Septimus Heap
Septimus Heap is a series of children's fantasy novels featuring a protagonist of the same name; the series is written by English author Angie Sage. It features seven novels, entitled Magyk, Flyte, Physik, Queste, Syren, Darke, and Fyre. The first, Magyk, was published in 2005 and the last, Fyre, in 2013. A full colour supplement to the series, entitled The Magykal Papers, was published in June 2009, and an online novella titled The Darke Toad is also available. A sequel trilogy, The TodHunter Moon Series, set seven years after the events of Fyre, began in October 2014.
The series follows the adventures of Septimus Heap who, as a seventh son of a seventh son, has extraordinary magical powers. After he becomes an apprentice to the wizard of the series, Marcia Overstrand, he must study for seven years and a day until his apprenticeship ends. In the first book, he is known as Young Army Expendable Boy 412, until his great-aunt, Zelda Zanuba Heap reveals his true identity. His adventures are placed in the context of the warmth and strength of his family, and developed alongside those of Jenna, his adoptive sister, who is heir to the throne of the Castle, the community where they live. The novels, set in an elaborate fantastic world, describes the many challenges that Septimus and his friends must overcome.
The books have appeared on national bestsellers lists and received worldwide critical acclaim; Warner Bros. acquired the rights to produce a movie based on the first book. It has been compared with Harry Potter, and other works within the genre.
Development
Author Angie Sage has said that the character of Septimus Heap, his ultimate fate, and the world he inhabits, were fully formed in her imagination from the beginning, but she had not decided on the intermediate steps on his journey, nor on the characters he would meet. Sage described Septimus Heap's world as a place where numerous creatures and people suddenly appear and become involved in events. Commenting on the development of the Septimus Heap character, Sage has described him as someone in a strange and hostile world who has no idea of his real identity. The series gained momentum with the development of the character of Marcia Overstrand, which Sage credits as an inspiration. Septimus Heap is centered on the warmth and strength of the Heap family. In an interview Sage said:Sage keeps a boat in real life, as does the character Sally Mullin in Magyk. Other inspirations for the series included Sage's love of history and the misty landscape of Cornwall, where she lived before starting the series. Another factor in the development of the series was her love of daydreaming: "Slowly... lots of thinking, and daydreaming. I am a big fan of daydreaming and staring out of the window. Then keeping all my thoughts and ideas in a dog-eared old envelope for ages." With The Wilton Villager, Sage further expanded her inspiration behind the series. "It was an idea I had had for a very long time, and I waited a long time while it grew and developed. I try and write the books I would have loved to have read as a child and teenager. It all started with the spelling of the first title, 'Magyk.' I felt the way that magic is normally spelled makes people think of conjuring tricks and stage magicians and I wanted to avoid that, but in the past, before spelling became standardized, people would spell words how they chose to, sometimes in different ways in the same sentence. Magic was often spelled magyck, so all I did was to change that a little. After that I carried on using archaic spelling for words associated with magic and the supernatural. It makes them look a little different, gives a different flavor to them."
The series and related books
Septimus Heap Heptalogy
The plot of the first book, entitled Magyk, revolves around the pauper Heap family: Silas, Sarah and their seven children. The story begins when Silas finds Jenna in the snow. Septimus is born on the same day, but is declared dead by the midwife, who steals the baby and brings him to DomDaniel, an evil wizard. However, he is confused with the midwife's own son and is sent to the Supreme Custodian to help start a boy army. On her tenth birthday, Jenna learns from ExtraOrdinary Wizard Marcia Overstrand that she is a princess, but that she—and the Heap family—are in danger. Jenna and Nicko Heap escape to their Aunt Zelda's cottage. They are accompanied by a member of the Young Army called Boy 412, who discovers his magic powers and a legendary ring while at Zelda's. Marcia is imprisoned in DomDaniel's boat, Vengeance, and nearly dies, but is rescued by Boy 412, Jenna and Nicko after they find a flying Dragon Boat in a secret cavern by Zelda's cottage where Jenna finds a beautiful stone. At the end of the novel, Boy 412 is revealed to be Septimus, and his family hears of his past.The second book, Flyte, begins with Septimus witnessing the kidnapping of Jenna by her older brother Simon Heap. After seeking help from Nicko and a friend from the Young Army, Septimus finds Jenna at The Port, but they are followed by Simon. They fly to The Castle in the Dragon Boat, engaging in aerial combat with Simon on the way. Marcia's life is threatened by the reassembled bones of DomDaniel, but with Septimus's help, she destroys him. The novel also features the discovery of the lost Flyte charm, which gives the book its title, and the stone that Jenna gives to Septimus turns out to be an egg that hatches into a dragon who Septimus names Spit Fyre.
The antagonist of the third book, Physik, is the 500-year-old spirit of Queen Etheldredda, who is accidentally released by Silas Heap. She sends Septimus to her immortal son Marcellus Pye. He is transported back in time to become the apprentice of the young Marcellus Pye, an alchemist who teaches him about Physik. In the present timeline of the novel, the Castle is infected by a deadly plague created by a rat like creature owned by Queen Etheldredda who has the plan to acquire eternal life. Jenna and Nicko meet a young trader, Snorri Snorrelssen with whom they travel in time to bring Septimus back though Nicko and Snorri couldn't escape. There, Jenna is taken to the living Queen Etheldredda as princess Esmerelda Queen Etheldredda's daughter who had disappeared, but she escapes with Septimus and they return to the present Castle. Marcia then destroys the substantial spirit of Etheldredda and Septimus brews an antidote to the plague using his knowledge of Physik. When Etheldredda is destroyed the true crown lost to Queen Etheldredda appears and is taken by Jenna for when she becomes queen.
The quest of the fourth book, Queste, is a journey to the House of Foryx, in which "all times meet", to bring back Nicko and Snorri, who were trapped there after the events of the third book. Septimus is sent on the quest by a ghost called Tertius Fume. Tertius has made a promise to Merrin Meredith, who now holds the Two-Faced Ring, to Darken the Destiny of Septimus. Assisted by Jenna and his friend Beetle, among others, Septimus pieces together a map to the House of Foryx. When they reach the house, Septimus meets Hotep-Ra, the first ExtraOrdinary Wizard, while Jenna and Beetle find Nicko and Snorri. Marcia and Sarah Heap arrive outside the house on Spit Fyre, and they return together to their own time.
The fifth book, Syren, continues from where Queste ended. Septimus brings his friends to the Port, a place beside the sea where ships come and go, and when he brings back his friends back he, Jenna and Beetle get trapped on a mysterious island. There he meets a mysterious girl called Syrah Syara who tells him that she is possessed by the Syren an evil spirit, and she also tells him about a dangerous plot by Tertius Fume to destroy The Castle. Together with the help of the others and a safe-charm jinnee sent to him by Aunt Zelda, Septimus stops the invasion of The Castle by Fume and his jinnee warriors and saves Syrah from the Syren.
The sixth book, Darke, sees Septimus and his friends battling the Darke domain which has engulfed the Castle and everything and everyone in it. The only thing that is standing in between is Merrin Meredith who created the darke domaine and his gang of Things and Darke Dragon. Alther Mella has been accidentally Banished by Marcia when she was trying to banish Tertius Fume and Septimus wants to release him from the Darke Halls thinking he could help in undoing the Darke. When Marcia Overstrand, the ExtraOrdinary Wizard undoes the Darke spell with the help of the Paired Codes, all becomes well. Beetle becomes Chief Hermetic Scribe; Simon is reunited with his family after leaving his past behind and Princess Jenna is happy that the Palace and Castle are back to normal.
In Fyre, Septimus nears the end of his ExtraOrdinary Wizard training. The Darke wizards in the Two-Faced Ring, Shamandrigger Saarn and Dramindonnor Naarn, escape and Inhabit Silas Heap's brothers Ernold and Edmund. They try to destroy Marcellus Pye's Alchemical Fyre but are defeated and returned to the Two-Faced Ring, which is then destroyed in the Fyre.
Spin-offs
Septimus Heap: The Magykal Papers is a supplement to the series in a full-colour larger format with illustrations by Mark Zug. Angie Sage said in an interview that she is enjoying the process of developing this guidebook and thinking about the book's structure and all its characters.The Darke Toad is an eBook novella, published in February 2013. The novella features the return of DomDaniel as well as the Port Witch Coven, and is set between Magyk and Flyte. The eBook includes two chapters of Fyre, the final book in the series.
The TodHunter Moon trilogy starts seven years after Fyre, and revolves around Alice Todhunter Moon, the apprentice of Septimus, now ExtraOrdinary Wizard. First in the TodHunter Moon trilogy, Pathfinder picks up the world of Septimus Heap seven years after the events of Fyre, followed by SandRider and StarChaser.