The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud August 17, 2006

The trilogy consists of three books: "the Amulet of Samarkand, "The Golem's Eye" and "Ptolemy's Gate." The main character, Bartimaeus, is a demon. Actually he prefers to be called a djinni. Djinni live in the "Other Place" until they are called to the world by magicians to do their bidding. Bartimaeus is called up continually by a young magician named Nathaniel, appearing in all kinds of different guises. The story takes place in London where the government is run by magicians and they control all the wealth of the country. There are factions of commoners, regular people, who resent the ruling class and plot their overthrow. Kitty is one of these commoners. Now I have introduced the three main characters and the narration changes from one to the other, normally a technique I don't care for but which was great in these books. I believe the setting is modern times, but there are anomalies that don't match. The magicians discuss putting down the rebellion in the American colonies. Nathaniel write pamphlets by hand, no computers. The magicians travel in limosines, but everyone else walks. It was odd at first until I quit trying to figure it out. Let's face it, the story involves demons, spirits and magicians, you have to be able to suspend belief. I also wonder if the books have a political agenda, but I didn't want to think that hard. I found the books tremendously creative. What an imagination Stroud has. I compare them most favorably to the Harry Potter series, except they are much darker and more violent, not for kids. And then there is the humor. Is it wrong to confess how much I liked the demon, Bartimaeus. He is arrogant, conceited, cowardly, sarcastic, dishonest, and pretty evil, and hilarious. When he narrates, there are footnotes with his sarcastic asides.
"The main threat comes from the remorseless tedium, which can lead to insanity in the spirit in question.2 2The afrit Honorius was a case in point: he went mad after a hundred years' confinement in a skeleton. A rather poor show; I like to think with my engaging personality I could keep myself entertained a little longer than that."
"When you've helped construct several of the world's most majestic buildings, and in some instance given pretty useful tips to the architects concerned2
2Not that my advice was always taken: check out the Leaning Tower of Pisa."
"I had reverted to one of my old favorites, a winged serpent with silver feathers arching from behind my head.1 1That used to bring the house down in the Yucatan, where you'd see the priests tumbling down the pyramid steps or diving into alligator-infested lakes to escape my mesmerizing sway. Didn't have quite the same effect on the boy here. In response to my undulating menace, he yawned, picked his teeth with a finger and began scribbling in a notepad. Is it me, or have kids today simply seen too much?"
Unfortunately these examples don't really show how funny these books are. They have suspense, intrigue and lots of action. A truly enjoyable read.
Rating: 4.5

Comments:

booklogged said...
Can't wait to read these. Right now I have about 12 books in the #1 position for 'next read'. I guess that's okay because I'll have something good to choose from depending on my mood. Wait a minute - it may not ALL depend on my mood, it may depend if any of my interlibrary loan books come in. They will get highest priority since there's a time allotment to consider.
11:07 PM

Framed said...
I've started going to the bookshelf with my eyes closed and just grabbing something. Seems to work.
9:59 PM