If the nineteenth century was the era of the glider, then the eighteenth century belonged to the balloon. Experiments in flight culminated when Etienne Montgolfier took to the air in the winter of 1783 in a spectacularly decorated 75-foot-tall, 50-foot-diameter hot-air balloon.
Back further in history, Leonardo da Vinci famously created designs for what is clearly a prototype helicopter. His notebooks are also full of designs for flying machines, gliders and artificial wings. In his diary for the year 1483, he drew up the design for the first parachute. (On June 26, 2000, a replica of this parachute, made using only the tools, fabrics and materials that would have been available to da Vinci, successfully brought a man to earth from a height of ten thousand feet.)
Back further still, in the ninth century, there is an account of the great Berber inventor and poet Abbas Ibn Firnas strapping wings on his back and gliding. And five hundred years before that, the Chinese were describing flying craft made of bamboo and leather.
As we move back in time, into that space where history and mythology blend, we find many mentions of flying vehicles. Flying is commonplace in mythology. Most of the gods can fly, usually without any additional help. But in some ancient traditions, the gods fly with the aid of wings, and these images appear on rock carvings and temple paintings all across the world. However, in myth and legend, there are also accounts of artificial means of flight and flying craft.
The Persian king Kai Kawus tied four tall poles to the corners of his throne, and eagles were chained to the top of each pole. When the birds flew, they carried the throne into the air with them. The term flying chariot appears throughout Chinese lore, and there are many stories of the first Chinese emperor, Shun, taking to the air—he once even escaped a burning building by using his huge hat as a parachute.
Perhaps the most famous story of flight is the tale of Icarus, whose father, Daedalus, made him a pair of artificial wings. Daedalus was a great inventor of many wonders, including the Labyrinth, created for King Minos of Knossos. The details in the story of Daedalus’s quest for flight are interesting: we see Daedalus rejecting silk because it was too light, and the canvas used for sails because it was too heavy. Finally, he settled upon a wooden frame covered with bird feathers held on with beeswax. Like any good inventor or scientist, Daedalus did his research: he gave his son clear instructions not to fly too high, and not to swoop low over the sea, or the salt spray would dampen and ruin the wings. Icarus soared into the sky but flew too high, and the hot Mediterranean sun melted the beeswax holding the feathers together. Unfortunately, Daedalus had not created a parachute.
Given the level of detail, one cannot help wondering whether, as in many myths, there might be more than a grain of truth in the story. It is also worthwhile to remember that today we accept as commonplace something that was once considered truly magical.
THE
ENCHANTRESS
The sixth and final book of
Available Summer 2012
Excerpt copyright © 2011 by Michael Scott
Published by Delacorte Press,
an imprint of Random House Children’s Books,
a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
I am legend.
There was a time when I said that death had no claim over me, that illness could not touch me. That is no longer true. Now I know the date of my death, and that of my wife, too: and it is today.
I was born in the Year of Our Lord 1330, more than six hundred and seventy years ago. I have had a good life, a long life, and I have been many things in my time: a physician and a cook, a bookseller and a soldier, a teacher of languages and chemistry, both an officer of the law and a thief.
And I was the Alchemyst.
Gifted—or was it cursed?—with immortality, Perenelle and I fought the evil of the Dark Elders and kept them at bay while we searched for the twins of legend, the Gold and Silver. We always thought they would help us defend this planet.
We were wrong.
Now the end is upon us and the twins have vanished, gone back in time to the Isle of Danu Talis, back ten thousand years, back to where it all begins.…
Today the world ends.
Today, Perenelle and I will die.
But I will not go down without a fight.
For I am the immortal Nicholas Flamel.
From the Day Booke of Nicholas Flamel, Alchemyst
Writ this day, Thursday, 7th June,
in San Francisco, my adopted city
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
No writing is ever done in a vacuum. Surrounding the writer is a network of people who, in so many ways, help make it happen. I especially need to acknowledge:
Beverly Horowitz, Krista Marino and Colleen Fellingham, and all of the extraordinary team at Delacorte Press.
A special thanks, as always, must go to Barry Krost and Richard Thompson.
I need to thank Alfred Molina and Jill Gascoine for the home-away-from-home.
A sincere thank-you to Michael Carroll, Patrick Kavanagh, Colette Freedman, Julie Blewett Grant and Jeffrey Smith, Brooks Almy and Maurizio Papalia, Sonia Schormann and especially Vincent Perfitt.
With special thanks to Melanie Rose and Claudette Sutherland, of course.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
An authority on mythology and folklore, Michael Scott is one of Ireland’s most successful authors. A master of fantasy, science fiction, horror, and folklore, he has been hailed by the Irish Times as “the King of Fantasy in these isles.” The Warlock is the fifth book in the New York Times bestselling series The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel. Look for book one, The Alchemyst; book two, The Magician; book three, The Sorceress; and book four, The Necromancer, all available from Delacorte Press.
You can follow Michael Scott on Twitter @flamelauthor and visit him online at DillonScott.com.
Table of Contents
Cover
Other Books by This Author
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-one
Chapter Thirty-two
Chapter Thirty-three
Chapter Thirty-four
Chapter Thirty-five
Chapter Thirty-six
Chapter Thirty-seven
Chapter Thirty-eight
Chapter Thirty-nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-one
Chapter Forty-two
Chapter Forty-three
Chapter Forty-five
Chapter Forty-six
Chapter Forty-seven
Chapter Forty-eight
Chapter Forty-nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-one
Chapter Fifty-two
Chapter Fifty-three
Chapter Fifty-four
Chapter Fifty-five
Chapter Fifty-six
Author’s Note on Vimanas and Flight
Excerpt from The Enchantress
Acknowledgments
About the Aut
hor
Table of Contents
Cover
Other Books by This Author
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-one
Chapter Thirty-two
Chapter Thirty-three
Chapter Thirty-four
Chapter Thirty-five
Chapter Thirty-six
Chapter Thirty-seven
Chapter Thirty-eight
Chapter Thirty-nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-one
Chapter Forty-two
Chapter Forty-three
Chapter Forty-four
Chapter Forty-five
Chapter Forty-six
Chapter Forty-seven
Chapter Forty-eight
Chapter Forty-nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-one
Chapter Fifty-two
Chapter Fifty-three
Chapter Fifty-four
Chapter Fifty-five
Chapter Fifty-six
Author’s Note on Vimanas and Flight
Excerpt from The Enchantress
Acknowledgments
About the Author