre and barely adolescent siblings who are smarter than the parental figures who are supportive and avuncular without having enough initiative or insight to spare the kids the lions share of the action. The struggle is the ageless one between good and evil and those elemental forces are echoed in the magyk and the nature of landscapes flora and fauna. The major themes are family, destiny, courage, and friendship. The central trope - magyk - is brilliantly conceived. The rules and behavior and appearance of magyk are really creatively and beautifully done. The story telling is brisk with great (relentless) pacing. Angie Sage has a great cinematic sense of action and a good ear for dialog. They are real page turners well pitched for middle school grades. Adults will like them too, I basically couldn't put them down until their conclusions. Highly recommended for the right kids (you know who they are) - and well recommended for parents to read it too. Tons of fun.
As for paperback versus hard cover issue - these are pretty thick chunky books (more than 500 brief quick reading pages each). The paperback adds some much needed lightness and flexibility and saves about 35% off the price. I was the 3rd person to read our particular paperback copies (after my son and wife). They were still in fine condition (no pages falling out or smudged ink). I have no problem recommending this dirt cheap edition.
Septimus Heap 1-2 I wouldn't recommend buying this... Just buy the books individually. I'm guessing that there'll be seven books in the series, so just buy them one by one so you don't have to deal with a random box that only holds the first two books. It saves bookshelf space!
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