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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ich habe Bartimäus seit einer ganzen Weile bei mir im Regal stehen, und irgendwie immer wieder doch nicht gelesen, weil es mich ganz viel Überwindung gekostet hat. Als Kind habe ich die Reihe bereits einmal begonnen, fand sie gut, wollte es immer noch mal versuchen, und dann habe ich doch immer eher zu anderen Büchern gegriffen. Aber diesmal nicht. Diesmal habe ich es endlich geschafft, Band 1 wieder in die Hände zu nehmen (ein Hörbuch auf YouTube hat eindeutig auch geholfen), und ich habe es komplett gelesen und praktisch nur so verschlungen. Ich gebe zu, dass ich zwischendurch ein paar mal kurz abgeschaltet habe, weil ich mich irgendwie habe ablenken lassen, aber es war nicht oft, folgen konnte ich dem ganzen trotzdem echt gut, und es hat nichts daran geändert, dass die Geschichte trotzdem sehr spannend war und die Figuren mit gut gefallen haben.
Bartimäus war wirklich leicht ins Herz zu schließen, und Nathanael war zwar teils ein kleines bisschen anstrengend, gleichzeitig für ein zwölfjähriges Kind aber absolut akzeptabel. Einige von den Erwachsenen gingen mir in ihrer Art da wesentlich mehr auf die Nerven (auch wenn es auch da natürlich geplant war).
Die Welt ist spannend, und ich mag es, wie unsere Welt mit Magie verwoben wird, das hatte ich gar nicht mehr richtig im Kopf von damals, dass es sich beim Schauplatz sogar um London handelt, und wie Nathanael und Bartimäus zusammenarbeiten oder teils auch mal gegeneinander hat mich beim Lesen echt gut unterhalten.
Ich bin auf jeden Fall froh, dass ich jetzt endlich doch mal zum Lesen kam, und werde die Reihe auch fortsetzen (nur nicht sofort, aber diesmal wird die Pause hoffentlich keine 15 Jahre andauern.)
Bartimäus war wirklich leicht ins Herz zu schließen, und Nathanael war zwar teils ein kleines bisschen anstrengend, gleichzeitig für ein zwölfjähriges Kind aber absolut akzeptabel. Einige von den Erwachsenen gingen mir in ihrer Art da wesentlich mehr auf die Nerven (auch wenn es auch da natürlich geplant war).
Die Welt ist spannend, und ich mag es, wie unsere Welt mit Magie verwoben wird, das hatte ich gar nicht mehr richtig im Kopf von damals, dass es sich beim Schauplatz sogar um London handelt, und wie Nathanael und Bartimäus zusammenarbeiten oder teils auch mal gegeneinander hat mich beim Lesen echt gut unterhalten.
Ich bin auf jeden Fall froh, dass ich jetzt endlich doch mal zum Lesen kam, und werde die Reihe auch fortsetzen (nur nicht sofort, aber diesmal wird die Pause hoffentlich keine 15 Jahre andauern.)
Imagine a world where magic exists, not like Harry Potter, mind you, but rather, a world where an aristocracy is so much more powerful than the commoners (the non-magical crowd) because they're trained to become magicians and therefore able to summon demons to do their bidding, wicked as it might be. London and the rest of the great British Empire are governed by magicians (just like Old Egypt, Babylonia and Prague once was), presently under the rule of Prime Minister Rupert Devereux and his ministers. It’s from this basis we follow Nathaniel, in the beginning a young boy and magician-to-be, who on his journey to seek justice meets demons of every kind, ambition, cruelty, crime, resistance, power-crazy lunatics and unexpected friendships.
It’s a well thought through plot with plenty of characters you can’t sort in the normal stereotypical fantasy categories; “The Hero”, “The Bad Guy”, “The Minions”, "The Love Interest" and so on. Everyone in Stroud’s books has at least two sides – there is no black or white. It’s all a lovely shade of grey ambiguity.
The absolute highlight of the novels is the djinni Bartimaeus as he comes up with new inventive ways to insult humanity and magicians especially.
It’s a well thought through plot with plenty of characters you can’t sort in the normal stereotypical fantasy categories; “The Hero”, “The Bad Guy”, “The Minions”, "The Love Interest" and so on. Everyone in Stroud’s books has at least two sides – there is no black or white. It’s all a lovely shade of grey ambiguity.
The absolute highlight of the novels is the djinni Bartimaeus as he comes up with new inventive ways to insult humanity and magicians especially.
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
even as a kid i thought this was shockingly good, a pity my copy was water damaged
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Minor: Death
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Bartimeus is fantastic
adventurous
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I quite enjoyed this book. About halfway through, I read some negative reviews on Goodreads, and while I agree with one of the major gripes that Nathaniel and Bartimaeus are not the most commonly likable characters, I didn't feel the need to love them like best friends in order to enjoy the book. I actually enjoyed some detachment from Nathaniel, because it forced me to actually try to understand the logic of his struggles and decisions (instead of the implicit agreement we tend to have with those characters with whom we could be real-life friends). I really enjoyed the change we got to see in Nathaniel from the beginning of the book to the end. I want to place the two Nathaniels side by side (and maybe throw in mid-book Nathaniel covered in soot and cold and hungry) for comparison, because there's such a marked change. That was a well written character. Bartimaeus is straight out not intended to be liked, in my opinion, except by those tricksy, clever, scheming people who can relate to him. However, his commentary is hilarious and forms the real substance of the book. I continued reading mostly in order to hear Bartimaeus' insights on history and the world that the magicians formed. His chapters at times tended toward too much exposition (specifically of the ranks of djinni and how magic works), but on the whole he was a character I'm glad I've "met" (though I would not like to actually meet him).
My favorite section on a technical level was the climactic scene in Ms. Cathcart's augmented audience hall. Not only were the actions taken in the plot clever and interesting, but I enjoyed the mélange of sections from Nathaniel's and Bartimaeus' points of view. Placing them so close together picked up the pace, gave a sense of their real proximity and teamwork in the scene, and in my opinion, was a risk that paid off in Jonathan Stroud's favor. I say that it was a risk because such close juxtaposition of two different types of POV can come off as very jarring, but only in one transition did it really bother me (within that scene). The benefits were worth the slight negative.
Another writing craft note: I said above that the reason I kept reading the book was Bartimaeus' commentary, and the reason that I needed a reason to continue is that the craft involved in writing the book was very transparent. By this I mean two things. The characters (with the exception of Bartimaeus and the Nathaniel whom we see nearer the end of the book) seemed simple. They reeked of never changing for the rest of their lives, which is not how people are. To Stroud's credit, one of my best examples did in fact change during his run in the book (Mr. Underwood), but he and most of the others who appeared multiple times were set up as constants who would continue down the same path into eternity. There was no mystery to them, little complexity that might allow us to believe they might change. Now, you might attribute this to a) the fact that the story of these men and women is being told by Nathaniel, a teenager, and b) that the genre is YA. Perhaps I shouldn't be expecting an adult's view of other adults in YA lit. It didn't annoy me enough to stop reading, because Bartimaeus was such a turbulent, interesting character. The second meaning I have for the statement that the craft feels transparent is the simplicity of the plot. While some of Bartimaeus' magic and Nathaniel's schemes were quite complex and clever, there were other points where the roadblock set before them or their solution to some of these roadblocks felt so simplistic that I could have come up with it (plot is one of my biggest struggles as a writer, and as such I'm sensitive to plot that feels too contrived or easy), where I would prefer that the author at least disguise plot twists in such a way that it comes across as more difficult or complicated.
I will say this for Stroud's craft: his description/scenery and dialogue are welcome outlets for his own creativity and cleverness. I nearly laughed aloud at the statue Bartimaeus stumbles across near the climactic scene (you'll know the one), and many of his other descriptions are worth it. The dialogue is also well written overall.
I definitely enjoyed this book, and look forward to reading the second and third in the trilogy.
My favorite section on a technical level was the climactic scene in Ms. Cathcart's augmented audience hall. Not only were the actions taken in the plot clever and interesting, but I enjoyed the mélange of sections from Nathaniel's and Bartimaeus' points of view. Placing them so close together picked up the pace, gave a sense of their real proximity and teamwork in the scene, and in my opinion, was a risk that paid off in Jonathan Stroud's favor. I say that it was a risk because such close juxtaposition of two different types of POV can come off as very jarring, but only in one transition did it really bother me (within that scene). The benefits were worth the slight negative.
Another writing craft note: I said above that the reason I kept reading the book was Bartimaeus' commentary, and the reason that I needed a reason to continue is that the craft involved in writing the book was very transparent. By this I mean two things. The characters (with the exception of Bartimaeus and the Nathaniel whom we see nearer the end of the book) seemed simple. They reeked of never changing for the rest of their lives, which is not how people are. To Stroud's credit, one of my best examples did in fact change during his run in the book (Mr. Underwood), but he and most of the others who appeared multiple times were set up as constants who would continue down the same path into eternity. There was no mystery to them, little complexity that might allow us to believe they might change. Now, you might attribute this to a) the fact that the story of these men and women is being told by Nathaniel, a teenager, and b) that the genre is YA. Perhaps I shouldn't be expecting an adult's view of other adults in YA lit. It didn't annoy me enough to stop reading, because Bartimaeus was such a turbulent, interesting character. The second meaning I have for the statement that the craft feels transparent is the simplicity of the plot. While some of Bartimaeus' magic and Nathaniel's schemes were quite complex and clever, there were other points where the roadblock set before them or their solution to some of these roadblocks felt so simplistic that I could have come up with it (plot is one of my biggest struggles as a writer, and as such I'm sensitive to plot that feels too contrived or easy), where I would prefer that the author at least disguise plot twists in such a way that it comes across as more difficult or complicated.
I will say this for Stroud's craft: his description/scenery and dialogue are welcome outlets for his own creativity and cleverness. I nearly laughed aloud at the statue Bartimaeus stumbles across near the climactic scene (you'll know the one), and many of his other descriptions are worth it. The dialogue is also well written overall.
I definitely enjoyed this book, and look forward to reading the second and third in the trilogy.