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Jul 16, 2018DBRL_KrisA rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
I read this originally back in 2014, and I gave it four stars. Having re-read it recently to refresh my memory before reading the rest of the series, I'm wanting to adjust that rating down a bit, to 3.5 stars. The story was decent, but I didn't feel as excited by it as I normally would by a four-star book. Septimus Heap is a magician's apprentice, so the obvious temptation is to compare this series to the Harry Potter series. The problem is that, although both series are considered to be Juvenile Fiction, Harry Potter (HP) is geared more toward the upper end of that age group, while Septimus Heap (SH) seems more appropriate for the younger reader. Yes, there are dangerous situations and villains in both series, but the situations in SH don't have the same feeling of terror that those in HP do. DomDaniel is definitely scary (Simon is much less so), but Voldemort is far, far scarier. Another reviewer made the statement that it felt like Angie Sage was talking to her readers like a typical grown-up talks to little kids, while J.K. Rowling seemed to address her readers more like an equal. And I think that may be a part of why I don't like this series (so far) as much as I loved the Harry Potter series.