The Amulet of Samarkand (Bartimaeus Trilogy, Book 1) (original 2003; edition 2006)

Very good adventure and I'm continuing on with the series. It took a little while to begin to really appreciate the characters but that's moving along well. ( )

Entertaining fantasy suitable for kids and teens. Excellent narration by Simon Jones.

Audio only ( )

Audio only ( )

Well, on the one hand, I loved this book. On the other...it was pretty dark. I have a hard time reading books where I can count on all the characters to treat one another badly, time after time. I know that a lot of books are full of people who are more principled and generous than almost anyone is in reality. The Amulet of Samarkand is the exact opposite of that: everyone is always selfish, amoral, opportunistic, nasty. No good deed goes unpunished. Anyone who won't threaten you to your face is just waiting to stab you in the back.

But it was so well done. The main character, Nathaniel, is particularly interesting. You can't help but feel for the poor kid - given away as a child by a family who apparently didn't much regret his loss, he's placed as an apprentice with a master who'd rather not have a child in the house. The master, Arthur Underwood, is petty and small minded. He is a mediocre magician, but an excellent bureaucrat. That is to say: he is sycophantic to those more powerful than him, and he is tyrannical to those less powerful than him. Poor Nathaniel sits at the bottom of the totem pole and so he is Arthur Underwood's favorite whipping boy. Nathaniel is smart, diligent, desperate for affection - and it's hard to see his talent unrewarded, his thirsty heart dry.

In some books young children deprived of affection, family, friends, and playtime grow up to have a heart of gold and keen sympathy for others who suffer. I have to admit that Nathaniel is the more realistic character - he's angry, greedy, and untrusting. As much as he hates his master, he mimics Underwood's bad attitude, treating commoners (non-magicians) with contempt and cultivating a sense of extreme self-importance. Sometimes I liked Nathaniel, sometimes I hated him. He's not a good kid, to be perfectly honest - but he's better than he could be, and I learned to admire him for it.

While magic rules this world, humans do not really possess it. Rather, they summon and enslave demons who wield magical power. The book is narrated both by Nathaniel and by the djinni he commands, Bartimaeus. Bartimaeus is fantastic, a constant delight in a very grim book. He's funny, full of quips and cynical insight, a real showman, worldly and knowledgeable. As many reviewers have mentioned, his footnotes are a delight to read. The second one in the book, added to a scene where Bartimaeus is contemplating Nathaniel during a summons, reads, "I couldn't do anything while I was in the circle, of course. But later I'd be able to find out who he was, look for weaknesses of character, things in his past I could exploit. They've all got them. You've all got them, I should say."

It would be easy to get bogged down in how horrible it is that all the demons in the book are the unwilling slaves of unworthy magicians. The only thing I can say in the magicians' favor is that the demons aren't any nicer to one another than the humans are to them. Organized into a strict hierarchy, a djinni like Bartimaeus is always ready to put a less-powerful imp in its place, and eager to avoid a higher-ranking afrit who will casually and painfully exert his dominance over Bartimaeus. Comforting, right?

The plot is full of crazy twists and turns. The mystery isn't who the villain is (this is clear from the beginning) but how twelve-year-old Nathaniel is going to win the day against such a devious and powerful magician. Even Bartimaeus, clever and cocky as he is, isn't sure it can be done. ( )

I really liked this--footnotes!--but I never got around to reading any others in the series. ( )

Lots of asides, footnotes, and some sloppy story structure. Not my cup of tea. ( )

Another book that I read a while ago and cannot remember the details of. What I can remember however is that I like the plot but the writing was a tad slow. Of course that could have just been the fact that my sister was in the hospital, and my sense of focus towards fiction was shot. ( )

I really loved this. The writing is smooth flowing (for the most part) and descriptive. It played out so vividly, like a movie. Especially a few certain scenes that were my favorite. Like the one in sholto's shop. Escpecially the part with the mannequins. They really came too life! And the part where Underwood finds Nathaniel's scrying demon. Ghost Underwood is scary! And of course the last big summoning at the end was great too.

What I didn't like were the side notes. Like I said, whenever I read a book as smooth flowing as this, it really is like a movie in my head and it's like I don't see the words. Because of this I was missing the little numbers. When I got to the bottom of a page with a side note I had to go back up and scan the text trying to find that number so I could understand what the side note was about. I eventually trained myself to keep a look out for those numbers while reading and I was able to catch them about half the time. The short ones were okay, but I didn't like the long paragraph ones. They pulled me out of the story and most of them were boring. Also, I don't see why they couldn't have been just inserted into the rest of the text.

But this is still one of my favorites. I just love the writing, plot and characters. I'm going to pick up the next book in the series sometime soon. ( )

Books read in the past:

I'm very fond of the Bartimaeus trilogy prequel. It's a pleasure in part due to Stroud's skillful writing, and in part because Bartimaeus, though clever and obnoxious, is neither human nor humane. His goals are not our goals; his desires are not our desires. The tension between summoner and demon makes this series both bleaker and more interesting that worlds with relatively more benign non-humans, including the frightening but more understandable non-human antagonists of Harry Potter. ( )

This book is the first in the exciting Bartimaeus Trilogy that details the young magician in training, Nathaniel, and the troublesome dijinni Bartimaeus. Nathaniel is far ahead of his master and most apprentices his age, and when he gets humiliated by the master magician Simon Lovelace, he calls upon Bartimaeus to help him steal the power Amulet of Samakand from Lovelace's clutches. There is a deeper story there however, and quickly Nathaniel realizes just how far he and his dijinni are in over their heads! This book is compelling, exciting, and hilarious the entire way through. Great for any lover of fantasy!

I recently tried reading the first book to The Bartimaeus Trilogy, book one was The A
mulet Of Samarkand, by Jonathan Stround.My teacher says we have to the first 30 pages and if we don’t like it we don’t have to read it. This book is about magicians. I can’t even explain what this book is about. It starts off with Bartimaeus scaring a kid out of his mind. The kid summoned him and he was asking Bartimaeus to get this amulet. Bartimaeus broke into a house when the owner left. He transformed into a fly.
I dropped this book because I felt like this should be either the second or third book in the trilogy. There was no background to this story either. I wouldn’t even recommend this book to my worst enemy. Out of 10 I would give this a 3 because I didn’t read the whole book. If the book is anything like the book I personally would get bored. I have read other reviews that are saying this book is entertaining. I don’t think so. If you want to read it go ahead. This is my opinion of the book. ( )

Magician's apprentice Nathaniel attempts revenge on a spiteful magician by summoning a powerful djinni, Bartimaeus, to do his bidding, but summoning a djinni and controlling the repercussions are two different things and may be beyond the powers of an apprentice, no matter how talented. The idea of magicians rather than politicians being those who run government puts a different spin on this story and the world building that goes with that shift (including those who rage against magician rule) is very well done, albeit a little sparse (to be expanded in future installments, hopefully), and since the magic is very procedural and has proper mechanical limits, it does feel like a credible world. I would have wished for a little more depth when it came to the characters, as people seem to be all good or all bad, and can’t wait for the main character to mature a little so that he comes across as less whiny and pigheaded. The best part about the story, though, is the suffering Bartimaeus (it’s not easy having a 12-year-old as a master) and his sarcasm and quips ("Watch where you leave your victims. I stubbed my toe on that.") and for his sake, if for no other, I will search out the rest of the series - hopefully Nathaniel matures a little, but even if he doesn't Bartimaeus is entertaining enough to warrant the read. ( )

A fun and entertaining coming of age story as a young boy becomes apprentice to a magician. The problem is, the magician is a fool and the boy is way out of his league. Thereby hangs the tale of a stolen amulet and a summoned djinn. ( )

Bartimaeus is simply amazing. His wit and humor never misses and keeps the story flowing despite his countless deviations. You always want to cheer Nathaniel on. His personality and determination allow him a sweet demeanor that the reader can easily relate to. Overall, the story is well executed and interesting. Can't wait to finish and read the following books in the series. ( )

1742

VOTO: 8,7Di sicuro l'avranno detto tutti quelli che hanno commentato questo libro prima di me ma lo dico anche io: è un libro per ragazzi. E come libro per ragazzi è veramente ottimo! Magari ci sono elementi già visti ma la storia scorre. Lo stesso Nathaniel è un po' stereotipato ma è comunque simpatico. Bartimeus è un grande! Ironia, sagacia, faccia tosta... Mix perfetto! Questo è il primo di una trilogia e infatti lascia molte cose in sospeso... P.S. Le note a piè di pagina di Bartimeus sono la genialata del libro! Spettacolari! ( )

In this first book of the YA Bartimaeus trilogy, we're introduced to an England where the ruling classes are all magicians. Nathaniel's parents have sold him off to be trained in the arts of sorcery and he is put in the care of the despicable and unworthy Arthur Underwood, a magician of mediocre abilities who fails to recognize the genius and zeal of his young charge. But Nathaniel makes the best of Underwood's vast collection of volumes on wizardry and quickly reaches a level of ability far beyond his years. After suffering a searing humiliation by a visitor, a powerful magician by the name of Simon Lovelace, eleven-year-old Nathaniel decides to take his revenge and teach Lovelace a painful lesson. When the story begins, he has just summoned the 5,000-year-old djinn Bartimaeus for the first time to order him to do his bidding. Bartimaeus is a powerful entity who is understandably annoyed about being bossed around by a mere boy and he is hell bent on finding a flaw in Nathaniel's methods which will enable him to return to the world of spirits. In alternating chapters, we get the first person accounts of Bartimaeus, a prideful being with an acerbic sense of humour, and the details of Nathaniel's doings in an adventure filled with action and plenty of unlikely events. I didn't know whether I'd warm to this story before picking it up, always being a bit wary of the fantasy genre, but I loved this fun little romp and will definitely look out for the other books in the series. One fun bonus was the numerous annotations found in the sections narrated by Bartimaeus. ( )

I picked this up in paperback eons ago at some sale or other, and it has been kicking around my room ever since; it lived next to my bed for quite a while, but I seem to have finally put it away … somewhere … Happily, I decided to give it a try through Netgalley, and I was very happy that I did. It's smashing.

The point of view alternates between first person not-necessarily-reliable with the demon/djinn Bartimeus, and third person with the young wizard's apprentice Nathaniel. It works beautifully. Nathaniel precociously summons Bartimeus despite his youth and iffy training, and sets off his plot of vengeance against a wizard who humiliated him some months before – and also sets off a chain of events he could never have foreseen. He's sheltered, is Nathaniel; on a day-to-day basis he probably sees less than a dozen people, between the Underwoods (Mr. U being the wizard to whom Nathaniel is apprenticed) and the servants and tutors, and is never exactly challenged by his instruction. The project is to prove himself, to be revenged, and to fight off the fate he sees coming if everything continues as it has been.

It's a wonderful story. It's funny, with Bartimeus's snarky humor and world-weary wisdom ("I did my best to sound grandly dismissive, but voles can only do peeved") countering the young earnest anger of Nathaniel's half of the tale. And it's scary, as Nathaniel finds himself in over his head and sinking fast, though not as fast as might be expected for a boy his age: he is good.

I thought the footnotes sprinkled through the Bartimeus chapters were going to be an annoyance, but they were far from it. They were hilarious.

In the middle of the lawn was a lake adorned with an ornamental fountain, depicting an amorous Greek god trying to kiss a dolphin. 4
Footnote 4 Inadvisable.

The Adobe digital edition from Netgalley had quite a number of problems:

… currendy had the stolen goods …
…there was no knowing who eke was involved with Lovelaces plot …

- Hopefully the real thing is better. The book deserves better. ( )

I am letting this one go after a disc and a half of listening. I was not hooked enough to get over the male-oriented, relatively traditional fantasy story that seemed in store for me -- or worse, an audiobook reader who cannot do female voices for his life. ( )

Bartimus a 5000 year old djinni is summonded by Nathaniel an 11 year old magican's apprentice. Nathaniel, who was upset be a wise old magican (Simon), sends Bartimus to retrieve Simon Lovelaces prized possesion. When Simon finds out about his he is outraged and goes searching for the boy. Along the way many lifes come to an end because of their battle.

I thought it was a good book but it wasn't really my style. It's all about magic and witch craft two things i am not interested in. Also I didn't like how they were always battling. i though that those part were extremely boring. It's not fun to read about fighting.

One thing i liked about this book was when there was a uncommon phase or sentence, a the bottom of the page it would be explained. I thought it was really helpful that the author took time to do that. It also helped me understand the book and kept me from dropping it.

I did like how Jonathan described his characters. He went really in depth and i knew each one. He ever described then so well that the picture i got in me head would scare me. His character developement was right on. The life of the characters and their back round was amazing. Even though Nathaniel was sad and bone chilling it was by far my favorite. Something about the lifes of people that were once orfans is amazing. I think it is just seeing the changes that they experience and thinking what would they be like if they hadn't be adopted. With nathaniel it's a rollercoater. Life has a lot of ups and downs for him. Though it is mostly a down hill roller coaster.

Have you ever had a really strong dislike for someone? That how i felt when reading about smug magican Simon Lovelace. He was trashy and self centered. It seemed his goals were to make everyone around him miserable and regret what they had said or done to him. He was easy to dislike and liked to embarass people. He is dark and heartless and cruel. I wished he hadn't been included in the book.

I hated how the book switched between characters. it was to confusing and made the book annoying and a burden to read.

I don't plan on reading the next two. This isn't a book i truely would recommend to anyone. ( )

This was difficult to get through because one of the main characters, Nathaniel, never moved beyond his self absorption and sense of entitlement. Typically, you'd expect to see some character development towards maturity, but the last disc still had him whining and short-sighted. His character defects make it difficult to cheer him on. Even his success at foiling the evil plot doesn't enlarge him. Bartimaeus is much more likeable, in a charming slimy way.
Another weakness is the fact that magicians have no power beyond their abilities to control magical beings. There seems no fundamental requirement to becoming enrolled as a magician's apprentice beyond the willingness of parents to sell their children. The entire book held only two humans who might be considered acceptable in their humanity. The rest of the cast is either neutral or very negatively portrayed.
Not enjoyable.

Great series for young and old alike! Stroud is able to bring to life this unique world of wizards and demons/spirits. Bartimaeus was surprisingly very witty and sarcastic - a refreshing narrator (with entertaining footnotes!). Stands well on its own separate from Harry Potter. ( )

A story about an apprentice magician gets himself entangled in magical espionage when he summons the powerful djinni Bartimaeus to help in a plot of revenge against the magician Lovelace. The story is told through alternatively from the perspectives of the sarcastic Bartimaeus and the young Nathaniel set in a modern day London as the center of magical power. The story is well crafted and told focusing more on the relationships and social hierarchy created in a society with magicians in power over both djinnis and commoners.

I felt the story was well done though it just didn't keep my attention for long. I found both the main characters to be one dimensional and couldn't relate to either. I eventually lost interest in the plot and character development of either. These feeling may be due to my age and vast reading in the genre, so for younger readers new to the genre this may be a wonderful trilogy. ( )