verde

The book is based on the relationship between the teenage magician apprentice Nathaniel and Bartimaeus, the djinn he summons to help him with his plans. Nathaniel is serious and powerful but inexperienced and somewhat naive, while Bartimaeus is the complete opposite: ancient, wisecracking and has seen everything. The two have to cooperate but there's a lot of tension between them because magicians work magic by summoning djinns and making them do their will, and djinns see that as being enslaved, and want to get free.

So the story is told from both points of view in alternating chapters. Bartimaeus chapters are in first person while Nathaniel's are in third-person. Bartimaeus' narration is quite funny, and the dynamics between the two main characters works quite well. While that is the strongest point, the book is well-written and the setting and the adventure interesting, so it's very readable and entertaining. One of the best YA fantasies out there. ( )

Adventure

This series (a trilogy beginning with The Amulet of Samarkand) was just meant to be an HP rebound for me, but I ended up really caring about it. Like the Great Rowling, Stroud's really good at making serious ethical questions exciting by giving them a magical spin; but where Harry is a sympathetic character that has greatness thrust upon him, Nathaniel is a total douche most of the time. It'd be like HP following Draco Malfoy's moral development. Also, in many ways this series is a bit more sophisticated than HP. It's got a lot of that dry British sarcasm going on and the alternative London Stroud imagines is way more unsettling than Rowling's. Imagine a world that's 98% Slytherin and you'll get the idea.

I'm not saying this is better than HP. I'll admit there were times when I thought about putting it down and just rereading Order of the Phoenix, but I'm really glad I finished it. It was worth it. ( )

A bit dark for tweens, better for teens. Story is interesting, but not interesting enough to want to finish reading it. ( )