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The Amulet of Samarkand (Bartimaeus, #1)

Jonathan Stroud

Start date: February 1, 2015

Finish date: March 3, 2015

Discussion: Time Turner

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Time Turner

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The Universes Inside the Lighthouse
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What Members Thought

Jun 26, 2014 Mary-Jean Harris rated it it was amazing

Shelves: young-adult-fantasy, the-best, fantasy, book-club

This was an amazing book! Something of a mix between Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Harry Potter, and His Dark Materials. But there's more to it than that: just the way the story weaved together and the world that was created was fascinating. Mind you, I wished that we learned more about the magical world the characters live in. How different is it to our own world? It seems to correspond to our present day world but with an alternative magical history. It's interesting how they make magician This was an amazing book! Something of a mix between Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Harry Potter, and His Dark Materials. But there's more to it than that: just the way the story weaved together and the world that was created was fascinating. Mind you, I wished that we learned more about the magical world the characters live in. How different is it to our own world? It seems to correspond to our present day world but with an alternative magical history. It's interesting how they make magicians dominant in society instead of, as in most books, a suppressed class of people.
The magic was interesting, though was very simple: all magic came from djinnis (also known as demons), and magicians (humans) only had magic by controlling the djinnis. The hard work is to learn the spells and pronunciations, which have to be perfect. There can also be magic in devices (like the amulet of Samarkand), though these too are from djinnis.
Bartimaeus was hilarious, and it was so fun to listen to the parts that he narrated. We switch from 1st person POV with Bartimaeus to third person POV with Nathaniel, which I found was a good change throughout the story.
And about Nathanial (aka, "John Mandrake"): I found him a really fascinating character. He begins as a dejected orphan and becomes ensnared in a world of magic and magicians, though at the same time, becomes outcast from reality and the rest of society. He becomes obsessed with magic and hell-bent on revenge against Simon Lovelace (I love the characters' names!). His determination and sheer force of will is astonishing, and yet, it comes across as totally believable. I can definitely imagine him as a Tom Riddle, aka, Voldemort, in the making, though at the same time, as Bartimaeus points out, he still has a conscience. I really liked his and Bartimaeus's relationship and hope they band together in future books and form a team. Not necessarily being good-guys or bad-guys, but something in between, hovering on either side of the line. It could turn out to be really fascinating.
Needless to say, I'm going to read the next books soon! ...more

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Sep 27, 2015 Magda marked it as to-read

Aug 16, 2014 Kate rated it really liked it

Jan 02, 2014 Ann marked it as to-read

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