Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
A good sequel to [b:The Amulet of Samarkand|334123|The Amulet of Samarkand (Bartimaeus Trilogy, #1)|Jonathan Stroud|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1266527188s/334123.jpg|1121748]. Bartimaeus is back. And his former, temporary master, Nathaniel. Or, as he is known to everyone else, John Mandrake. Nathaniel. once again, summons the djinni on order to save his career. However things go from bad to worse for Nathaniel. From the Resistance, golems, skeletons and inner enemies amongst other magicians, this duo has their work cut out for them. Also, this story brings in a third perspective. Kitty, the thief leader we briefly met in the first book. She is a active member of the Resistance. However, things for her go bad to and soon all three meet up, once again.
Overall, well done. I am very much enjoying this series. Bartimaeus is still a great character, however Nathaniel has become career and self obsessed and often frustrating. I loved learning about Kitty, her backround, personality and more. A strong, well-written character. Even Nathaniel is, in a unlikeable way. The story is nicely paced with a blend of past and present. Also a great character blend. It made for a fun read.
Overall, well done. I am very much enjoying this series. Bartimaeus is still a great character, however Nathaniel has become career and self obsessed and often frustrating. I loved learning about Kitty, her backround, personality and more. A strong, well-written character. Even Nathaniel is, in a unlikeable way. The story is nicely paced with a blend of past and present. Also a great character blend. It made for a fun read.
Full Review to come later. Suffice it to say, I enjoyed it. Kitty is awesome!
I really like this book series so far: Its definitely been one of the better things I have read recently. Its consistently entertaining, light in tone, and populated with memorable characters. The plot moves swiftly, and although there are definitely some borrowed elements, I think Stroud manages to be innovative within certain bounds. I was constantly entertained, and I really loved the snarky djinni. I also loved that they added a sympathetic character in this one. Kitty was wonderful. She was clever, strong, and brave. I think Stroud was smart to wait to introduce her in this volume, because it felt like I was finally getting the other side of the story that until this point I had only heard from Nathaniel’s perspective. It was good to see through a commoner’s eyes how the magicians affect and control the populace, and how their rule is not necessarily beneficial. This was hinted at before, and Bartimaeus certainly believes this, but it was good to get a clear view of the manipulation that is perpetrated by those in power.
I really love Bartimaeus: I just really love how snarky and funny he was. It kept the tone of the book light, and its nice to read a book that isn’t steeped in how seriously it takes itself. I really liked the footnotes, as it felt like a callback to Jasper Fforde to me (another book series I liked).
Recommend: Definitely. Its an entertaining read.
I really love Bartimaeus: I just really love how snarky and funny he was. It kept the tone of the book light, and its nice to read a book that isn’t steeped in how seriously it takes itself. I really liked the footnotes, as it felt like a callback to Jasper Fforde to me (another book series I liked).
Recommend: Definitely. Its an entertaining read.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A while back I read The Amulet of Samarkand (The Bartimaeus Trilogy, book 1), by Jonathan Stroud, at Hadrian's enthusiastic suggestion. It was quite good. Not brilliant, but really enjoyable. So when he told me he was disappointed with the second one, I moved it to the bottom of my list. When I was preparing to drive down to Wichita for Tri-Conference a couple of weeks ago I wanted something to listen to. Lo and behold, one of the few selections on CD was The Golem's Eye. I started it on the way back and have been hooked ever since. I finally finished it today and have to say I liked it even better than the first.
We're not the only ones to give it mixed reviews. Check Amazon, for instance, and you'll see that it was a starred review in SLJ yet Jennifer Hubert, reviewing for Amazon, said:
Stroud’s second book is far too long and gloomy, focusing more on the priggish Nathaniel and wronged Kitty than the dijinni readers have come to adore. Fans of Jonathan Stroud’s breakout hit, The Amulet of Samarkand, may be a little disappointed to discover that Bartimaeus features so little his second book. While Stroud cleverly uses the class war between the ruling magicians and the disgruntled commoners as a metaphor for current political and social clashes, the text suffers overall from a lack of the dijinni’s famous facetious footnotes. Avid fans are left skimming the slow parts and hoping that when Bartimaeus escapes his servile bonds he will be given more space to make them laugh.
That's much the same thing Hadrian said about it. I, on the other hand, found it very engaging. While still enjoying the facetious Bartimaeus, I appreciated the fuller development of their world. Kitty provided an alternate viewpoint to the too often annoying Nathaniel, and the class warfare created a lot of depth. I'm very caught up in these characters now and their part to play in the greater story of Stroud's universe. I can't wait to see what happens to them in the third book.
We're not the only ones to give it mixed reviews. Check Amazon, for instance, and you'll see that it was a starred review in SLJ yet Jennifer Hubert, reviewing for Amazon, said:
Stroud’s second book is far too long and gloomy, focusing more on the priggish Nathaniel and wronged Kitty than the dijinni readers have come to adore. Fans of Jonathan Stroud’s breakout hit, The Amulet of Samarkand, may be a little disappointed to discover that Bartimaeus features so little his second book. While Stroud cleverly uses the class war between the ruling magicians and the disgruntled commoners as a metaphor for current political and social clashes, the text suffers overall from a lack of the dijinni’s famous facetious footnotes. Avid fans are left skimming the slow parts and hoping that when Bartimaeus escapes his servile bonds he will be given more space to make them laugh.
That's much the same thing Hadrian said about it. I, on the other hand, found it very engaging. While still enjoying the facetious Bartimaeus, I appreciated the fuller development of their world. Kitty provided an alternate viewpoint to the too often annoying Nathaniel, and the class warfare created a lot of depth. I'm very caught up in these characters now and their part to play in the greater story of Stroud's universe. I can't wait to see what happens to them in the third book.
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Witty and clever, book two in the trilogy expands the greater world and the players from the first book. Bartimaeus is a particularly entertaining as the perspective shifts from him as a character to his own self-serving and hilarious narrations. A great story to share with my kid and an easy to love work of fantasy fiction in its own right.
Still brilliant, with even more moral ambiguity than the first. This volume introduces a new main character, Kitty, a "commoner" working against the magicians. Stroud doesn't pull punches when it comes to depicting the casualties inherent in either the government's repressive rule, or the commoners' revolt.
Wry like the first book, but a little darker, more serious of a story. The original protagonist has grown up and changed, and not entirely to the good. But Bartimaeus is the same: still enjoyable, wry, seasoned, powerful yet vulnerable. The state of the government, and how it came about, is explained more fully, and is interesting. I can't wait to read Book #3.