Hide this

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud
Loading...

The Amulet of Samarkand

by Jonathan Stroud

Series: Bartimaeus Trilogy (1)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingConversations
3,164101825 (4.15)136
Loading...
won't like will probably not like will probably like will like will love

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

English (94)  German (3)  Dutch (1)  Danish (1)  Vietnamese (1)  French (1)  All languages (101)
Showing 1-5 of 94 (next | show all)
Brilliant writing introducing interesting characters and a new twist on the boy magician story line. Stroud's tale is gripping and his style is reminiscent of Philip Pullman. I couldn't put the Amulet down until I found out how Stroud brought the many twists and turns to a close. Excellent for strong readers from 10 and up. ( )
1 vote davidpwhelan | Nov 26, 2009 |
Meh, I wasn't too thrilled about this one. Again, it has all the elements I would normally love, but I just didn't. Perhaps I was in the wrong mindset again. I might pick up the sequels, but only if I can get them from the library. ( )
  goddessladyj | Oct 9, 2009 |
Unique plot, entertaining and well written ( )
  willowcove | Jul 15, 2009 |
A young magician living in modern day London summons a powerful djinni, setting off a cataclysm of events. Rude, funny, adventurous and full of conspiracy and murder, this book will enthrall you and keep you reading, with believable and realistic characters, and what's more, when you finish it, you'll really wish it was true. ( )
  srewart | Jun 18, 2009 |
Showing 1-5 of 94 (next | show all)
no reviews | add a review

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (3)

Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis

Magic in the Bartimaeus Trilogy

The Amulet of Samarkand

Book description

Amazon.com (ISBN 0552550299, Paperback)

Nathaniel is a boy magician-in-training, sold to the government by his birth parents at the age of five and sent to live as an apprentice to a master. Powerful magicians rule Britain, and its empire, and Nathaniel is told his is the "ultimate sacrifice" for a "noble destiny." If leaving his parents and erasing his past life isn't tough enough, Nathaniel's master, Arthur Underwood, is a cold, condescending, and cruel middle-ranking magician in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The boy's only saving grace is the master's wife, Martha Underwood, who shows him genuine affection that he rewards with fierce devotion. Nathaniel gets along tolerably well over the years in the Underwood household until the summer before his eleventh birthday. Everything changes when he is publicly humiliated by the ruthless magician Simon Lovelace and betrayed by his cowardly master who does not defend him.

Nathaniel vows revenge. In a Faustian fever, he devours magical texts and hones his magic skills, all the while trying to appear subservient to his master. When he musters the strength to summon the 5,000-year-old djinni Bartimaeus to avenge Lovelace by stealing the powerful Amulet of Samarkand, the boy magician plunges into a situation more dangerous and deadly than anything he could ever imagine. In British author Jonathan Stroud's excellent novel, the first of The Bartimaeus Trilogy, the story switches back and forth from Bartimaeus's first-person point of view to third-person narrative about Nathaniel. Here's the best part: Bartimaeus is absolutely hilarious, with a wit that snaps, crackles, and pops. His dryly sarcastic, irreverent asides spill out into copious footnotes that no one in his or her right mind would skip over. A sophisticated, suspenseful, brilliantly crafted, dead-funny book that will leave readers anxious for more. (Ages 11 to adult) --Karin Snelson

(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:57:54 -0400)

(see all 5 descriptions)

The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details.

Quick Links

Ebooks Audio Swap
1 pay163/49

Popular covers

 

Help/FAQs | About | Privacy/Terms | Blog | Contact | LibraryThing.com | APIs | WikiThing | Common Knowledge | 46,010,819 books!