Fyre (59 page)
Authors: Angie Sage
O
THER
H
EAPS
N
ICKO
Nicko finished his Apprenticeship with Jannit and became a partner at the boatyard, allowing Jannit to take six months off each year and do hibernation in a big way. Two summers later, a letter from Snorri mentioning a tall, young fisherman unsettled Nicko more than he had expected, and he began to make plans. Wisely he decided not to mention them to his mother. Not just yet.
S
IMON AND
L
UCY
Simon continued as Apprentice to Marcellus. He enjoyed most aspects of the job—apart from the guided tours of the Great Chamber of Alchemie and Physik. But Simon had learned enough about life to understand that nothing is perfect, and when Marcia asked him to be the liaison between the Great Chamber and the Wizard Tower, Simon accepted with great pleasure. Now at last he had a reason to come and go as he pleased at the Wizard Tower—something that he had never thought possible.
After the completion of the Alchemie Chimney, a craze for fancy turrets swept the Castle and Lucy found that she was much in demand. She quickly had many projects under way—which was good because the knitted-curtains business never quite took off. And soon Lucy’s comments to Simon about baby feet made perfect sense—Sarah was thrilled to discover that the first Heap grandchild was expected on MidWinter Feast Day.
S
ILAS AND
S
ARAH
Silas went back to working at the Wizard Tower, where he kept an anxious watch on Ernold and Edmund and a proud eye on Edd and Erik. Silas was very touched when Marcia, apologizing for doubting him and keeping him in the Stranger Chamber, gave him the Counter-Feet
Charm
that she had discovered in the Pyramid Library during her reinstatement of the Alchemie files. Silas immediately began creating new Counter-Feet sets and arranging a tournament. Sarah settled into a happy round of spending time with Jenna at the Palace, checking up on Jo-Jo (and really annoying him) and visiting Edd and Erik (and, at times, annoying them, too). Lucy also saw more of her mother-in-law than she would have liked but she appreciated Sarah’s attempts to help her get the house sorted out in time for the new arrival.
S
EPTIMUS
Now that Septimus knew in his heart that
Magyk
was what he truly wanted to do, his Apprenticeship settled into an uneventful course. Both he and Marcia enjoyed the last years of his Apprenticeship—the first not to be blighted by the specter of the
Draw
for the
Queste
hanging over it. Septimus and Rose spent more and more time together, much to Marcia’s disapproval, but that is another story.
T
HE LITTLE GIRL IN THE
F
ISHERMAN’S
S
HACK
Alice TodHunter Moon was the name of the little girl who waved to Septimus the night he flew the Dragon Boat to the House of Foryx. Alice—who answered only to the name of Tod—never forgot her sight of the Dragon Boat that night. It sustained her through many difficult times. She knew that one day she, too, would fly in the Dragon Boat and meet the great Wizard who waved to her from the stars. Alice was right, and her story is soon to be told in the TodHunter Moon series.
T
here are some special people
I really want to thank for being part of Septimus, without whom the series would not be the same—or quite possibly would not have happened at all.
So . . . a big, big thank-you to my agent and friend, Eunice McMullen, who was the first to see the beginning of
Magyk
and love it. Eunice, thanks for all your support over the years and for making sure that Septimus & Co. got a great home with HarperCollins in the USA and then with Bloomsbury in the UK.
An equally massive thank-you to my editor and friend at HarperCollins, Katherine Tegen, from whom I have learned so much about writing and without whom I know the Septimus Heap series would not have grown to be what it is.
And to Mark Zug, whose beautiful and atmospheric pictures for Septimus Heap never fail to amaze and delight and are always
so
just right. I don’t know how Mark does it, but he seems to have a direct line to what Septimus is about. Thank you, Mark.
Thank you to my husband, Rhodri, who has patiently read each book many times in their various drafts and still insists that he really
does
enjoy them—and who listens with great attention while I try to explain the myriad twists of plot and get my thoughts straight for the umpteenth time.
And
does the VAT.
To my lovely Laurie, whose quick-fire ideas have been an inspiration and such
fun
.
To my equally lovely Lois, who once had to read the first four chapters of the initial draft of
Magyk
before she was allowed any pizza—and then tell me what she thought.
To Dave Johnson, without whom Nicko would not have had an attack of the giggles at the Wendron Witch Summer Circle.
To Karen and Peter Collins, who helped us keep going when times got tough when I was writing
Physik
.
To all the copy editors, particularly Brenna, who so patiently and graciously read through the final drafts of all the books and from whom I have learned a whole ton of stuff about writing nitty-gritty—particularly echo and repetition and repetition and echo.
And thank you to all the translators who do such amazing work in
Transcribing
the Septimus Heap series into other languages, and especially to the ones—hello, Merlin—who ask the most amazingly detailed questions in order to make sure everything is as good as it can be.
Thank you, too, to all the wonderful foreign publishers who have put so much into the series, particularly to the great people I have met over the years: Albin Michel in France, Hanser in Germany, Querido in Holland, Wahlströms/Forma Books in Sweden, WSOY in Finland, Pegasus in Estonia, Ursula at the British Council in Tallinn, and g’day to all at Allen & Unwin in Sydney.
And last but definitely not least, thank you to all at Bloomsbury Publishing here in the UK, especially my editor, Ele Fountain.
You’ve all been
Magyk
!
About the Author and Illustrator
ANGIE SAGE
was born in London and grew up in the Thames Valley, London, and Kent. She now lives in Somerset in a very old house that has a secret tunnel below it. The first six books in the Septimus Heap series are international bestsellers. She is also the author of the Araminta Spookie series. Visit her online at www.septimusheap.com or follow her on Twitter @AngieSageAuthor.
MARK ZUG
has loved fantasy novels since he was a teenager. He has illustrated many collectible card games, including
Magic
:
The Gathering
and
Dune
, as well as books and magazines. He lives in Pennsylvania. You can visit him online at www.markzug.com.
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Septimus Heap, Book One:
Magyk
Septimus Heap, Book Two:
Flyte
Septimus Heap, Book Three:
Physik
Septimus Heap, Book Four:
Queste
Septimus Heap, Book Five:
Syren
Septimus Heap, Book Six:
Darke
Septimus Heap:
The Magykal Papers
Araminta Spookie:
My Haunted House
Araminta Spookie:
The Sword in the Grotto
Araminta Spookie:
Frognapped
Araminta Spookie:
Vampire Brat
Araminta Spookie:
Ghostsitters
Book One:
MAGYK
“A quick-reading, stand-alone, deliciously spellbinding series opener.”
—Kirkus Reviews
(starred review)
“Fun, mystery, and rollicking characters.”—
VOYA
(starred review)
Book Two:
FLYTE
“Terrifically entertaining. Fans of the first book will be delighted with this sequel to Septimus’s story.”—
VOYA
(starred review)
Book Three:
PHYSIK
“Few fans of the bestselling Septimus Heap series will be disappointed by this excellent third adventure.”—ALA
Booklist
Book Four:
QUESTE
“Vibrant storytelling and inventive flourishes.”—ALA
Booklist
Book Five:
SYREN
“
SYREN
is Sage at her best.”—
School Library Journal
Book Six:
DARKE
“As usual, the danger and the spellcasting alike seem vividly real and credible. A memorable, edge-of-the-seat escapade that will enthrall confirmed fans and newbies alike.”—
Kirkus Reviews
(starred review)
“Sage proves again that she has an inventive feel for fantasy adventure.”—ALA
Booklist
“Sage has skillfully spun the most suspenseful installment yet in her series: Again she manages to combine lovable, creepy, and comic characters in a story that will leave her audience gasping in worry, then laughing at characters’ antics. Sep’s fans most certainly will not be disappointed with this heftiest volume yet.”
—
VOYA
(starred review)
Cover art © 2013 by Mark Zug
Cover design by Joel Tippie
Septimus Heap is a trademark of HarperCollins Publishers.
Katherine Tegen Books is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
Septimus Heap is a registered trademark of HarperCollins Publishers.
Septimus Heap Book Seven: Fyre
Text copyright © 2013 by Angie Sage
Illustrations copyright © 2013 by Mark Zug
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks.
www.harpercollinschildrens.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
ISBN 978-0-06-124245-8 (trade bdg.) — ISBN 978-0-06-124246-5 (lib. bdg.)
ISBN 978-0-06-224697-4 (international edition)
Epub Edition © MARCH 2013 ISBN 9780062219879
13 14 15 16 17 CG/RRDH 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
