The Bartimaeus Trilogy

The Bartimaeus Trilogy is one of the best series I have ever read. I was so sad that it finished with three books. It is so well-written and the characters are so well developed... There is unbelievable wit and great plots. I read this set last year sometime, but since it is one of my favorites I wanted to add a review on here. I can't believe some people call this a Harry Potter rip off. The main character is a magician- this one thing in common does NOT make a book a rip off! This especially is true when the young magician is Nathaniel- raised in a completely different atmosphere as Mr. Potter... with a personality that is on the other side of the spectrum. I DO recommend this book to people who do (and do not) like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and other fantasy books such as these. Bartimaeus is the main character and he is a djinni that is 5000 years old. The djinni's in Stroud's world are the slaves of magicians. (Magicians aren't actually powerful- they're demanding things from the djinni that makes them seem to have the power.) The djinni must perform these tasks or they are punished by the wizards and one of the worst forms of punishment is never sending them back to The Other Place from where they are summoned. Because the djinni aren't really from our place, they can shift into almost any shape/disguise. Now Nathaniel, our young 12 year old magician, is very gifted, naive, bitter and power hungry. To begin the first book, "The Amulet of Samarkand," he is the assistant of a crappy magician Arthur Underwood. Arthur treats Nathaniel horridly. He puts up with it though, mostly because Arthur's wife and one of his tutors helps him through it. This all changes when Simon Lovelace completely humiliates Nathaniel and Arthur is too cowardly to help or even stand up for him. Now he isn't just bitter, he is FURIOUS... With all his anger he throws himself into some pretty outrageous goals that seem impossible for a magician as young as he. He wants to summon a powerful middle-ranking djinni to avenge himself. But our amazing djinni, Bartimaeus, is not as docile as Nathaniel had hoped. He is totally hilarious- and REALLY sarcastic. (He narrates, mostly... and leaves us footnotes that really make the book what it is.) Nate eventually avenges himself by attempting to steal the Amulet of Samarkand from Simon Lovelace, his new enemy. In book 2, "The Golem's Eye, Nathaniel (now using his formal wizarding name John Mandrake) has to summon Bartimaeus once again. It is two years later and Nate has risen fast in the government. Nate is put in charge of hunting the source of some disastrous attacks that are devastating the wizarding community. The Prime Minister seems to think the Resistance is the source, but not everyone is so sure. (The Resistance is a team of commoners that rebel against the magicians' unfair government.) While Nate is going about his work, we have Kitty Jones, a leader of the Resistance, searching out magical weapons to use against the magicians' government... They're looking to overthrow them and regain control of London. We get a deeper look into the character of Kitty Jones. We figure out she is immune to magic. Book 3, "Ptolemy's Gate," is THE BEST in the trilogy and is set three years after the previous book. I think that makes Nathaniel 17 years old and one of the most influential magicians in the British cabinet for the Prime Minister. He has tons of djinni as slaves at this point and doesn't treat any of them well, including Bartimaeus. Nate has a lot of problems- the resistance is getting stronger and the foreign war is getting worse. he has also been over using and abusing all his djinni to the point where Bartimaeus almost dies. In an act that surprises Nathaniel and the djinni- he sends Bartimaeus back to the Other Place temporarily to regain his strength. Ah, is Nathaniel's heart not completely black coal just yet? We learn tons about Bartimaeus's past in this book- these are my favorite parts. He served a 14 year old boy named Ptolemy in the past who was very intrigued by The Other Place. Ptolemy wanted to end the slavery of the djinni and was very kind to Bartimaeus. Ptolemy was also the only human to travel to The Other Side and come back to write about his experiences. Kitty has also been very busy in the 3rd book. She studies magic nonstop and has made the decision to try something that has never ever been done by anyone non-magical before. The awesome fates of Kitty, Bartimaeus and Nathaniel are intertwined more than ever... and the government finally begins to crumble like it should. All hopes of magicians and commoners alike lie in the hands of Bartimaeus, Nathaniel and Kitty. The climax is intense and you will find yourself lost in the scene holding your breath until the ending. Without giving away any spoilers, that's all I can say ;] The ending was super emotional for me, I think anyone who gets really into this series will find themselves grabbing a tissue by the end of this book. Overall this series is intense, thrilling and amazingly written. The plots, dialogue and characters blew me away. I can't stop recommending this trilogy. I could read it a million times. I want Bartimaeus to be MY best friend. I have got to pick up some of Stroud's other work.

This is a very good series for readers of adolescent age or older. I was in my late 30s when I read this and I have since recommended it to many fantasy readers. Fans of Harry Potter should also like this series, because it is simple, yet intelligent writing. The author conveys scenes in a way that doesn't get to wordy, and tells a great story that moves along well. No overwriting here. At times I was sucked in, but most of the time I just really enjoyed the reading and felt like I was being told a great tale. I read the golden compass series, and found this to be far and away a more enjoyable read. Two thumbs up for this original, well written tale.

Thank you Libraryfriends_EDH! I was unable to leave review of your shop (there was no link to "leave the seller feedback" at amazon). The books are wondeful.

Let me start by saying (since the review form asks if I'm over 13!) that I'm an adult who loves children's and YA fantasy. My all-time favorites include Lloyd Alexander, Susan Cooper, John Christopher, Madeleine L'Engle... Jonathan Stroud may very well join the list if he consistently writes this well. Bartimaeus is a rather dark story with something of an anti-hero, but filled with humor ranging from broad, almost raunchy, to slyly subtle. In spite of the underlying thread of grimness, I kept finding myself laughing out loud, especially during the chapters narrated by Bartimaeus. Stroud uses the alternating point of view style that seems so ubiquitous these days; first person for the djinn Bartimaeus, third for the young magician Nicholas. I happen to like this method in and of itself, but, while it probably annoys some readers (a matter of personal taste) the two POVs do serve a valid rhetorical purpose in underscoring certain personal qualities of the respective characters. The anti-hero is another popular trend that seems to be making its way more and more from adult to children's literature. It's nothing new, of course - there have been less-than-savory protagonists for centuries, often in some great novels. I'm a huge fan of authors like G.R.R. Martin and Joe Abercrombie who, as many of you probably know, somehow manage to sympathetically portray characters ranging from stone-cold killers to cynical torturers. Note to parents: as Stroud's books are intended for minors, they avoid the more heinous, adult-themed brutality found in much of today's "realist fantasy", of course. Still, there are some pretty dark moments, and both Nicholas and Bartimaeus illustrate the duality of our nature. Their relationship is one of resentful dependence: mutual hate and need at once. Nicholas is remote, calculating and cold, yet naive and vulnerable, too. Bartimaeus is irreverent, sarcastic and often blood-thirsty, but, although a demon, is more immediately accessible in many ways. He has a wonderful sense of humor, a surprising amount of empathy for others - even, on occasion, for humans, and a very real sense of justice and fairness. The boy's development (or lack thereof, perhaps? I'm not telling!) is the ostensible theme of the trilogy, but Bartimaeus is marvelous (and outrageously funny!) in his alternating roles of servant, mentor and foil to Nicholas.

These books are great and I have never read anything like them before. I have only read 2 of the books so far and I loved them. Wish there were more like these. I can't say everyone will like them as I did because it comes down to a matter of opinion whether u like a specific genre. The books are by Disney Hyperion and are pretty thick in size averaging around 400 or more pages each. If you like fantasy, spirits, and magic, then you will love these books. It is really interesting how the writer starts out from two different perspectives (one of each character) and interlinks and connects them. This really makes the story unique in my opinion.

J'ai acheté cette trilogie pour replonger dans l'univers de Stroud que j'avais découvert au collège. Par la même occasion j'en profite pour améliorer mon anglais en le lisant en version originale! Le rapport qualité prix est très bon. De plus les trois tomes sont livrés dans un petit coffret plutôt sympa. Le papier n'est pas de très haute qualité mais au moins il n'y a pas de coquilles dans le texte!

Approaching the end of reading the latest book of Joseph Delaney's Wardstone Chronicles, also recommended, I was looking for some further fantasy reading matter, and I came across Jonathan Stroud's trilogy. Having read the synopsis on Amazon's product page for the first book, I decided to purchase it in paperback form (the majority of my books are in this format as I take great care of them; anyone borrowing a book from me and returning it with a creased spine will face my wrath!). When I got round to reading it, wow, was I captivated. In-fact so enthralled was I with the storyline I decided a third of the way through it to purchase the rest of the trilogy, and for some reason to purchase it in hardback format. And when it arrived was I impressed. All three books are excellent - mine came with all three dustcovers matching in style (whereas the image on the Amazon product page shows book one having a different cover to the other two.) Also the pages are of better quality, more whiter than the paperback's pages, which seems to make it easier to read too. And the free bookmark is a neat touch. Now a quick word of warning; these hardbacks are by Miramax books of New York so they are using American English. This doesn't bother me but if your children will be reading them then be aware of this. Other than that if you're stuck wondering whether to buy this hardback set or the British Corgi paperback versions, I can heartily recommend the former. Even the cardboard slipcase that houses the set is first-rate and makes a great impression on the bookcase. Now all I need to do now is to start replacing my current tomes with their hardback versions. Now, where's my debit card...

A great trilogy! Bartimaeus has become one of my favorite characters of all time! This is a must read for anyone looking for something away from the typical fantasy/sci-fi reads. I had a great time reading this and honestly found myself laughing out loud at times from some of Bartimaeus' dialogue. The books are a little confusing at first as the point of narration does change quite a lot from first to third person and from the view points of different characters, however, after you get used to this it flows very well. All and all it's a great read!

Wer gerne Fantasy-Bücher liest, ist mit "The Bartimaeus Trilogy" bestens bedient. Die Triologie spielt in einer fiktiven Realität, in der Magie auf der Erde etwas ganz Alltägliches und London sozusagen das Zentrum der Welt ist. Ich habe mir das englische Original gegönnt und muss sagen, dass alle drei Bücher ganz hervorragend sind und mit Abstand das Beste sind, was ich bislang gelesen habe. Insbesondere die zum Teil beißend ironischen Bemerkunden des "Bartimaeus" in seinen Fußnoten bringen einem immer wieder zum schmunzeln und die Gesamthandlung lässt einem über den gesamten Verlauf nicht los. Man taucht immer tiefer in eine Welt aus Magie, Verrat und Intrigen ein und die Handlung ändert sich oft in einer nicht hervorsehbaren Art. Auch einer der Hauptakteure "Nathaniel" wird in einer Art und Weise geschildert, die für ein Buch außergewöhnlich ist. Die Verwandlung des Charakters über den Verlauf der Handlung so darzustellen ist schon sehr gelungen. Einen Vergleich zu anderen Bestsellern wie "Herr der Ringe" oder "Harry Potter" braucht die Bartimaeus Triologie nach meiner Meinung nicht zu scheuen.

Bought for a 13 year old who loved the start of the audio book when he was on a screen ban for bad behaviour! This is a story of a young prodigy of a magician in the times of Gladstone as prime minister. The boy manages to summon a higher level Genie or Djinn before he should have been able to, and they soon find they need to work together despite a mutual loathing. Magicians and their magical servants are popular amongst the haves, but there are also the have nots, the downtrodden of society. The intertwining of all the types of people in a life threatening fight to find an amulet is just the beginning of one of my favourite trilogies. The pace is good and fast, and the reader is kept engrossed. There is a small amount of crime and violence, but easily suitable for any secondary age child right up to pensioner. The trilogy doesnt save you money like some, but does look nice, and this is definately a series worth rereading due to its great detail and humour. Top marks