The Darke Toad

Septimus Heap #1.5

by Angie Sage

The evil Dom Daniel is up to something with the Port Witch Coven, and he needs Simon Heap’s help. Is Simon ready to do his master’s bidding? And in the state that Dom Daniel is in, how will he fare against the nasty—and ever entertaining—Port Witch Coven?

A novella that takes places between the stories told in MAGYK and FLYTE.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Magic, Fiction, Middle Grade, Childrens, Short Stories

107 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 12, 2013

About the author

Angie Sage (born 1952) is the author of the Septimus Heap series which includes Magyk, Flyte, Physik, Queste, Syren, Darke and Fyre. She also wrote the Todhunter Moon series, and the Magykal Papers, an additional book with extra information about Septimus' world. She is also the illustrator and/or writer of many children's books, and is the new writer of the Araminta Spookie series.

Angie Sage grew up in Thames Valley, London and Kent. Her father was a publisher. He would bring home blank books that she could fill with pictures and stories. Sage first studied medicine, but changed her mind and went to Art School in Leicester. There she studied Graphic Design and Illustration. She began illustrating books after college. Then she progressed to writing children stories, including toddler books and chapter books. Her first novel was Septimus Heap: Magyk. Angie Sage is married and has two daughters, Laurie and Lois.

Reviews

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a delightful short story in the Septimus Heap series. I think it gave a little bit more insight into Simon Heap and how he isn't as bad as he appeared to be in some of the other books.
I am much older than the age group this series is intended for and I would recommend these books to anyone who likes reading fantasy with quite a bit of humor in it as well.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a hard time with this book. It was entirely because I read it after I had read the whole series, so I knew what was going to happen to all the characters. It was fun to get a little deeper look inside the Darke side of events, but it was hard to really enjoy the story when I wasn't anticipating how the events would unfold in the next books.

[Melissa Railey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This little novella got snuck out on me. I had no clue the author was going to release one. This is one of my favorite series out there. It's very fun and inventive. The author does a great job of playing on spelling of words. And it's a smart series. I appreciate this little snack to tide me over until the next book's release. The only thing I didn't like about it was that it went back in time to between the first and second books. I would have loved one where the series stands right now.

[Sara Saif · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was nice but I'm a little bummed I didn't read it chronologically.

[Katzenkindliest · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nette kleine Geschichte, perfekt zur Jahreszeit passend :)

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a little e-novella that goes along with the Septimus Heap series. This is book #1.5 and I just read book one a few week ago. The story continues where #1 ends and it all takes place on Halloween with a lot of the same characters we have just gotten to know. It was a great mix of light-hearted and fun, but also setting up big storylines I think for the bad guys to come. It was an easy-to-read, entertaining way to spend 100 pages!

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

All Hallows Eve in the port, with DomDaniel's temporarily fleshed out bones on the prowl along with the town's witchly Coven, and Marcia and Septimus too. No one recognizes them because everyone's in costume, and no one suspects that the witches are up to mischief. As in the full novels all sorts of comical scrambling about and MAGYK working, with comes round right in the end. Terrific!

[Madeline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I don't think The Darke Toad is a bad story, but I don't really know when the best time to read it would be. I've seen multiple reviews from those who read the series in publication order (putting this novella after the release of book 6) and found it underwhelming given that they knew all that came later. For me, reading it in chronological order, I think it's fine, but I have read through book 6 before. I feel like reading the series in chronological order means that The Darke Toad spoils later books in an unfortunate way, but I can see how it wouldn't work to read the series in publication order. Therefore, a conundrum.

The story itself is fine, if not altogether memorable and I'm not entirely sure what it's place is within the series. I guess I'll find out as I continue with reading the novels.

[Abigail McKenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I was getting ready to read "Flyte", I figured I'd read this novella first. (Probably should have waited because I think I've spoiled myself on stuff but oh well) It's a fun little story, perfect for spooky season. This series gets a whole lot darker than I typically expect a middle-grade to go, but I laughed a lot, so for that, it gets 4 stars.

[Marjolein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice short read! Loved it.

[Katharine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Jessica Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read most of the series a few times but this was my first time with this novella. It's it necessary, no. But does it add extra insight, yes. I think as a novella it works.

Content Warnings: some spooky elements, and an event that causes some sailors to drown. Most are saved but not all. Nothing graphic, but sad all the same. I'd rate it 11-12+ depending on the child.

[Maura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simon Heap is now following orders from DomDaniel who is in some pretty awful shape, but not about to let death stop him. He manages to clothe his bones enough to get around, much to Simon's disgust, but they seek out help from the Port Witch Coven for a more permanent spell, so DomDaniel can complete his nefarious plans. Fortunately it's Halloween, so his movements go unremarked. And we get to see the dynamics of the Port Witch Coven who is promised the Darke Toad as a reward for their help. In their excitement about the prestige that will result, the witches decide to nab a young boy to be their slave. But Marcia Overstrand and Septimus Heap step in to save him.

This was a cute and interesting little interlude. I haven't read Flyte yet, so I'm not sure what this story was setting up or providing more detail on. It's interesting to see where Simon's loss of his expected apprenticeship has got him - as apprentice to a dead DomDaniel. We didn't get to see much of Septimus this time around - it was mostly focused on Simon and the Port Witches. I also wasn't completely clear on what the Darke Toad does and wonder whether it's important or not. But I find myself immensely enjoying the sort of humor used by this author...it's sort of sarcastic, but not viciously so, and not slapstick or over the top. So this was a nice, quick and enjoyable read.

[Marta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another 5 star 🌟 read

I may be 53, but I absolutely love the Septimus Heap series. They are clever, and funny, whimsical and imaginative. Yet, Angie Sage doesn't shy away from death or the occasional gruesome scene. This little novella delivers all these. Darke Toads, talking bones, and purple python shoes, not to mention cranky witches and an Extra Ordinary Wizard. Angie Sage takes current, culture, and turns it upside down, leaving the reader a mystery: Does the story take place today, in an alternate universe? Or the past? Or in a future that doesn't remember the 20th century, but still carries on beautifully.

[Becca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super cute, awesome writing, and I absolutely loved the plot and getting to learn more about some of the characters from the book series. Though I do sorta wish that I had at least read Flyte first, as I was sorta confused as to what was going on at first and how/why certain things had turned out the way they had. Other than that though, no complaints whatsoever! <3

[Jenna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just couldn’t really get into this one. There were too many characters for me to remember while listening on audiobook, and I don’t think I was paying close enough attention. It also didn’t play much into the plot, so I felt like I didn’t really need to read it, especially since I had already moved past when this story happened in the timeline.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zabavna mala pricica koja nudi par lepih detalja ali u osnovi ne doprinosi nicemu posebno.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short little story taking place right before book two involving simon and his darke master and sep and Marcia. A fun little adventure down at the port during this worlds Halloween! Enjoy!

[Mike Booth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A much more promising entry in the series than the first two books. I realised when I finished Flyte that I had missed this, and so have read it slightly out of order, although from the fact it has excerpts from Fyre, I am assuming it was written after publication of the the 6th major work in the series.
If this is correct, it would perhaps explain why this seemed to be written better, as the author would have a bit more experience. I suppose being only a very short story, there's less opportunity for plot holes to arise, but even focusing on the actual writing as opposed to the story, it still seemed a lot better to me. There weren't as many instances where the writing felt juvenile, which I did find with the first two major works.
There was still an occasion or two where I felt the characters behaved slightly oddly, and seemed to be focusing on something small, when they could have dealt with the main antagonist fairly easily, but that does seem to be par for the course in this series, unfortunately.
Hopefully the increase in quality means that the books do get better as the series progresses. I hope this is the case, and I was more disappointed with the second than I was with the first, but this was a definite step up. I guess I'll see soon enough.

[sabisteb aka callisto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Diese Geschichte ist eine kleine Halloweengeschichte, die zwischen Band 1 und Band 2 spielt. Die Geschichte kam heraus, als ich schon weitere Bände gelesen habe. Das sollte heutzutage kein Problem mehr sein, weil man die Reihe nun gemütlich an einem Stück durchlesen kann.
Diese Geschichte beleuchtet bereits den Charakter von Simon Heap und man sieht, dass er eigentlich falsch bei den Darke Arts ist, er ist einfach zu nett, was ihm selber nicht wirklich klar ist.
Die Geschichte ist eine nette Begegnung mit Dom Daniel und den Port Witches.
Letzendlich muss man sie aber nicht gelesen haben, bevor man Band 2 liest. Dennoch ist sie unterhaltsam.
Die Geschichte ist in sich abgeschlossen und die Figuren werden nicht exsplizit noch einmal eingeführt. Die Kenntniss des ersten Bandes der Septimus Heap Reihe Magyk wird vorrausgesetzt.

[Sirah · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Simon becomes Dom Daniel's apprentice, he probably should have expected a fair amount of nonsense. Taking Dom to the Port Witch Coven probably wasn't high on his list. These cackling crones have all sorts of mischief planned, and Simon doesn't really want to be a part of it, but he's willing to do whatever it takes to become the ExtraOrdinary apprentice, so he puts up with it. Too bad that Septimus kid shows up to send everything right back to how it was before.

This quirky little tale gives a lot of insight into how the Port Witch Coven got to be so crazy when Jenna, Septimus, and Wolf Boy get there in book 2. It also bridges that gap between when Sep was a young army recruit and when he becomes comfortable as an apprentice wizard. Overall, a fun, quick read that adds even more richness to this fun world.

[Louise de la Vallière · Rating 4 out of 5]

- cute insert story to supplement the main series with a fair bit of Simon's POV which is rare
- really well written children's fantasy series featuring whimsical characters and villains who are darke but not exceedingly gruesome. I appreciate the way there are less detailed descriptions of feelings that I imagine a child would not easily understand, yet scenes are still surprising e.g. domdaniel the dark wizard was impatient during a spell but after it was cast we found out he was impatient because he needed to scratch his stomach.
- this is just a side story about Simon and one of his side adventures with domdaniel and a witch coven, with septimus and Marcia making an appearance to thwart the plans

[Caniah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading Darke Toad reminded me how much I love this series!

This basically takes the elements of the other books in the series and makes it into a short story. Its story is hilarious and the book is filled with the great characters that you - may or may not have - fell in love with through out the book series. To conclude, this book was a wonderful edition to the series that - although unnecessarily and very shortly but not badly - explains how Simon obtained a certain something that he has in the second book and gives Septimus - more Marcia, Dom Daniel, and the Witch Coven than Septimus - a new adventure to venture through, I LOVED IT!!

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now that I'm re-reading the series, I got my husband to buy this for me on his Kindle so I could finally read it! It's a cute little Halloween novella. I have forgotten how the second book starts, but I assume since this was numbered 1.5 this fits with it all. Now off to re-read the second book! Edit: The prologue / first chapter of the second book takes place right after the first book, and the real first chapter 1,5 later (so a year after this novella), so it could be an idea to read this between those, but the first couple of chapters of Flyte also talk about things that have happened earlier.

[L · Rating 3 out of 5]

A had a nagging question from the beginning of this book that was not answered until #2 in this series, Flyte. It might belong somewhere in the middle of that book. This was okay. But it did giveway part of the next book Flyte (#2 in the series). Thankfully, the part given away was pretty much handled in the beginning of that book.

This book was definitely a children's book. I listened to it because I didn't want to miss something crucial. I won't know until I finish Flyte in this series. I am not sure where this book actually fits in that series. I probably would have been better off not reading/listening to this.

[Diana Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was cute to read after finishing Fyre!

Whatever you do, if you have not finished the series, do NOT read the excerpt from Fyre, book 7. The first few sentences will give you some fairly major spoilers that will make the plot of some of the books less enjoyable.

I would’ve preferred to read it after book 2, probably. Far enough ahead that I “knew I wouldn’t get spoilers”- even though it’s intended as 1.5 and is. But it would’ve just fit into the plot and where the characters were still at after book 2 or even 3.

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a longtime Septimus Heap fan I’m a bit ashamed not to have read this novella before now. It’s a fun, serviceable entry to the series even if it doesn’t do much to expand the characters or overall narrative. I’d caution first-time readers of the series not to read this one where it falls chronologically (between Magyk and Flyte) because it does outright spoil a few elements of Flyte and makes an albeit vague and foreshadow-y reference to one of the big climactic events of Physik.

[Rachelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, Sweet (maybe not so much), and filling us in on what Simon Heap is up to after the end of "Magyk". I will have to continue with this series as a cozy palate cleanse for when I've read something too deep and dark. I feel sorry for Simon in a way and would like to see something good come his way... maybe some kind of redemption. I really do like Marcia and Septimus and cant wait to see how their story progresses

[Sasa Dzi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the fact that i’ve read it on Halloween day without even knowing that the story in novella is happening at the same day! 😂❤️

It’s a really good novel and fits well with the series. Angie Sage being great at her way of writing, just as in the rest of the books. Easy and interesting read for both kids and adults.

[Skip · Rating 1 out of 5]

A kind of lame story in between the first and second Septimus Heap books. Dom Daniels compels Simon Heap to help him get the witch coven to reanimate him from a pile of bones so they can obtain the powers of a Darke Toad. Meanwhile, Septimus and Marcia happen to be in the port town to make sure Dom Daniels plans do not succeed.