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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
mysterious
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:
Complicated
Technically a reread for me, since I read this one as a teen. Interesting magic system and is chock full of dry sarcasm.
Also on my blog, Snug Shelf.
The Amulet of Samarkand is a fun, unique adventure with one of the most funny & clever main characters I've read about in a while. Bartimaeus. He definitely steals the show, and he's pretty much the best part of this book.
The main story of The Amulet of Samarkand is about Nathaniel, a young magician apprentice who summons a djinni, Bartimaeus. Magic in this book is a little different than the norm. Magicians don't actually have power, but they can summon demons to do things for them. This was a pretty interesting take on magic for me, although wand-waving seems more fun than summoning demons.
The chapters alternate between Nathaniel and Bartiameus. Bartimaeus' point of view is definitely my favorite. He's so funny and witty, as mentioned before. His chapters also have fun little footnotes, and while footnotes can often take you out of a story, these just added to Bartimaeus' hilarious voice. Nathaniel, frankly, just annoyed me a lot. He's a rather annoying blend of whiny and haughty, and he doesn't change much throughout the book. It didn't detract too much from my enjoyment of the story though.
This is a kind of lengthy book, especially since it's a children's book. Sometimes I was really into it, but other times the pace sort of dragged and I had to force myself to keep reading. The pacing and Nathaniel's personality are the only reasons I didn't absolutely love this book. I'd still recommend it, for Bartimaeus and and interesting storyline.
The Amulet of Samarkand is a fun, unique adventure with one of the most funny & clever main characters I've read about in a while. Bartimaeus. He definitely steals the show, and he's pretty much the best part of this book.
The main story of The Amulet of Samarkand is about Nathaniel, a young magician apprentice who summons a djinni, Bartimaeus. Magic in this book is a little different than the norm. Magicians don't actually have power, but they can summon demons to do things for them. This was a pretty interesting take on magic for me, although wand-waving seems more fun than summoning demons.
The chapters alternate between Nathaniel and Bartiameus. Bartimaeus' point of view is definitely my favorite. He's so funny and witty, as mentioned before. His chapters also have fun little footnotes, and while footnotes can often take you out of a story, these just added to Bartimaeus' hilarious voice. Nathaniel, frankly, just annoyed me a lot. He's a rather annoying blend of whiny and haughty, and he doesn't change much throughout the book. It didn't detract too much from my enjoyment of the story though.
This is a kind of lengthy book, especially since it's a children's book. Sometimes I was really into it, but other times the pace sort of dragged and I had to force myself to keep reading. The pacing and Nathaniel's personality are the only reasons I didn't absolutely love this book. I'd still recommend it, for Bartimaeus and and interesting storyline.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It's about time I wrote a review for this one.
It was first given to me as a gift when I was 15 or so, by a friend who liked to share books with me, and had a habit of returning mine with a post-it note in the front page, telling me exactly what he thought of them. Our paths took us to completely different worlds, but what had bonded us the most in school was the experience of these books.
The Bartimaeus trilogy probably sparked my love for urban fantasy and helped me escape my need for classic sword and sorcery. I adore the clever but casual tone of Jonathan Stroud, and I absolutely love his imperfect characters. A super-smart, super capable child that has yet to learn morals and common sense, and an ancient djinni with wits and power that still don't excuse his ego. While usually I don't particularly enjoy reading through the POV of mean or bad or amoral people, this one is something else. It's so wonderfully human, so keen in making the reader see that the world can change, opinions can change, making one bad choice isn't the end of things.
And yes, I am mostly talking about the entire series instead of just Book One at the moment, but let me have this one. It's been a while since I went back to these, and I'm feeling nostalgic. And super glad that the experience is nearly just as fun while re-reading at 29 as it was while first reading half my life ago.
It was first given to me as a gift when I was 15 or so, by a friend who liked to share books with me, and had a habit of returning mine with a post-it note in the front page, telling me exactly what he thought of them. Our paths took us to completely different worlds, but what had bonded us the most in school was the experience of these books.
The Bartimaeus trilogy probably sparked my love for urban fantasy and helped me escape my need for classic sword and sorcery. I adore the clever but casual tone of Jonathan Stroud, and I absolutely love his imperfect characters. A super-smart, super capable child that has yet to learn morals and common sense, and an ancient djinni with wits and power that still don't excuse his ego. While usually I don't particularly enjoy reading through the POV of mean or bad or amoral people, this one is something else. It's so wonderfully human, so keen in making the reader see that the world can change, opinions can change, making one bad choice isn't the end of things.
And yes, I am mostly talking about the entire series instead of just Book One at the moment, but let me have this one. It's been a while since I went back to these, and I'm feeling nostalgic. And super glad that the experience is nearly just as fun while re-reading at 29 as it was while first reading half my life ago.
Fun enough book! I like that it switches between Nathaniel and Bartimaeus's perspectives, as it gives a fuller picture of the magician's world and especially makes the climax a lot more interesting. There were some pacing issues for sure; the book lags in the middle when it gets bogged down in some pretty repetitive chase scenes. 3/5 stars.
Really well written! I love Bartimaeus's humor!!!
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Well,this took me awhile to get through. Audiobooks are not (I have discovered) good background-while-I'm-cooking fodder. I tend to drift and then all of a sudden, I’m caught by something and think “ Damn. Now I have to back it all up, so I get the gist of what just happened”. Yeah - first world problems. And hence the three stars. However, this was a good audiobook and I loved the alternating viewpoints of Bartimaeus and Nathaniel.
I re-read the book and upped my rating. I realized how much I enjoyed the magic system and the originality of djinn and demons in the world. So, I really enjoyed that aspect of this book.
I've decided to write a queer analysis of Bartimaeus. After 1000 words, I decided Goodreads was perhaps not the best medium. Keep posted for an incoming essay.