As the authors show, the writings of medieval alchemists may seem like the ravings of brain-addled fools, but there is more to the story than that. Recent scholarship has shown that some seemingly nonsensical mysticism is, in fact, decipherable code, and Western European alchemists functioned from a firmer theoretical foundation than previously thought. They had a guiding principle, based on experience: separate and purify materials by fire and reconstitute...

My own Yara, if you are reading this, the something terrible has happened, and you are on your own. To return to the city of Zehaira, you must read out the words on the back of this letter... good luck, my brave girl. When twelve-year-old Yara's mother passes away, she leaves behind a letter and a strange set of instructions. Yara must travel from the home she has always known to a place that is not on any map--Zehaira, a world of sorcerers, alchemists,...

In 1573, the crippled, scorned, and destitute Meggy Swann goes to London, where she meets her father, an impoverished alchemist, and eventually discovers that although her legs are bent and weak, she has many other strengths.

Fifteen-year-old twins Sophie and Josh Newman continue their magical training in Paris with Nicholas Flamel, Scatty, and the Comte de Sant Germaine, pursued by Doctor Dee and the immortal Niccolo Machiavelli.

When their parents, two temporal researchers who travel through time to document history, are transferred to 17th-century Prague, Dawk and Hype hardly expect to find themselves in the middle of an alchemical mystery. In fact, the new, boring job is meant to be a punishment for Dawk and Hype's bad behavior at their last temporal post. The teenagers are from the 25th century--how could medieval Prague compare? But when they meet a man who claims he...