A series about the Seventh son of a seventh son and a bullet that will always find its mark

Question

I am looking for the name of a series of book.

In the world described in those books, magic exists, and it is also told that the 7th child of a family will be extremely proficient with it.

In the first book, we are following the story of a family, whose father is one of those 7th sons, but is nothing extraordinary when it comes to magic. At the start of said book we learn that his wife gave birth to a child which is their 7th (7th son of a 7th son).

But sadly it seems like the child died shortly after.

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We also learn of another family, which is celebrating the birth of their newborn daughter, but during the celebration, an assassination takes place, and only the newborn daughter survives.

What was particular with this assassination is the fact that the killer used bullets, with a name inscribed on them. Those bullets are known to always find their way to the person their destined to.

After surviving this, the daughter was adopted by the first family.

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A few traits of this world which can help identify the book :

• While magic exists, it doesn't seems that everyone can be a mage, and only a few select ones can excel in it.
• The most powerful mage in the country is given a position of authority, and usually takes an apprentice amongst the most promising mages, and usually that apprentice will take that position after their master.

A few key events (in the first book) that can help :

• After the assassination of the second family (which was something akin to royalty) a new government takes place. This government created a militia, which enrolled many young children to indoctrinate them.

  • At the end of the first book, we learn that one of those young children was, in fact, the seventh child of the first family (which they thought died at birth)
• After a while, the new government learns about the whereabouts of the daughter of the second family, and sends assassins against her. So the first family (who adopted the daughter) decides to take refuge with their aunt, who is somewhat of a hermit and is living in a remote location.

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If anyone is able to identify the book from this mess of a question, that would be really helpful.

Answer 1

Septimus Heap

Every detail mentioned is present: the seventh son, the named bullets, the royal family overthrown.

A. brief excerpt from the Wikipedia summary:

Upon reaching his home, Silas sees the midwife run out with a bundle of cloth, wailing that his newborn Septimus, the seventh son of a seventh son, is dead. Silas and his wife, Sarah, decide to raise the baby girl in place of Septimus, as if she was their own daughter. They name their child Jenna.

Months later, Sarah learns from a friend that the queen has been assassinated, and the castle is under the control of the Supreme Custodian. As well, the queen's newborn daughter had gone missing. Her friend also says that the assassination had occurred months before, but had been kept a secret. She mentions that it happened around the time Alther Mella, Marcia's mentor, had been killed. Sarah realises that Jenna was the missing princess, but decides to keep this a secret from everyone, other than Silas.

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There are seven books in the series:

• Magyk
• Flyte
• Physik
• Queste
• Syren
• Darke
• Fyre

Answer 2

This sounds awfully like the Septimus Heap series.

The seventh son of a seventh son is Septimus aka Boy 412. The girl who was the subject of the assassination attempt is Jenna.

Jenna's family were assassinated using magical silver bullets with names inscribed on them:

"Here you are," Aunt Zelda said, handing the silver bullet to Jenna. "It has been looking for you for ten years, and now its search is over. You are safe now."

Jenna smiled uncertainly and rolled the solid silver sphere around her palm with a sense of revulsion; although, she could not help but admire how perfect it was. Almost perfect. She lifted it up and squinted at a tiny nick in the ball. To her surprise there were two letters carved into the silver: I.P.

"What's I.P. mean?" Jenna asked Aunt Zelda. "Look, it's here on the bullet."

Aunt Zelda did not reply for a moment. She knew what the letters meant, but she was unsure about telling Jenna.

"I.P.," murmured Jenna, thinking it over. "I.P...."

"Infant Princess," said Aunt Zelda. "A named bullet. A named bullet will always find its target. It doesn't matter how or when, but find you it will. As yours has done. But not in the way they intended.

Answer 3

This could be the book The Spook's Apprentice, upon which the 2014 movie Seventh Son is loosely based.

I haven't personally read the book, so I don't know how many similarities there are between it and your description, but I have seen the movie, and the "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" aspect is very prominent, to the point where the seventh son in question is some kind of chosen one / saviour.