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The sequel to Angie Sage’s bestselling young adult fantasy novel Magyk, Flyte picks up a year and a half later and continues to follow the life of Septimus Heap, the Seventh Son of a Seventh Son and a very powerful wizard in the making. In Magyk, Septimus was rescued from the Young Army, where he was living as an orphan and unaware of his true identity, and returned to his family. In Flyte, he has become the apprentice to the ExtraOrdinary Wizard Marcia Overstrand. He is still close to his adopted sister, Jenna, who was raised as one of the Heaps but who discovered in the first book that she is actually the daughter of the late Queen and heir to the throne.
As Flyte opens, Jenna is kidnapped by Simon Heap, her wayward adopted brother and convert to Darke Magyk. Simon is determined to impress DomDaniel, the evil Necromancer who is determined to once again become the ExtraOrdinary Wizard and bring Darknesse back to the Wizard’s Tower. Septimus vows to find and rescue Jenna, but the problem is that the only one who believes him about Jenna’s kidnapping is his young brother Nicko. Together, the two will set out on a quest to rescue Jenna—and save the Castle from the return of the Darknesse.
Flyte is just as delightful of a novel as its predecessor, filled with charms, magical beings, adventure and surprises. Both Septimus and Jenna are wonderful lead characters and should apply to young readers both male and female alike. Like Magyk, character development is sacrificed somewhat in favor of nearly non-stop action, but this will appeal to younger readers who may have a bit shorter attention spans than adults. Perhaps as the characters (and possibly the readers) get older, Sage will devote a bit more time to the characters’ inner lives.
Though it will help readers to have read Magyk to fully understand the sequel, Flyte does work as a stand-alone novel and no one should be too confused if they start here instead of at the beginning. However, after being drawn into Sage’s world of destructive dragons, animated skeletons and charms that turn everything they come into contact with into chocolate, readers will almost certainly go back to read Magyk and then wait expectantly for Sage’s third novel in the series.
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Flyte: Septimus Heap, Book Two
