Family

Less than half a year ago, Tony and I received a mysterious note from Jared, Simon, and Mallory Grace, three children who have experienced authentic encounters with the beings we call faeries. As hard as it was for us to believe, we came to see that there was no alternative explanation. Now, putting aside personal concerns, we bring their stories to you.

It's 50 years before the settlement of the city of Ember and the world is in crisis. War looms on the horizon as 11-year-old Nickie and her aunt travel to the small town of Yonwood, North Carolina. There, one of the town's respected citizens has had a terrible vision of fire and destruction. Her garbled words are taken as prophetic instruction on how to avoid the coming disaster.

It's been a year since septimus heap discovered his real family and true calling to be a wizard. As apprentice to Extra Ordinary Wizard Marcia Overstrand, he is learning the fine arts of Conjurations, Charms, and other Magyk, while Jenna is adapting to life as the princess and enjoying the freedom of the castle.

When Silas Heap unseals a forgotten room in the palace, he releases the ghost of a queen who lived 500 years earlier. Queen Etheldredda is as awful in death as she was in life, and she's still up to no good. Her diabolical plan to give herself everlasting life requires Jenna's compliance, Septimus' disappearance, and the talents of her son, Marcellus Pye, a famous alchemist and physician.