Customer Reviews
Another page turner! 
2007-12-22
I read the first book several years ago, but it wasn't until I recently purchased this book that I became "hooked" on this series. Some say there is not enough of Bartimaeus in this book, true he has fewer passages, but the quality of these passages make up for the lack of quantity. In this book you get the first person account of a non-magician on life in England, and what an eye-opener it is. It also brought up the idea that what separates the non-magical people from the "magicians" is not ability but opportunity and education. Unlike Harry Potter's magicians the magicians in this series possess no magical ability, only the knowledge of how to control demons (a very interesting concept). In this book you see for the first time that life is NOT rosy in this world, it's definately a dog-eat-dog world. Jonathan Stroud makes these characters three dimensional and in doing so helps you feel like you know them and want all of them to live happily-ever-after.
I found this series to stride beyond the usual boundaries of fantasy fiction in that the "heroes" were at times almost as evil as the "villians" (but its that true of real life??). If your not afraid to look at characters such as these in the eye and join them in their journey, then this is a book for your library.
Sarcastic humor at its finest 
2007-11-28
As with The Amulet of Samarkand, the book's main demon, Bartimaeus, steals the show with his hilariously sarcastic humor. His sarcastic wit alone makes this book worth reading.
Moreover, the complicated plot and use of a very sympathetic character, Kitty, made this book even more enjoyable than the first in the trilogy. As with the first book, the author's intertwining of real places and historical figures with fantasy - such as Golems in Prague and a demon whose essence is fused with the skeleton of William Gladstone - makes for very interesting reading.
Amulet of Samarkand and the Golem's Eye 2007-09-19
So I met Jonathan Stroud last Friday, author of the Bartimaeus triology, of which the first two are out: "The Amulet of Samarkand" and "The Golem's Eye." He came to the bookstore I work at in Petaluma, Copperfield's, and was pretty entertaining. He was the classic English guy writing about a doomed England of magic and magicians and the regular people known as "commoners": average English accent from near London area with some clipped Cockney when speaking, but when reading clear, upper class southern England accent; a very ordinary looking guy in a t-shirt and slacks, totally unassuming and seemingly unaware that he's a big famous author who's growing and growing in notoriety.
I was talking to him about how I really liked that in his fantasy books involving magicians being separate and higher in social stature than ordinary people like you and me, Stroud pays more attention to what is happening socially with the paradigm, than just telling a story about a hot-shot wizard doing great things. And he seemed happy to know that I had spotted this in his books. That they took a different direction to most of the kids fantasy books out today involving the Harry Potter character, which has now practically become an archetype.
In the world of the Bartimaeus triolgy, magicians don't actually have that much power. They have all their control and magic from summoning djinn from another world and using them to do magical things, and all the summoning of imps, djinn, and higher level afrits is done through reading incantations from books. So in this world, the magicians really don't have that much power. The magicians control the entire government from Parliament to the prime minister.
And then you have the ordinary people, the "commoners" who are a subjugated people who work in factories and any and all jobs that involve labor. And are meek and always do as they are told, and it comes off as an almost Orwellian distopia. Except there are a few that somehow possess some ability to take attacks from magicians and djinn and not be killed by them and that they are able to see on multiple planes. There are seven planes, humans can only see on the first, and magicians with the aid of lenses can see the first three, while the djinn and afrits are on all seven planes. And this group are known as the "Resistance," as they try to overthrow the magicians and take back control of the country.
And then there's the nebulous rest of Europe in which you have the east consisting mainly of the Czechs who are warring against the English and have been for a long time, but are now at truce.
So it's a very interesting world with lots going on instead of just some tough wizard kid fighting a bad guy. I recommend it to all who want to read a different kind of fantasy.
For more book reviews, and other writings, go to www.alexctelander.com
Intelligent Fantasy, but not really for kids 2007-07-31
Stroud's series is not for people who like their fantasy simple. He lays out a complex multi-tiered world with good guys who aren't good, and bad guys who aren't all bad. The magic acts in the books are performed by a variety of demons and imps who are forced to do so at magicians' bidding, lest they be killed in punishment.
This is the 2nd in the trilogy, and holds its own very well. I plowed through this book in two days, and am eager to read the third one. Highly recommended, but really, I don't think it's for children.
A sequel that surpasses the original 2007-06-01
This next book picks up a couple years after the first one ended. The young boy Nathaniel is no longer an apprentice magician, and is now a high level government official at the age [..].
(Which is the first problem with this book. In the first book Nathaniel was an [..]boy, and I thought his portrayal as an [..]boy was pretty believable. In this next book however I couldn't believe he is [..]. He acts like he's a [..]yuppie.)
In the first book, brief hints were given that this was a separate universe from our own, but now this second book were learn a lot more about the world the magicians inhabit. It turns out to be kind of a disutopia 1984 esque world in which the magicians rule everything and the common British people are forced to be subservient.
In addition to Nathaniel and the sarcastic Bartimaeus, this book focuses on Kitty Jones, a resistance fighter to the magicians rule. Kitty appeared briefly in the first book, but in this book we find out a lot more about her. In fact, because this book covers a lot of the narrative from Kitty's perspective, as well as going into all of Kitty's back story, this book is more about Kitty than Nathaniel and Bartimaeus.
Because all of Kitty's back story has to be told, it takes a while before the forward story gets going. But once all the elements are finally set up (about 300 pages into the book), then the story really gets going with a vengeance. Once the story finally got going, I enjoyed this book much more than the previous one.
Despite being a children's book, there is once again a high body count in this book (the standards must have changed since I was young). There is a scene in which the Resistance fighters are on a dangerous mission to rob a haunted tomb, and the author really does his best to draw out the suspense as long as he can. And because you know he's crazy enough to kill off some of these characters, it really does get suspenseful. I was completely hooked. And then when the trap finally does spring, the horrifying pay off is well worth the wait.
Although political movements in these kind of fantasy disutopia books tend to be mainly stock characters and plot devices, I thought the characters in the Resistance were all very life like and their internal dynamics and squabbling were very realistic and believable.
Deserves 4.5 though... 2008-05-07
This is a pretty good book. It involves many questions answered from book 1, but creates more questions to keep you reading. Not as good as the first book, it starts kind of slow. Not much happens, but the it takes off and becomes like the first book. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes the Artemis Fowl series or the Lightning Thief. Even people who like Harry Potter should like it. Overall, pretty good book.
BY RYAN BADIEE
Great read 2008-03-09
I waited a few months before finally reading the 2nd installment of the bartimeaus trilogy, mainly because the first was good but not great. To my surprise, the 2nd book is even better than the first. The plot thickens substantially over the 1st. Nathaniel is 2 years older and it's clear that he is destined to be the stereotypical power-hungry magician with little conscience for matters that don't play to his own personal gain. It becomes clear that nathaniel is not intended to be a character to appreciate. Unfortunately 1/3 of the book is dedicated to his point-of-view. This makes the book difficult to read since most readers will not like him and will be rooting for his destruction.
The humor of bartimeaus is still fresh, which is an accomplishment. Similar characters in other stories tend to become stagnant or loose their appeal. You also get more insight into his background and substance is given to why demons truly hate magicians. The book also includes Kitty and the path of the resistance and by the end of the book, leaves the impression that something much bigger will come of it.
All-in-all, it was a very good book, although slightly longer than what i think it should have been. There is a lot of information to learn, but by the end you are almost skipping paragraphs to get to the point. I've read many books longer than this one, yet for some reason this one just seemed like it would never end even though it was a great book. For that reason, and because I still strongly dislike nathaniels character and i think too much time was spent on him, i gave this only a 4-star review rather than 5.
Another good tale 2008-02-24
I had thought that the first book was okay, so I picked up the second book, even though I groaned when I saw all the chapters narrated by Kitty when I first picked it up. Contrary to what most people are saying, I loved wincing at Nathaninel's nastiness and I personally found Bartimaeus to be funnier than in the first book. I liked the plot much better and even found myself eventually enjoying Kitty's sections. Overall, a great book. I like Nathaniel and Bartimaeus's relationship and can't wait to see how it evolves. I also find Bartimaeus's fondness for his previous master Ptlomey touching.
Not as good as the first, but still good 2008-02-18
I read the first book to see if it was appropriate for my 9 year old twin boys. I really enjoyed the first book and decided to read the 2nd book of the three books. It was interesting at times, a little slow at times too. But I felt it wrapped up nicely. I'm willing to read the 3rd and final book just to see how it ends.
Great Book and Series 2007-12-30
This was an excellent book, as was the whole series. I just came on to look for more Jonathan Stroud books and decided to give my first book review! I love Bartimaeus and all the sarcasm. Give it a try if you haven't already.
