The Amulet of Samarkand

A really fun and lighthearted fantasy that takes you through the streets of an alternative London where magic reigns. The writing was great and Bartimaeus was a hoot.

THIS BOOK IS BEYOND AMAZING! i love bartimaeus' view

My only regret is why I didn't read this sooner. Good soup.

All time favourite!

Ich hab die Reihe schon als Kind verschlungen. Knapp 20 Jahre später kann ich noch immer herzlich lachen. Die Bücher sind wirklich gut geschrieben. Strouds Schreibstil ist unverwechselbar und es macht einfach Spaß in die Geschichte einzutauchen.

Ich hätte Bartimäus auch gerne als frechen Begleiter!

Long due. And totally worth it. Imaginative, inventive, and just pure fun! Off to get myself some more.

This book is absolutely fantastic. You can't help but love Bartimeus

REREAD: 3/19/16

REREAD: 3/19/16

Okay, so the world idea is very interesting. Unfortunately, the world of djinni and afrits and imps is so complicated that they spend the entire book trying to teach you about this incredibly complicated world. It also seems awfully odd to me that those who are magically talented only really know how to summon and control magical beings and have very little skill at anything truly magical at all. Essentially, magicians are slave owners of magical creatures. And this is just widely accepted? Even the djinns seem to resent it, but they also seem to just accept that that's the way things are and take it in stride. This book also suffers from boy genius syndrome, in which the lonely boy who's too intelligent for his own good rushes into things and causes way more trouble than he ever meant to and, in so doing, saves the day. In this case, Nathaniel really has no redeeming qualities whatsoever aside from a voracious appetite for knowledge. Granted, he is twelve. And twelve year olds have a lot to learn. The saving grace of the book is Bartimeus and his foot notes, which are equally interesting and a bit disruptive. I often felt it took away from the flow of reading (having to look from the paragraph to the footnote, then trying to find your place based on what numbered footnote you'd just read), but the footnotes often offered the most history regarding the world. Bartimeus is quite funny and amusing, and often very resentful of his Master, Nathaniel. (I don't blame him there.) Also, there were quite a few female characters with important roles in the story, which was nice. Granted of the five major ones, two of them were killed, one of them was dismissed and never heard from again, one never gets named that I can recall and is only in roughly two scenes, and the last one is portrayed as a frigid and unforgiving woman with no redeeming qualities. Two of those characters were sort of mother roles to Nathaniel with one being placed as the new mother at the very end of the story. And one of the two that died is simply kind of painted as a socialite airhead who didn't cotton on to the fact that her boyfriend was trying to murder all of magical parliament and the prime minister. I'd probably give this one 2.5 stars out of 5 if I had half-star options. It just didn't really impress me that much.

Thoroughly entertaining and the best use of footnotes of all time.

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud I read this series of books when I was younger and was instantly hooked! I love the story of Nathaniel and the character of Bartimaeus is genius! I love the way that the chapters skip from Bartimaeus to Nathaniel and I love the added footnotes. I've found in some books, footnotes can be annoying but in this case they were an added joy! I recommend this series of book to people of all ages and I desperately want to read them again.

The Amulet of Samarkand is the first book of the Bartimaeus trilogy. When i started reading this book, i have no idea what this is about; but when i finally pull things together, the book became an incredibly fun and exciting adventure! :D The story tells about Nathaniel; a young magician who seek revenge and needed the help of Bartimaeus - a djinni. Nathaniel was humiliated by a magician named Lovelace; and he decided to study well and improve his magic so he could summon a djinni to be given a mission. Bartimaeus got the order to stole Lovelace's dearest treasure: The Amulet of Samarkand. The djinni succeeded to complete the mission; but unexpectedly, the amulet had a lot more story to it. After searching, it seems like Lovelace had stolen the amulet from someone else; even murdering someone to claim it. The adventure tells the story of how Nathaniel and Bartimaeus both tried to reveal Lovelace's evil plan and defeat him. :D Nathaniel and Bartimaeus's personality together is entertaining already! :D Nathaniel who is cold and not-so-fun young boy; while Bartimaeus is full-of-talk djinni who likes to tease and boast about himself. :D i had a good laugh reading Bartimaeus's actions in the story. Overall it is a good book. And i am hoping for a lot more great adventure in the next two books. :):) i love Jonathan Stroud already ! <3

This book was so much fun! I don't know why I didn't read it sooner!

Originally posted: http://raidingbookshelves.blogspot.co... Publication Date: 30th September, 2003 Publisher: Miramax Country: UK ISBN: 078681859X Original Language: English Age Group: Young Adult Genre: Adventure/Fantasy Source: NetGalley Buy the Book: Amazon Lootability: There's room but look for more. The Amulet of Samarkand is the sweet, witty and extraordinary story of a young apprentice magician's quest for revenge after being humiliated. Of course, the story takes on much darker tones as Nathaniel finds himself in over his head. What I Liked: Bartimaeus was amazing. Everyone kept telling me that I would love his wry humour and obnoxious sarcasm (is there any other kind?) and they were right. He is snarky, selfish, smary and just a little too smart for his own good. His inner monologuing had me giggling and occasionally gasping at his audacity. The complexity of the plot Nathaniel stumbles into is quite cunning, and was just twisted enough to prove its evil roots. The villains, Simon Lovelace, Rufus Lime and Master Shyler, are sufficiently devious and nasty. Poor Nathaniel's humiliation at the hands of Lovelace had me thinking of him like he was the gunk that gets stuck under my shoes. What I Didn't Like: The story was in third person, so there wasn't much change between the chapters despite alternating between Nathaniel and Bartimaeus. But because there was a slight change in who was leading the story, I kept hoping the narration would change a little. The Amulet of Samarkand is the first instalment of Jonathon Strouds Bartimaeus Trilogy. I'll be picking up the sequel Ptolemy's Gate at some point in the future.

I heard this as an audiobook some time ago and enjoyed it greatly. Bartimaeus is a great character and this book contains so much funny moments. I'll probably listen to it again some time soon.

2020 upd - I don't know why I thought this was okay... I loved this book this time around! Simon Jones' narration of the audio version is brilliant, and honestly, I think Jonathan Stroud is one of my favourite authors. It's so witty [2017] it was good. Bartimaeus is funny, Nathaniel is a little piece of... but is ok. Stroud is a great storyteller. I liked Lockwood and Co. more, but I can't deny that the writing is good, and the author definitely achieves his goals.

I've read this book before, but I'm reading it again three years later so that I can be entertained again by one of my favorite djinnis. :D

I just want to thank Random House/Corgi Books for giving me this to review. I have really never had an interest in graphic novels. I have only ever bought one and that was the Twilight graphic novel just because it was Twilight. So when the publishers contacted me about reviewing this I was unsure at first but thought I would give it try and I am really glad I did. When it came in the post my four year son clocked it and wanted it. So first I read it myself them we sat up last night and read together. We both enjoy it. The Amulet of Samarkand Graphic Novel is an adaptions of the orginal novel (which I have yet to read) its follows the story of a young magican Nathaniel after he summons a Djinni called Bartimaeus and takes them both on a action packed adventure. That will surely be enjoyed by the young and old. The art work that is done by Lee Sullivan and Colour by Nicholas Chapuis is just wonderful. Its bright and colourful and really is easy on the eyes. Usually I have seen graphic novels that only use black and white and maybe that is the reason why I have never really took an interest in them. However, this really captures you and it is very easy to follow. However, my only negative would be the size of the writing. It is rather small and even though I wear glasses to read and I could read it ok. I think if some people would struggle with the text size. Overall, a great fun read that will make you want to go out and buy the orginal books. And a huge thumbs up for a very happy four year boy who is totally in love with this graphic novel.

** spoiler alert ** 3 stars might be a little low. I enjoyed this book, but I want to see how the series plays out before I make a definitive decision. The beginning was a little slow as the environment and characters were put into place, but it had a pretty good climax and resolution which was generally satisfying.