“Snorri Snorrelssen guided her trading barge up the quiet waters of the river toward the Castle.”

From Angie Sage’s Septimus Heap: Physik.

When his father accidentally releases the spirit of the ancient Queen Etheldredda from her prison, young wizard and Apprentice Septimus Heap is instantly pulled into trouble because he holds impressive magical power as the seventh son of a seventh son. Besides releasing her illness-causing pet into the world, Etheldredda’s first action is to rescue the boy from a death she caused so he would help her gain the immortality she so desperately seeks. Etheldredda sends Septimus to Marcellus Pye, her son struggling to complete an immortality spell. When he meets Marcellus, the old man sends Septimus back in time to help a young Marcellus create a successful formula. With the help of the ghost of a former ExtraOrdinary Wizard, Septimus’ older brother, Nicko, and adoptive sister, Jenna, begin searching for a way to travel back and save the young boy. The Heap siblings find a mirror that will allow them to travel back 500 years, but when Nicko and Jenna and a girl named Snorri fall through the mirror before it’s destroyed, they are trapped in the past. When they find Septimus, the four head to the Doors of Time to escape back to the correct time, but they are stopped and separated by Etheldredda and young Marcellus. When Etheldredda takes Marcellus’s unfinished potion, she turns herself into an incomplete spirit, which helps Septimus and Jenna escape back to their home time, but it also forces Septimus to race to find a way to save the kingdom from Etheldredda once and for all.

The third 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 Physik will keep readers captivated until the very end.