Accidental Alchemist Mystery series – Gigi Pandian.
Remember I said, I have a thing about European accents… French
is a particular favourite of mine. I simply love the way French people talk.
There’s a special twang in French that makes anything said in a French accent,
super fun.
Gigi Pandian’s Accidental Alchemist Mysteries is a book
series that has some 8 books in it. The first one was released in 2015. Then a
book every year, almost. The series’s latest, the 8th one was
released earlier this year…
The premise of the novel is rooted in some really unusual themes. I mean, I haven’t read much about alchemy and alchemists, in popular fiction. Yeah, a mention here and there about the people who turned iron to gold.. or the most popular one of Mr. Nicolas Flamel who made the philosopher’s stone in Harry Potter… Other than these, I don’t think Alchemy or it’s practitioners have been featured anywhere much. So when Audible suggested to me that I should give Accidental Alchemist a try, I was intrigued.
The novels are rather simple. The biggest selling point of
these novels is the character of Dorian. He’s grey, he’s French and he’s a
gargoyle come to life. In the first novel of the series, we meet Zoe Faust.
She’s a very old woman, who’s lived through a long and interesting life. She is
an alchemist. An accidental one who found the elixir of life, in some 1600’s.
and she’s been stuck in 30
30-something-year-old-looking body since then. As you can imagine, you can’t live
at a single place for too long, if you don’t age visibly. So she’s moved around
a lot. We meet her when she’s just moving into a new home, in Portland, Oregon.
She’s just moving into a house, with all her unpacking still in progress, she
realised that there’s a stowaway in her storage boxes. A 3-foot grey STONE
gargoyle. Strange starts here…… the gargoyle wakes up. Not only is he alive, he needs assistance, he’s French and he COOKS. Zoe is a herbalist, vegan, and an alchemist.
Dorian was originally carved to be set up on the Notre Dame cathedral. Since he was smaller, he was gifted instead to the magician Robert Houdin. Who mistakenly read from an Alchemy book, brought the gargoyle to life. And now, after all these years, the gargoyle is slowly turning back into a stone. And hence needs an alchemist to help him out of the dilemma.
What we see in the pages ahead is a story of friendship, magic, and alchemy. A story about locating a missing/legendary magical object that leads the protagonists into the shadowy depths of bad people, bad intentions and profiteers who don’t have consciousness.
Zoe and Dorian form a great tale of unlikely friendship. Of interdependence that can only be formed between two individuals who can’t have a social life. There’s a lot of alchemy in there. And a lot of recipes. Accidental Alchemist is a great escape for anyone who is looking for something non-challenging to read. There is a mystery in there but not something that needs to be finished in one sitting. There’s a thrill in it, but it doesn’t elevate your heartbeat. It’s a comfortable story that makes you smile. Teaches you about history and alchemy and vegan cooking in the meantime.
If you are listening on Audible, you will LOVE the way Dorian sounds. He’s haughty French sensibilities are fun to listen to. It actually makes you wish for one French gargoyle in your own life.
Accidental Alchemist mysteries is a series that one should pick up for a cosy evening at home with a hot cup of cocoa. Or if you are looking for some interesting vegan recipes… whatever your need or want, I guess you will find something to love…
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