Queste (Septimus Heap, Book 4) by Angie Sage

• 11/13/2013
• no comments

Queste (Septimus Heap, Book 4)
Angie Sage
HarperCollins (2008)
ISBN 9780060882075
Reviewed by Neha Kashmiri for Reader Views (2/09)

The fourth book in the Septimus Heap Series begins with Nikko and Snorri still trapped in the past. But now Marcelus has remembered some papers that he kept for Nikko. The notes reveal that Nikko and Snorri planned to go to the House of Foryx, a place where all times meet and where they plan to return to their own time. Jenna tries to take the map to the Palace but an old enemy bumps into her on the way and gets the map all wet. Now Jenna has to find a way to fix the map. Fortunately, Sep’s friend Beetle can help with that.

The old enemy happens to be Merrin Meredith, the boy who though he was Septimus for most of his life. Merrin gets a job as a scribe at the Manuscriptorium, where meets the ghost of Tertius Fume, the first Chief Hermetic Scribe.Fume tricks Merrin into tranfering a Thing that was following Merrin around to Fume. Fume promises to send Sep a Queste that no one has ever come back from.

The WizardTower begins to fill up with ghosts of previous ExtraOrdinary Wizards. Tertius Fume is also there and says that the time to pick the Queste stone is here. Sep manages to not pick the stone by announcing that a Thing will cheat by sabotaging the draw. But Fume won’t let them go so easily. Can Sep and Jenna save Nikko and Snorri without getting killed?

“Queste” by Angie Sage is full of adventure, mischief and quirky characters. If you try and read “Queste” without reading the first three books (and especially the third) you’re going to end up pretty frustrated.  My only complaint about this book is that unlike the other books it takes a while for the action to start, and there is too much going on. You have the Queste, Merrin and Fume’s plot, and Nikko lost in time. It’s too much to take in. The thing that makes me love these books though are Sep and all the characters that fill the book. I definitely recommend the Septimus Heap books to someone who loves fantasy.