Septimus Heap, Book Five: Syren Paperback – Illustrated, January 25, 2011

The dust cover is in great condition and it matches the rest of my set with the uneven pages.

Syren is the latest book in the Septimus Heap series and I can not say that I was overly impressed. After Magyk I noticed a slight flaw in the books, the flaw is that the author uses the same formula over and over again.Step 1: There are very stong hints that something very terrible is going to happen.Step 2: Something bad does happen and the pampered little kids have to deal with it.Step 3: Don't worry! We solved it very fast. It was slow going so I thought there should be a conflict but don't even worry one bit, we solved it before anything actually happened.Although Angie Sage uses this formula numerous times, I was glad to see that somethings were left hanging until the next book. The newest character added, Syrah Syara, was very different than the other teenagers (which I think are whiny and helpless); Syrah is a dark character that is technically 500 years old and sometimes not in control of her own body. Although I like her, I'm not sure it was wise for the author to make a nineteen year old and a twelve year old a prospective couple.Septimus is a well rounded character and, as I noticed in Syren, a little haughty as he is not used to being treated with disrespect (being the Apprentice and all). Jenna however I feel should be tied up and thrown off a cliff with sharp rocks at the bottom. She is so stupid, naive, and frankly the last person I would want with me on a deserted island.Marcia is my favorite character and I am majorly pissed of at the small role she was given. Wolf Boy, at the beginning, was semi interesting yet he seemed to be the same good guy character that belongs to most every male character in the series.Syren itself is not well planned out as it seems like the plot threads either get cut short or go to long. I did like the parallel scenes in the second to last chapter though (Teenagers in the boat trying to get Jim Knee to freeze the soldiers and Silias and Sarah meeting with Marcia in the Wizard Tower), but it was very predictable that they would win and everyone would live.

I am 50-ish and was turned on to tbe Septimus Heap books by my friends 12 year old daughter. I am completely hooked on the series, and dind the characters engaging and the storylines intriguing. The author paints the characters in vivid color and allows the reader to see from the perspective of each. I think this would resonate with fans of stories like Harry Potter and Lemony Snickett. Definitely recommend! (Perhaps age 9 or 10 and up? Depending on reading level)

I started reading books for 8-12 year olds out loud back & forth with my niece when she was in 3-4 grade. She's now a college junior and I'm still reading children's books because I love them. This Septimus Heap series is my absolute favorite, over Harry Potter and any other. In this installment Septimus finds a former apprentice that never returned from a Queste, unlike Septimus who returned from his Queste in a previous volume. I believe there is only going to be 2 more books in this series. Since Sep is the 7th son of a 7th son I understood at the beginning of the series there would be 7 books of course. With Syren being book 5 we're getting close to the end of Sep's story. I have devoured them all. Angie Sage has an easy to read style of writing making her stories so enjoyable to read.

I screen lterature for my daughter. I found this book to be as engaging as the previous volumes. The descriptive nature stimulates "mind pictures" for younger readers. Even for me it was a thrilling and engaging book. Never lost interest. Writing for super readers is a difficult task and Angie Sage has done a fantastic job! I have read several series books and most of them don't come close to keeping a young readers attention. :et alone have them acting out parts of the book! My daughter put on a pair of my heels and walked around like Marcia in her purple python boots! Characters are very believable and you can identify with them.

As Septimus gets older he has to deal with darker things. I was an adult when I read it, but I don't think my under 12 can't deal with anything even slightly toward horror self, could have handled it. It is a really good story all the same and I think most readers even children are not as sensitive as I am and will enjoy it thoroughly.

This is a lovely, well written series which engages the reader from the start. I appreciate that each book is a complete story into itself with no cliffhangers.I recommend this clever series.

If only I had the patience that I did now I wouldn't have minded waiting long to get the new book, shortly after finishing the Fourth book, I had to wait a short while for the Fifth one to come out and that was almost to the end of my 8th grade year, but I read it in the short amount of time I had!

This whole series is entertaining and engaging to younger readers and older ones like me alike. We started by listening to the first book on audio and got hooked on the story so have all the following books. I have been looking all over to get the other books on audio as well but am having no luck. I did find one in the UK for book 2 but that was it. I wonder why they're not offered as audio books are GREAT for long drives.

On par with the rest of the series. Great for young readers! A gentle adventure for the magical at heart

My daughter loves this series. She is nine years old. I too have read this series and love it. Kind of like Harry Potter

Awesome,Awesome,Awesome

There is something about the Septimus Heap series in that it takes a while to really get going, you get hints that it will get exciting but it's only towards the end that it actually becomes exciting with a gradual build. his was still true of Syren, although I do think it got going a little quicker than the previous books. I think I am enjoying the stories more as we go through the series as well, and whereas before I read the other books without and real anticipation I am actually really looking forward to Darke, I just wish it was out already!Really my main problem with this series is that it isn't much of a series in the way the books link together. In some ways this one was linked to the other books, and I can definitely see how it may link to the next book, but it also seems in some ways unnecessary to the series as a whole, and as if Sage was just trying to stretch out the books.