“Silas Heap pulled his cloak tightly around him against the snow.”

From Angie Sage’s Septimus Heap: Magyk.

In a world of magic and wizards, Silas and Sarah Heap live with their six sons, excitedly waiting the birth of their seventh son, Septimus. However, when Silas finds a newborn girl abandoned in the snow–a baby that ExtraOrdinary Wizard, Marcia Overstrand, tells Silas to claim as his own–he takes the violet-eyed baby home, only to learn that the newborn Septimus has died. The Heaps heed Marcia’s orders, name the baby girl Jenna and raise her as their own, even when they learn that Jenna is the missing princess that the wicked Supreme Custodian is searching for. Ten years later, Marcia whisks Jenna to the Wizard Tower to escape an assassin, saving a lost Young Army soldier, Boy 412, from the snow along the way. When Silas and Nicko, the sixth son, go to visit Jenna at the Tower, the random group soon flees to Marram Marshes in an attempt to escape the murderous Hunter chasing Jenna. Hiding in the marshes, the group learns the truth about necromancer DomDaniel who is controlling the Custodian, but when 412 finds a magical dragon ring, he soon finds that he’s a natural with simple magical spells. It’s only when 412 gives the captured Marcia his dragon ring to escape DomDaniel’s ship, does Marcia realize that the young soldier is the real missing Septimus and that the boy’s magical potential is tied up with the destruction of DomDaniel’s evil plans.

The first book in the magical fantasy adventure that is the Septimus Heap series is full of wild characters and unexpected happenings. Sage easily creates a story that will compel magic-loving young readers to dive deeper into the story. When coupled with the book’s illustrations, the story of Magyk will keep readers captivated until the very end.