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rentheunclean 's review for:
The Amulet of Samarkand
by Jonathan Stroud
This is a cool book. It is sort of reminiscent of Harry Potter, in that it is about a kid learning how to use magical powers, but that is where the similarity ends. I found Stroud to be a better writer and his world and story to be more fully developed than those supplied by JK.
Stroud tells the story from two points of view, and changes the perspective of the writing as the focus changes. When the story is following Bartimaeus, it is told in first person, with Bartimaeus (a demon) telling you what is going on as he sees things, while the parts following Nathaniel (a boy) are in third person. The Bartimaeus sections feature heavy use of footnotes (Stroud even gives an in universe explanation for these footnotes) which makes them flow differently from the rest of the book, in addition to being from a different perspective.
The perspective changes feed into Stroud's world building as well, giving you information about how Demon's see things when Bartimaeus is telling the story and giving you more general information about how human society works in this particular world when the story is following Nathaniel. This is an interesting, simple technique that is very entertaining and effective; I am surprised I haven't seen it before.
Beyond the technical details of the writing, this book is very entertaining to read. It is humorous and lighthearted, while still tackling more serious issues like revenge as well as giving insight into the workings of a fully realized fantasy world that is similar to our own. I liked this book quite a lot, and will most likely pick up the rest in the series.
Stroud tells the story from two points of view, and changes the perspective of the writing as the focus changes. When the story is following Bartimaeus, it is told in first person, with Bartimaeus (a demon) telling you what is going on as he sees things, while the parts following Nathaniel (a boy) are in third person. The Bartimaeus sections feature heavy use of footnotes (Stroud even gives an in universe explanation for these footnotes) which makes them flow differently from the rest of the book, in addition to being from a different perspective.
The perspective changes feed into Stroud's world building as well, giving you information about how Demon's see things when Bartimaeus is telling the story and giving you more general information about how human society works in this particular world when the story is following Nathaniel. This is an interesting, simple technique that is very entertaining and effective; I am surprised I haven't seen it before.
Beyond the technical details of the writing, this book is very entertaining to read. It is humorous and lighthearted, while still tackling more serious issues like revenge as well as giving insight into the workings of a fully realized fantasy world that is similar to our own. I liked this book quite a lot, and will most likely pick up the rest in the series.