YA, Why Not?: The Warlock by Michael Scott (Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, Book 5)

Sophie and Josh are back in this much anticipated fifth installment. The twins are still with their respective immortals: Sophie with Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel, and Josh with John Dee. After the thwarted rise of the Archon Coatlicue, the twins are both upset by the other's behavior. As the Flamels and their supporters continue to try and stop the return of the Dark Elders into our world, John Dee, Virgina Dare, and company move forward with their plan to release the monsters on Alcatraz onto the unsuspecting residents of San Francisco.

Meanwhile, Scathach, Saint Germain, Palamedes, Shakespeare, and Joan of Arc are whisked off to the distant past by Marethyu, the hook-handed man. He tells them they have returned to the fall of Danu Talis (aka Atlantis). They must ensure the fall of the island if they hope to save their own present. Whoa.

Back in the present, Mars Ultor is freed by his wife, the Witch of Endor. Along with the unlikely group of Odin, Hel, and Black Hawk, they meet Prometheus, Niten, the Flamels, and Tsagaglalal (aka Aunt Agnes) to receive ancient tablets prepared by Abraham the Mage 10,000 years previously (in anticipation of this meeting! He had some serious powers of prophecy...)! Confused yet?

The Necromancer's plans continue to spiral out of control. He begins to plot to overthrow all the Elders, and take control of all the shadow realms for himself. Machiavelli begins to doubt his choice to follow his elder without regard to the consequences. He tries to convince Josh, with the help of Billy the Kid. Josh continues to be poisoned by the cursed sword Clarent, and influenced by the evil aspirations of Dee.

Can Sophie bring Josh back to reality? Will the world be destroyed by monsters? Will the entire universe be destroyed by Dee and his nefarious plans? Who is this Marethyu character...and why does everyone refer to him as "Death"? Talk about cliff hanger ending...I can't wait until May!

I love the way Scott weaves all the different mythological characters into an extended family, seamlessly connecting unrelated times and tales into a continuous stream. This series is a great opportunity to link in a study of mythological figures (as I have done here). Highly recommended, especially for Riordan fans! As always, I prefer the audio version. Boehmer does a masterful job of keeping all the characters separate with subtle accents and tones.

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand," (Scott, 2011).