Septimus Heap: Darke

Darke is so far my favourite of the Septimus Heap books. And it was dark! I did have to keep reminding myself that this is a kid's book, because there was a whole lot of "happily ever after" that happened, but it was good. Some of the key characters from the other books were noticeably absent (the Wendron Witches, the four Heap brothers who live in the forest, and Aunt Zelda and Wolf Boy conveniently arrive at the end of the book) and I missed them.

Compared the number of pages dedicated to the rest of the book, I thought the time that Septimus spent in the Darke Halls was short and not as detailed as I would have liked.

I'm also a bit frustrated that six books in, I don't really have a picture in my head of what any of them look like, except maybe Merrin (ugh). The sketches in the book don't show the characters the way I think they should be, but I'm not sure what the way I think they should be is. Confused?

With Harry Potter, I pictured this scrawny kid with messy dark hair, glasses and a lightening bolt scar. With Septimus Heap, I see green eyes, a tall teenaged boy and messy straw-coloured hair, but I see all those things independently of one another. Maybe it's because there is a picture of Harry on the front of the first book or maybe it's because J. K. Rowling is better with description, but I feel like I'm missing out on something because I can't picture the characters.

I'm looking forward to book 7...apparently it's still being written, so maybe it will be 2013 before I read it?