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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
quippy funny the entire series is a 4 its childrens books but i enjoy as an adult
In the spirit of full disclosure, I'm well known by my friends for disliking stories about unsympathetic protagonists and/or sociopaths; I spent a long time trying to decide between three and four stars for this book. Ultimately it came down to the GoodReads rubric: 3.5 stars because I liked it (against type!), and I almost really liked it.
I LOVED the characters. Bartimaeus and Nathaniel complement each other well, both as partners and as point of view characters--it was a rare pleasure to encounter two unreliable narrators. The footnotes were a nice touch, too.
The book follows the (mis)adventures of twelve year old magician prodigy Nathaniel as he summons a fourteenth-level djinni named Bartimaeus to help him avenge an insult to his honor. As you may well imagine, a twelve year old with an incredible amount of magical power (and an accompanying sense of pride) who feels underappreciated is a powder keg waiting to go off, and watching the events of the story unfold is vaguely unsettling.
Ultimately (and entirely by accident) Nathaniel and the devious Bartimaeus uncover a plot that threatens the entire Parliament, and they have to decide how to respond while constantly trying to outmaneuver one another. The story is compelling and moves fairly quickly for most of the book, but (and this is my main complaint about the story) they also discover a fair number of unaddressed red herrings that felt distracting. I know this is a series, and certain factions and characters will undoubtedly reappear later, but I felt that they were included in this first story without any compelling reason and kept distracting from the actual plot of this installment. The last third was especially guilty of this.
Still. I have a feeling I'll get around to reading the other two books at some point, if only because I want answers to some of the completely unnecessary questions raised by these side jaunts. So perhaps the author knew what he was doing.
I LOVED the characters. Bartimaeus and Nathaniel complement each other well, both as partners and as point of view characters--it was a rare pleasure to encounter two unreliable narrators. The footnotes were a nice touch, too.
The book follows the (mis)adventures of twelve year old magician prodigy Nathaniel as he summons a fourteenth-level djinni named Bartimaeus to help him avenge an insult to his honor. As you may well imagine, a twelve year old with an incredible amount of magical power (and an accompanying sense of pride) who feels underappreciated is a powder keg waiting to go off, and watching the events of the story unfold is vaguely unsettling.
Ultimately (and entirely by accident) Nathaniel and the devious Bartimaeus uncover a plot that threatens the entire Parliament, and they have to decide how to respond while constantly trying to outmaneuver one another. The story is compelling and moves fairly quickly for most of the book, but (and this is my main complaint about the story) they also discover a fair number of unaddressed red herrings that felt distracting. I know this is a series, and certain factions and characters will undoubtedly reappear later, but I felt that they were included in this first story without any compelling reason and kept distracting from the actual plot of this installment. The last third was especially guilty of this.
Still. I have a feeling I'll get around to reading the other two books at some point, if only because I want answers to some of the completely unnecessary questions raised by these side jaunts. So perhaps the author knew what he was doing.
This is part 100 of my "Revisit Books from my Pre-Teen Years" series. However, apart from some of the more unusual names present in the book, there was little that I remembered. In fact, I believed the book to be set in ancient Egypt, which I now surmise might be a setting for a later book, or a series of flashbacks.
The book follows Nathaniel, an apprentice wizard who, in the keeping with the custom of the time, is abandoned by his birth parents to be raised and instructed by a reluctant magician master. The setting is an alternative London, where magicians are a ruling elite holding all government positions and most of the wealth of the land. This London is surprisingly familiar, with cars, computers and the Houses of Parliament being mentioned. However in my mind everything was pictured as a vaguely Victorian version of what was on the page, as if a sepia filter was over it. I don't actually think there is anything in the text or subtext to inspire this, but that is how I perceived the book.
Back to Nathaniel and his magic. After a humiliation by one of his master's political rivals, Nathaniel sets out to have his revenge. He runs ahead of his prescribed studies and uses advanced magic to summon Bartimaeus, a many-thousand year-old djinni. The book swaps its perspectives between these two characters, with Nathaniel's being in the third-person and Bartimaeus being from the first person. Bartimaeus' chapters are constantly peppers with little footnotes with serve to inject humour and background information into the telling. These little notes really do colour the book, as he flippantly tosses off insults, info, and snarky asides. I can see why Stroud kept writing books about him. He is a very fun character: part curmudgeon, ripped from his peaceful existence to serve a rebellious pre-teen; but all the while having fun with his opponents and throwing out barbs.
I got this book from an Oxfam bookshop in Totnes during last year's Christmas market.
The book follows Nathaniel, an apprentice wizard who, in the keeping with the custom of the time, is abandoned by his birth parents to be raised and instructed by a reluctant magician master. The setting is an alternative London, where magicians are a ruling elite holding all government positions and most of the wealth of the land. This London is surprisingly familiar, with cars, computers and the Houses of Parliament being mentioned. However in my mind everything was pictured as a vaguely Victorian version of what was on the page, as if a sepia filter was over it. I don't actually think there is anything in the text or subtext to inspire this, but that is how I perceived the book.
Back to Nathaniel and his magic. After a humiliation by one of his master's political rivals, Nathaniel sets out to have his revenge. He runs ahead of his prescribed studies and uses advanced magic to summon Bartimaeus, a many-thousand year-old djinni. The book swaps its perspectives between these two characters, with Nathaniel's being in the third-person and Bartimaeus being from the first person. Bartimaeus' chapters are constantly peppers with little footnotes with serve to inject humour and background information into the telling. These little notes really do colour the book, as he flippantly tosses off insults, info, and snarky asides. I can see why Stroud kept writing books about him. He is a very fun character: part curmudgeon, ripped from his peaceful existence to serve a rebellious pre-teen; but all the while having fun with his opponents and throwing out barbs.
I got this book from an Oxfam bookshop in Totnes during last year's Christmas market.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Set in a world where part of a magician's power comes from summing various types of Demons. And part of the story (half) was told form the point of view of one of these demons.
اول که شروع به خواندن این کتاب کردم،در همان صفحات آغازین،حس کردم که کتاب چندان خوبی نیست.کتابی دیگر راجع به دنیای جادوگران که باز با همه جادوگرانی که میشناختیم تفاوت دارند و قوانین خاص و غیره و غیره.
خب اگر کتاب های اینچنینی زیاد خوانده باشید شاید در همان صفحات اول دلتان را بزند;اتفاقی که برای من هم افتاد.
اما نظر من تغییر کرد و قصد دارم بقیه مجموعه را هم بخوانم.برای این کارم چند دلیل دارم.
کتاب رگه هایی از طنز دارد.بارتیمیوس،جن اصلی کتاب،در بدترین شرایط هم از این عنصر در حرف هایش استفاده میکند و خب این خواندن کتاب را دلنشین میکند.
جادوگران این کتاب به جادوگران واقعی بیشتر شبیه هستند تا جادوگران خیالی.بسیار محدودند.برای احضار اجنه باید ستاره پنج رأس بکشند و کلی اقدام حیاتی دیگر.اسم واقعیشان نباید فاش شود و کلا با آن جادوگران چوب دستی به دست ذهنی ما تفاوت دارند
جادوگران حاکم مطلق جامعه نیستند.تمام حکومت های جادوگری در سراسر دنیا توسط مردم به زیر کشیده شده اند و کشور نویسنده داستان،انگلستان،جزو آخرین کشور هایی است که توسط جادوگران اداره میشود که البته آنجا هم مردم توسط گروه " مقاومت " در اندیشه به زیرکشیدن جادوگران هستند.موضوعی که گرچه بحث اصلی کتاب اول نبود،به نظرم در دو کتاب بعدی بیشتر به آن پرداخته خواهد شد.
داستان از دو زبان روایی استفاده میکند.اول شخص و سوم شخص و جا به جایی بسیار خوبی بین این دو دارد که نشان از قدرت نویسنده دارد.
اما یک نکته جالب.جادوگران شخصیت محبوب داستان نیستند.کتاب تصویری از جادوگران ارائه می کند که خواننده ناخودآگاه از آن ها بدش می آید.حتی جادوگر نوجوان اصلی داستان،ناتانیل،گرچه گاهی ترحم خواننده را برمی انگیزد اما بیشتر اوقات به خاطر کله شقی و حماقت هایش محبوب مخاطب نیست.به نظر من شخصیت محبوب همان جن اصلی داستان،بارتیمیوس است.
امتیازی این کتاب از نظر من 3 نیست و بیشتر از آن است اما نه آنقدر بیشتر که بتوان امتیاز 4 را به آن داد
خب اگر کتاب های اینچنینی زیاد خوانده باشید شاید در همان صفحات اول دلتان را بزند;اتفاقی که برای من هم افتاد.
اما نظر من تغییر کرد و قصد دارم بقیه مجموعه را هم بخوانم.برای این کارم چند دلیل دارم.
کتاب رگه هایی از طنز دارد.بارتیمیوس،جن اصلی کتاب،در بدترین شرایط هم از این عنصر در حرف هایش استفاده میکند و خب این خواندن کتاب را دلنشین میکند.
جادوگران این کتاب به جادوگران واقعی بیشتر شبیه هستند تا جادوگران خیالی.بسیار محدودند.برای احضار اجنه باید ستاره پنج رأس بکشند و کلی اقدام حیاتی دیگر.اسم واقعیشان نباید فاش شود و کلا با آن جادوگران چوب دستی به دست ذهنی ما تفاوت دارند
جادوگران حاکم مطلق جامعه نیستند.تمام حکومت های جادوگری در سراسر دنیا توسط مردم به زیر کشیده شده اند و کشور نویسنده داستان،انگلستان،جزو آخرین کشور هایی است که توسط جادوگران اداره میشود که البته آنجا هم مردم توسط گروه " مقاومت " در اندیشه به زیرکشیدن جادوگران هستند.موضوعی که گرچه بحث اصلی کتاب اول نبود،به نظرم در دو کتاب بعدی بیشتر به آن پرداخته خواهد شد.
داستان از دو زبان روایی استفاده میکند.اول شخص و سوم شخص و جا به جایی بسیار خوبی بین این دو دارد که نشان از قدرت نویسنده دارد.
اما یک نکته جالب.جادوگران شخصیت محبوب داستان نیستند.کتاب تصویری از جادوگران ارائه می کند که خواننده ناخودآگاه از آن ها بدش می آید.حتی جادوگر نوجوان اصلی داستان،ناتانیل،گرچه گاهی ترحم خواننده را برمی انگیزد اما بیشتر اوقات به خاطر کله شقی و حماقت هایش محبوب مخاطب نیست.به نظر من شخصیت محبوب همان جن اصلی داستان،بارتیمیوس است.
امتیازی این کتاب از نظر من 3 نیست و بیشتر از آن است اما نه آنقدر بیشتر که بتوان امتیاز 4 را به آن داد
(3.5) I got this series of books from a friend who warned me that the first one was a bit slow, but the main character makes up for it, and she wasn't wrong. I found it dragged a tiny bit, but I genuinely laughed out loud at it a good couple of times
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
adventurous
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Quite clever and witty. Having the djinni as the narrator was an interesting twist. Nathaniel was annoying, but Bartimaus was a good counterweight to the boy. The plot was fairly well executed. A solid first installment in the series.