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292 of 298 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Refreshing new fantasy voice, October 19, 2003
Let's face it, fantasy is a well-worn genre, bloated with Tolkein ripoffs, tired generic plots and characters. There seems to be no end to the stuff...and no shortage of readers who'll swallow it. And to this we can add a new type of fantasy that is fast reaching critical mass for younger readers...the Harry Potter clone. Check the young readers section of your local bookstore and you'll find literally dozens of books about young boy and girl wizards. As the saying goes, everyone wants to be the first to do something second.There is nothing new in fantasy, only old wine in new bottles. So when a new fantasy comes along that actually feels new its a red letter day in my book. That rant is by way of saying that this wonderful book avoids the pitfalls of many fantasy writers simply by virtue of the writing. A few years back David (and Leigh) Eddings burst onto the fantasy scene with their original Belgariad books. Plot-wise they were simply Tolkein retreads without the epic mthology. But what made them so readable, and so popular, was the original and entertaining voice with which they told their tales. So it is with Jonathan Stroud. This is a fun, wry, funny, well-charactered piece about a modern London where magicians rule the land and magic comes in the form of controlling various levels of demons (or djinn). Set amidst the political intrigue is a story of a young apprentice magician's quest for revenge via the use of the some-time narrator djinn Bartimeus. He is the main reason to read the book. His amusing, ironic take on events is worth the price of admission alone. The world itself is well drawn and realised, as are all the characters. Yes there are shades of Harry Potter (a young apprentice wizard in a world of magic where commoners are virtually cattle) and various other genre books (Randall Garratt's Lord Darcy series spring to mind) but it's all done with such verve and charm that it quite rightly transcends its influences and becomes a classic in its own right. Buy it. Read it. You won't be disappointed. I look forward to the next chapters of this trilogy.
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150 of 159 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Harry Potter meets Artemis Fowl meets Mission Impossible, February 9, 2004
12-year-old Nathaniel lives in a fantastical London in which the ruling class are all magicians; as is the tradition, his parents sold him as an apprentice magician when he was only 6. He lives in the attic of his master's house, unloved by everyone except Mrs. Underwood, his master's wife. Seeking revenge for past humiliations, he instructs his djinn (genie) Bartimeus to steal a magic amulet from Simon Lovelace, the most powerful magician in London. Thus begins a Mission-Impossible type adventure to prevent Lovelace from recovering the amulet and using it in a grand, take-over-the-world type of evil scheme.If you have been resisting Bartimeus because it sounds like a Harry Potter wannabe, don't-read it now. Although the parallels are obvious--a world of magicians, an orphan apprentice battling a supreme evil--the author is not out to mimic Potter but to offer a different and more pessimistic vision of what a magical world would be like. In Harry Potter's world, magicial ability is a sort of genetic artifact; there are good, evil, and silly magicians - just as in the `human' world; and themes of the importance of family and friends predominate. Bartimeus' vision is much, much darker. Nathaniel lives in a world where magicians are a dominating ruling class, who thirst for wealth and power, and who will stop at nothing to get it. But all their power stems not from innate ability but from the ability to control the spirits (genies, imps, and the like) that populate the natural world. Here, the wizards are always on the edge of disaster created by losing control over these spirits. One word wrong in an incantation means disaster! There are no beneficent Dumbledore-like wizards here; all - and this includes Nathaniel - are driven by personal gain, revenge, and anger. For all its darkness, author Jonathan Stroud has crafted an extremely well-paced and exciting book. Get past the first 40 pages or so and you won't be able to put it down until you find out just what evil Lovelace is up to and whether Nathaniel will be able to stop him. The ending is deliciously ambiguous - not all the villains are captured; a mysterious Resistance seems to be forming among the non-magical humans; Nathaniel may succumb to his own lust for power; and the sarcastic and clever djinn Bartimeus seems likely to reappear in future volumes. As Bartimeus is the first volume of the "Amulet of Samarkand" trilogy, surely there is more excitement to come. Not, however, for people who thought that Harry Potter was dark or scary - if Harry disturbed you, this one will keep you checking under the bed at night and sleeping with the lights on.
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30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
clever, original, witty--highly recommended, December 15, 2003
As I've said in previous reviews, if you're going to set your book in England and have as a main character a young boy learning the art of wizardry, you've guaranteed yourself a comparison to Harry Potter. With The Amulet of Samarkand, Jonathan Stroud can proudly say, "bring him on--wands at 15 paces!".
With so much pallid fantasy out there, Amulet is a breath of fresh air, told in a witty, original voice within a well-constructed plot and structure focused on two complex characters. Amulet is set in an alternate England ruled by magicians whose powers come from their ability to conjure demons. The society is beset within (by a resistance movement of "commoners" as well as by the murderous in-fighting among the ruling class magicians) and without (at war with Prague). Nathaniel is a young magician's apprentice who, after being publicly humiliated, seeks revenge via the demon Bartimaeus and a powerful talisman--the book's namepiece. By the time the book closes, it will involve murder and mayhem, betrayal, the attempted overthrow of the government, ancient (and I mean ancient) grievances, several tense chase scenes, various escape attempts, political commentary, the searing intensity of unassuagable guilt, and more.
Despite all that is crammed in here, the plot moves along briskly for the most part (this despite its complexity and the use of footnotes). Nathaniel is a complex character, giving us easily as many reasons to dislike him as to sympathize with him. He is no paragon of heroism or innocence. The other and much more likable main character (or perhaps more accurately the true main character) is the demon Nathaniel summons and the trilogy's title character. Unlike Nathaniel, whose section is told in 3rd person, Bartimaeus gets to tell his section of the book himself, lending us a more intimate view and thus allowing us to empathize more directly with him. Even better, his is a wry, cynical voice, bitingly funny. He also has the advantage of centuries of experience to call upon for more material with which to sharpen his wit. His sections are simply a pleasure to read. He too is more complex than is typical in these works. For instance, a scene where he somewhat blithely is willing to kill three young teens with little remorse reminds us he is no tame funny pet for either Nathaniel or the reader.
While Nathaniel's main antagonist, an evil wizard whose plots really aren't that out of character for magicians in general it turns out, is perhaps one of the weaker characters--a bit bland in both villainy and dialogue, the various demon antagonists of Bartimaeus are all wonderful creations, especially his two long-running nemeses whom he comes across several times.
The structure moves back and forth skillfully between Bartimaeus's first person narration and the third-person description of what is happening with Nathaniel, pulling away from one to the other at just the right moments to create the greatest suspense. It is all deftly handled with no confusion whatsoever.
The story itself is well-paced and complex enough to keep the reader guessing. It ends independently but with enough loose ends to point to an obvious sequel, which I for one eagerly await. Very highly recommended.
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