Septimus Heap, Book Seven: Fyre (Septimus Heap, 7) Paperback – Illustrated, March 4, 2014

This was a great ending to a great series. I enjoyed all the books in the series, some a little more or less, but this one was wonderful. No spoilers here, but the Arthur C Clarke quote at the end, plus what Septimus wrote in the snow, confirmed something for me that I had suspected from Syren on (it's suggested in some of the maps, too). It was really a brilliant way to end the series (I think I actually said "wow" when I read that quote). The books are written for children, but I'm not sure how many children would put all of that together, so to me this is like an Easter Egg to all the parents who are reading the series (I KNOW I'm not the only one). Also, knowing that the series is going to continue in some form is really nice.Small niggles: do Septimus' parents really have to be THAT dense ALL the time? For that matter, almost all of the adults are either stupid or annoying or both. I get it, this is a kids' book and if you had competent adults they would solve all the problems and then kids wouldn't want to read it, but sheesh.Also, I agree with some of the previous reviewers that the writing is not as deep as I might like -- the conflicts are not that strong, the suspense is not that great, the conclusions are a little too easy, etc. But this is a book for tweens so I can't really ding the book for that.All in all I strongly recommend this series. For that matter, I recommend everything Angie Sage has written!

This book series is great for all ages old enough to read it who love fantasy novels. The books and the writing have matured and gotten better as the series has progressed. Fortunately for those starting the series now, there are 7 full books plus 2 or 3 short story books already out so it will keep an average person busy with plenty to read for at least a couple of months as the full books are pretty long. My only complaint was that when I first started reading the series, some of the new installments took so long to come out that I would have to go back and re-read a book or two to get back on the same page as there is no "synopsis" of the previous books in the new books like some other series, but that is my problem for having a bad memory. The newer installments have seemed to be coming out at closer intervals (one every 18 months?) and still maintaining or increasing the quality of the writing. Not sure when the series is ending, but I will be sad when it does for sure!

As an adult, I enjoy good juvenile fantasy and science fiction. The Septimus Heap series is well written and does not have the tendency to restate activities and character actions multiple times. Readers who enjoy references to passing gas and dragon poo will find plenty of that throughout the books. By book seven I hoped the characters would have matured and become better listeners and become more open minded, especially the adults (Marcia and Sarah). In this regard, they did not; all too often character interactions showed that individuals were still not as trustful of each other as you'd hope while developing relationships - even Jenna and Septimus were not clicking as they grew into their roles. I particularly like the fact that Angie Sage always ends each book with a wrap up about all the characters and/or events that were encountered throughout the story.

Correction, two happy teenagers. Must be politically correct, or they'll say 'aww, mom!' This is the latest in a series my seventeen-year-old has been collecting for some time, and he devoured it as soon as he got it. Didn't go to sleep that evening till he had read it, which argues a certain amount of interest, wouldn't you say? This series is well written and fun for a wide range of ages (his little brother snuck it out of the closet ahead of time, with permission, of course, because he wanted to read it so badly himself.) Pity some of the best authors quit writing a series that's popular sometimes, or quit writing books for kids (J.K.Rowling, take a hint!), leaving you with nothing but salacious vampire stories and other assorted trash. I hope this series goes on for a good long time yet!