≫ Download Doctor Illuminatus The Alchemist Son Part I Martin Booth 9780316155755 Books

Doctor Illuminatus The Alchemist Son Part I Martin Booth 9780316155755 Books

Download As PDF : Doctor Illuminatus The Alchemist Son Part I Martin Booth 9780316155755 Books

Doctor Illuminatus The Alchemist Son Part I Martin Booth 9780316155755 Books

This novel, written for the young adult category is entertaining for tweenies and grown ups. The plot is thrilling and characters realistic, yet interesting. I highly recommend listening to part two, Soul Stealer as it is narrated by the talented Steven Crossley, which you can download from Audible. I found part 2 even more entertaining, which I can attribute to a better storyline and Steven Crossley


Tags : Doctor Illuminatus: The Alchemist's Son, Part I [Martin Booth] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. After accidentally waking an alchemist's son from a long, long sleep, Tim and Pip befriend their new friend Sebastian and work with him to stop his recently awakened enemy from going forth with his evil deed of making a human man out of dead materials.,Martin Booth,Doctor Illuminatus: The Alchemist's Son, Part I,Little, Brown and Company,0316155756,G0316155756I3N00,Fantasy & Magic,Alchemy;Fiction.,Brothers and sisters;Fiction.,Magic;Fiction.,Action & Adventure - General,Alchemy,Brothers and sisters,Children's BooksAges 9-12 Fiction,Children: Grades 4-6,Fiction,Juvenile Fiction,Juvenile Fiction Action & Adventure General,Juvenile Fiction Fantasy & Magic,Magic,Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic,Twins

Doctor Illuminatus The Alchemist Son Part I Martin Booth 9780316155755 Books Reviews

Martin Booth tries for a more sophisticated magical journey than Harry Potter, in "Doctor Illuminatus The Alchemist's Son Part I." Taking a pretty typical fantasy good vs. evil story, Booth weaves in history and alchemy, but his handling of the plot is rather clumsy.

Pip and her know-it-all twin Tim have just moved into a rambling English country estate, far from the pop-culture world they formerly had. Then scrabbling noises inside the wall are revealed to be something else entirely -- a boy called Sebastian emerges, claiming to be the son of the man who built the house. He's also the son of an alchemist, and he's hibernated for centuries.

Sebastian reveals that he is not the only alchemist who has hibernated to the modern day -- an evil enemy named de Loudeac has also survived to the present day. Now de Loudeac is stalking the kids, and is building a homunculus -- a soulless automaton that will do whatever he wants. It's up to Pip, Tim and Sebastian to stop him.

If anyone thought that the latest Harry Potter novels were oh-so-dark, then they will be scared witless by this dark fantasy. Booth takes a step into nastier territory, with severed limbs, undead hippies, and a cameo by Satan. And he takes some history (medieval and alchemical) to base the entire plot on.

But Booth does have a slightly clumsy way of writing fantasy. Sebastian launches into long lectures every chapter or so, and Booth doesn't manage to make them interesting. And the homunculus is built up as a big threat, then gets toasted within a page of appearing. However, he has a pretty solid writing style, with plenty of details and creepiness.

Pip and Tim are fairly good heroes -- a little passive for my taste, but their gradual adjustment to a world of alchemists and magic is well done. Pip in particular is a good lead character, with plenty of promise. Sebastian is not so likable. He's a rather annoying know-it-all, and he never once acts like a twelve-year-old.

Martin Booth's "Doctor Illuminatus The Alchemist's Son Part I" has some deep flaws, but it also has quite a bit of promise for Booth's future alchemy books. Worth checking out, for patient readers of dark books.
I read Doctor Illuminatus awhile ago, and didn't think much about it till recently, when I cracked it open and skimmed it a bit. And then I realized something I hadn't when I was fourteen -- that is, that this is one of the darkest and most horrifying teen books I have ever read.

This "dark and horrifying" scale could have been left fine and dark with the dead dog and bloody severed leg left in the woods to warn the twin protagonists Pip and Tim, but this apparently was not enough for the author. In one of the most gruesome and disturbing scenes I have ever read in my life, dead hippies described in gory detail -- some only heads, most just sickening pale bodies with twisted, evil smiles on their faces -- dangle lifelessly outside Pip's window, their corpses animated by the evil villain to, again, scare the kids off. This scene is nicely complemented by the head dead hippie tipping his hat to Pip, revealing his crushed skull.

However -- and herein lies one of the greatest flaws of the book -- this scene seems to be in here simply for shock value, since the characters display nothing but mild disgust and momentary terror for what could easily be something that would skew their psyche and pretty much mess them up for the rest of their lives. And, moreover, they are not scared off. Not even a little bit. With Sebastian the ages-old alchemist's son at their side, the evil insects trailing Pip and the occasional festival of grinning corpses don't seem to bother the twins at all.

Don't get me wrong. This book is well-written and plotted, and even though the characters are often annoying and their reactions not quite realistic, I'd recommend it. Just be aware that it is a novel meant for teens at the very least -- I'd say fourteen minimum -- and that you really don't want to read it at night. Dead hippies on the brain does not help your dreams any.

Rating Pretty Good
Boring as hell...but as an audio book...it'll get you by if you want to just finish a book report without reading. 6/10
This novel, written for the young adult category is entertaining for tweenies and grown ups. The plot is thrilling and characters realistic, yet interesting. I highly recommend listening to part two, Soul Stealer as it is narrated by the talented Steven Crossley, which you can download from Audible. I found part 2 even more entertaining, which I can attribute to a better storyline and Steven Crossley