Syren (book)
Cover art for Syren by Mark Zug
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| Author | Angie Sage |
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| Cover artist | Mark Zug (illustrator) |
| Country | England |
| Language | English |
| Series | Septimus Heap |
| Genre | Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | HarperCollins and Bloomsbury Publishing |
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Publication date
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September 29, 2009 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 640 |
| ISBN | |
| Preceded by | Queste |
| Followed by | Darke |
Syren is the fifth book in the child fantasy Septimus Heap series by Angie Sage. It was released on September 29, 2009 by HarperCollins and Bloomsbury Publishing. She went on a book promotion tour for Syren as well as a contest to promote it further.
The story continues from the previous release Queste and deals with Septimus going to pick up his friends from a distant land. While coming back they are trapped in an island and there they learn of an evil plan to destroy their homeland, The Castle. The rest of the story deals with how Septimus and his friends save their home and destroy the evil coming their way.
Angie Sage had compared book five to Robinson Crusoe with "tentacles— lots of them". Commenting on the book, she says:
I've planned the ending, and I'm already just drawing everything in, so with number seven, I can pretty much think what's going to happen. But on the other hand, there's always the unknown. I write in the character's shoes, so I'm never entirely sure what they're going to do.
This story picks up where Queste ended. Jenna, Nicko, Snorri, Ullr and Beetle are in the small harbor known as the Trading Post, where Jenna encounters her father, Milo Banda, who persuades them to spend the night on his ship. Back in The Castle, Septimus gets a promotion to Senior Apprentice by Marcia Overstrand, for being the only apprentice wizard to complete the Queste. This enables him to head off on an adventure of his own. His escapade begins as he plans a simple flight on board his dragon, Spit Fyre, to retrieve his friends from the Trading Post.
Around this time, Aunt Zelda sends Wolf Boy from the Marram Marshes. She is giving him a challenging test for becoming the first male Keeper. As soon as Wolf Boy leaves, Zelda retrieves a SafeCharm, which appears to be a tiny, pear-shaped gold bottle. She needs to deliver it to Septimus, however, by the time she arrives he has already left. Due to an unfortunate mix-up, the SafeCharm falls into the hands of Merrin Meredith who stole it believing it to be a rare perfume. When he takes the top off to sniff it, a jinnie comes out of it. "Jim Knee" as he is called by Merrin, sets off on his own adventure. Meanwhile, Wolf Boy bumps into Simon Heap in the Port; he was looking for his fiancee Lucy Gringe who had been missing. Wolf Boy approaches the House of the Port Witch Coven. There he reads Zelda's letter which tells him to feed a creature called Grim and cut-off its tentacle tip. The Port Witch takes him inside her kitchen and wakes the Grim, which is a giant octopus. The witches bring forth a captive Lucy to feed to the Grim. Under the pretense of feeding Lucy to the Grim, Wolf Boy and Lucy escape from the coven. They are chased by a senior witch, Linda, but they escape by riding straight into a leaving ship.
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