The Amulet of Samarkand (The Bartimaeus Sequence)

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Nathaniel learns quickly that he may have gotten into a plot much more in-depth than he and his djinni can cope with. Jonathan Stroud is the author of the best-selling Bartimaeus sequence, which is published in 35 languages and has sold six million copies worldwide. It's good, self-referrential stuff like that that doesn't disturb the suspension of disbelief, at least not for me. However, once I overcame my shock (and Bart's ironic little footnotes) 'The Amulet of Samarkand' was worth the read. The novel was about a bunch of adults, doing adult stuff and a kid wanting to have his revenge on them.

I can't give this graphic novel five stars because I think I will give five stars to the actual book of The amulet of Samarkand. And that meant that I was skeptical, although not to the degree that I thought the main character would be named Barry Cotter or something. The plot itself was great too, surely there is a second plot going underneath the first one that will surely to be continued in the next installment of the book. This is a hilarious, fast-paced book about a world where many state governments are ruled by magicians.Initially, Nathaniel's reasons might be construed as trite but as he and Bartimaeus enact Nathaniel's revenge, they get caught up in a web of intrigue and sedition which they could not have foreseen.

This is a captivating retelling of the Robin Hood story with punchy dialogue and suitably dark and atmospheric images. I did enjoy it, I found the story very accessible but it still gave enough depth to build the world and get to know Nathaniel and Bartemaus. In turn, Nathaniel expresses a love and loyalty to her that is otherwise all but absent from his life. The stories about him that were kept in painted him as a sympathetic character only after revenge for the woman he thought of as a mother. Mrs Underwood’s failure to challenge her husband’s harshness and mistreatment of his apprentice, however, makes her seem somewhat weak and ineffectual.

In spite of feelings that this attempt is in vain, his last thoughts before dismissal are those of hope for his young master. For those looking for a book in a similar vein to the Harry Potter series, this story of a young apprentice magician is a must read.

a)The djinn Bartimaeus always addresses the reader in 1st person, whereas his 'master' Nathaniel is dealt with in the 3rd person; and b)Bartimaeus is deeply cynical and intelligent in a way that challenges the typical fantasy pretension.The Amulet of Samarkand is a delicious, fast-paced lightweight reading confection that can be recommended to readers of all ages.

We both enjoyed the graphic novel version and plan to read the book and remainder of the series soon. Bartimaeus is a middle-ranking genie, not especially powerful, but smart enough to outdo alot of the other guys.I'm not saying it will grip you in a Potteresque fashion, for the plot sometimes moves a bit slowly, but I did enjoy reading it. All the major, important events were kept, but most of Nathanial's story, and a lot of the fun, minor details got left out. I gave up reading the footnotes about half way through the book, i wouldn't have minded them if they were a few words of note but some were entire paragraphs and by the time i'd read them i'd lost my way with the main story, very irritating. The Amulet of Samarkand is an extremely potent magical artifact of a passively protects its bearer from magic-based assaults, even from the strongest magic and spirits. Nathaniel attempts to warn the seated magicians of the coup, but is unknowingly foiled by Jessica Whitwell, who places him in an impenetrable bubble.