The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott.
At first glance this seems an easy pick for a fantasy slot - a Dumbledore like character, Nicolas Flamel, is recognizable to Potter fans as a minor yet memorable name from that series' first book, lots of action and adventure, plenty of Riordan like references and information on both Egyptian and Greek mythology in addition to the magic/alchemy angle of Stroud's Bartimaeus series, and even a dose of Yggdrasil, bringing to mind Farmer's Sea of Trolls.
And yet. Where Stroud, Rowling, Riordan, and Farmer choose a focus and stick with it, this plot struck me as all over the place. Trying to account for every mythology simultaneously will do that, I suppose.
Is this where Riordan got The Red Pyramid? Twins with archaeologist parents who get caught up in ancient magic and are The Answer to some old prophecy - sound familiar? It did not feel as overwhelming and convoluted as The Red Pyramid, or as focussed for that matter, but the similarities are striking.
On the fence.
Bartimaeus: The Ring of Solomon by Jonathan Stroud.
Only a hundred or so pages in, so a bit early to write, and yet, having read the previous three in this series I am confident that what I have read so far is indicative of the book as a whole. So glad Stroud has returned to such an intelligent and lovable character. The writing is entertaining on so many levels and shows a great deal of respect for YA readers with sophisticated vocabulary, references, and humor.
My only wish is that Stroud would take a page (or five) from Westerfield's Leviathan and provide an author's note with information on what is real and what is not, as his, like Westerfield's, research is clearly well done and offers readers a great lesson in history as well as a fine fantasy read.
If this were out in paper it would be a clear choice.
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