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The Ring of Solomon (Bartimaeus #4)
by Jonathan Stroud
by Jonathan Stroud
Jay Daze's review
bookshelves: adventure, children-s-lit, fantasy, library-book, longueur
Feb 04, 11
bookshelves: adventure, children-s-lit, fantasy, library-book, longueur
Read from January 28 to February 03, 2011
Argh! This book took forever to get started. I wish there was some way to skip over about a hundred pages, the loong time it takes for Asmira and Bartimaeus to start working together, and foreground the nicely nasty maneuvering early on in the book instead of saving it up for a reveal later on. Only after the unveiling does Asmira start to become slightly interesting in her zealotry, but that only lasts for a few scenes.
The prequeal to Bartimaeus Trilogy, the story is set in ancient Jersualem where King Soloman (the one with the song) rules with the aid of a magic ring that contains a powerful demon. When the country of Sheba is threated a young palace guard, Asmira, is sent to kill Solomon and bring the ring back to her queen. Meanwhile Bartimaeus is just one among many of the spirits that has been bound by the circle of magicians that serve Soloman, and he delights in causing as much trouble as he can. The book is told in alternating chapters from Asmira and Bartimaeus' view points which might explain why it takes so long for the two characters to finally start doing something.
I really enjoyed the backbiting and self-serving human characters in the trilogy that came before this book, as well as the ever sarcastic and witty Bartimaeus. But this book takes Stroud's strong point as an author, his acid view of human nature and makes it into a secret. Which left me reading a pretty bland boring book all the way up until what, page 306? I mean, yeah, Bartimaeus is still great. You get the funny footnotes. But I already know his story, his magical predicament. Jersualem and Sheba aren't really evoked in a way that brought it to life as anything more than a genric Hollywood backlot.
This one book felt far longer than the other three books combined. On the strength of this book, I wonder if Stroud has anything more to say about this world. I love Bartimaeus but does he do anything different here than he did in the trilogy? Then there is the problem with prequeals. This story happens before The Amulet of Samarkand and I have the feeling that Stroud ran into the problem that nothing much new CAN happen.
Well, I guess I'm not being fair. Bartimeaus isn't really supposed to change. The burden of movement falls on the shoulders of his co-star Asmira. But I found her stiff and boring. She doesn't start to get interesting until far, far into the story which was too late for me.
The prequeal to Bartimaeus Trilogy, the story is set in ancient Jersualem where King Soloman (the one with the song) rules with the aid of a magic ring that contains a powerful demon. When the country of Sheba is threated a young palace guard, Asmira, is sent to kill Solomon and bring the ring back to her queen. Meanwhile Bartimaeus is just one among many of the spirits that has been bound by the circle of magicians that serve Soloman, and he delights in causing as much trouble as he can. The book is told in alternating chapters from Asmira and Bartimaeus' view points which might explain why it takes so long for the two characters to finally start doing something.
I really enjoyed the backbiting and self-serving human characters in the trilogy that came before this book, as well as the ever sarcastic and witty Bartimaeus. But this book takes Stroud's strong point as an author, his acid view of human nature and makes it into a secret. Which left me reading a pretty bland boring book all the way up until what, page 306? I mean, yeah, Bartimaeus is still great. You get the funny footnotes. But I already know his story, his magical predicament. Jersualem and Sheba aren't really evoked in a way that brought it to life as anything more than a genric Hollywood backlot.
This one book felt far longer than the other three books combined. On the strength of this book, I wonder if Stroud has anything more to say about this world. I love Bartimaeus but does he do anything different here than he did in the trilogy? Then there is the problem with prequeals. This story happens before The Amulet of Samarkand and I have the feeling that Stroud ran into the problem that nothing much new CAN happen.
Well, I guess I'm not being fair. Bartimeaus isn't really supposed to change. The burden of movement falls on the shoulders of his co-star Asmira. But I found her stiff and boring. She doesn't start to get interesting until far, far into the story which was too late for me.
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Reading Progress
| 01/28/2011 | page 92 |
|
23.0% | "Hope Asmira won't be too noble and such, enjoyed the back-biting, craven characters of the last series." |
| 01/29/2011 | page 122 |
|
31.0% | "As a child Asmira sees the death of her mother in her duties as First Guard. Stroud stands out from a lot of fantasy both adult and child in a rather hard-bitten/gritty attitude towards human motivation and the realities of life and death. GRRM like." |
| 02/02/2011 | page 272 |
|
68.0% | "I'm slogging through TRoS right now - there is a little too much of sameness about the story for me, instead of a weaselly boy master there is a noble young woman. Much of Bart's gripes and the world is the same. It seems pretty apparent that actions attributed to a certain King aren't that King's actions but I'm asked not to think about that until later when it will be a - gasp - surprise. I like Bartimaeus but..." |
| 02/02/2011 | page 273 |
|
69.0% | "While the magical world is just the same, the time period is very different - the Jerusalem of Solomon versus the an alternative magic modern England. Yet Jerusalem doesn't feel as vivid as England. The political infighting in the original trilogy was hooked into modern day politics while TRoS seems like ho-hum ye-old court politics by comparison..." |
