Enter the world of Septimus Heap, Wizard Apprentice. Magyk is his destiny.

Septimus faces a perilous quest to find Nicko and Snorri, who have been trapped back in time.

Everyone at the Castle is realising that Nicko and Snorri's chances of coming back are slim. Septimus, aided by Alchemist Marcellus Pye, learns of a place where all time meets: the House of Foryx. But how does he get there? Jenna and Septimus find Nicko's notes from the past and discover that he knows of the House of Foryx as well and has been creating a map to plot the house's hidden location. With the help of the Questing Stone and Nicko's faded maps, will Septimus be able to save Nicko and Snorri?

Meanwhile, Simon Heap has taken on Merrin Meredith, former apprentice to DomDaniel, as his own apprentice, giving Merrin an opportunity he has been waiting years for. With the help of a frightening creature called a Thing, Merrin plans to reclaim the identity he used to have . . . that of Septimus Heap.

**

From School Library Journal

Grade 4–9—Fans of Septimus's previous adventures will welcome Sage's latest installment with an eagerness the book deserves. There are fearsome dealings afoot for 12-year-old Septimus Heap, and this time they begin with the foolish Darke Magyk of Merrin Meredith. When Merrin summons Things to do his bidding and aids a malevolent ghost of the first Chief Hermetic Scribe, the result sends Septimus on a Queste. No apprentice has ever survived such an ordeal, but the boy is determined to use this chance to find his brother Nicko, now trapped in time in a mysterious place called the House of Foryx. With his sister Jenna and friend Beetle by his side, he will either succeed in rescuing Nicko and his girlfriend or fall victim to a curse that has claimed too many others. Newcomers to Sage's world would do very well to read earlier books in this series before embarking on this latest title. Characters are almost overly abundant and many crop up in a chapter called "Endings and Beginnings" without making an appearance in the rest of the book. But fans looking for enjoyable characters, a well-paced plot, and the author's customary use of humor and verve will not be disappointed in this newest chapter in Septimus's life.—Elizabeth Bird, New York Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

The Septimus Heap series remains one of the best outcomes of the young-wizard furor catalyzed by Harry Potter. In Sage’s solid fourth outing, Septimus, Jenna, and Beetle hope to retrieve two characters trapped in the past, but discover too late that their rescue mission has inadvertently launched Septimus into the larger, feared Queste that shadows every apprentice’s destiny. The coincidence of the overlapping quests is a little hard to swallow, but everything else goes down easily thanks to vibrant storytelling and inventive flourishes. Grades 5-8. --Jennifer Mattson