Hardcover, 462 pages
English language
Published Sept. 30, 2003 by Hyperion Books for Children.
Nathaniel is a boy magician-in-training, sold to the government by his birth parents at the age of five and sent to live as an apprentice to a master. Powerful magicians rule Britain, and its empire, and Nathaniel is told his is the "ultimate sacrifice" for a "noble destiny."
If leaving his parents and erasing his past life isn't tough enough, Nathaniel's master, Arthur Underwood, is a cold, condescending, and cruel middle-ranking magician in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The boy's only saving grace is the master's wife, Martha Underwood, who shows him genuine affection that he rewards with fierce devotion. Nathaniel gets along tolerably well over the years in the Underwood household until the summer before his eleventh birthday. Everything changes when he is publicly humiliated by the ruthless magician Simon Lovelace and betrayed by his cowardly master who does not defend him.
Nathaniel vows revenge. In a Faustian fever, …
Nathaniel is a boy magician-in-training, sold to the government by his birth parents at the age of five and sent to live as an apprentice to a master. Powerful magicians rule Britain, and its empire, and Nathaniel is told his is the "ultimate sacrifice" for a "noble destiny."
If leaving his parents and erasing his past life isn't tough enough, Nathaniel's master, Arthur Underwood, is a cold, condescending, and cruel middle-ranking magician in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The boy's only saving grace is the master's wife, Martha Underwood, who shows him genuine affection that he rewards with fierce devotion. Nathaniel gets along tolerably well over the years in the Underwood household until the summer before his eleventh birthday. Everything changes when he is publicly humiliated by the ruthless magician Simon Lovelace and betrayed by his cowardly master who does not defend him.
Nathaniel vows revenge. In a Faustian fever, he devours magical texts and hones his magic skills, all the while trying to appear subservient to his master. When he musters the strength to summon the 5,000-year-old djinni Bartimaeus to avenge Lovelace by stealing the powerful Amulet of Samarkand, the boy magician plunges into a situation more dangerous and deadly than anything he could ever imagine.
A fun book, very imaginative, with lots of great ideas and a comprehensive, thoughtfully populated world.
It’s good, alright. I already bought the 2nd book, and as much I expect him to be back, I really hope I won’t have to read from Nathaniel’s view again.
This boy stresses me out so much. His intentions are just – aargh. I kind of understand him, we all felt like that at some point. But his reasons were weak. And he just never learns. Even during the final battle, he only fought bc of revenge and pride, not bc he cared to save anyone.
I love Bartimaeus’ character tho and loved reading his view. His humor really carries the plot. It’s also refreshing to read about someone who doesn’t really care about the world and what happens to the magicians, only to save himself and so how survive all this.
While Nathaniel’s chapters were serious and (supposed to be) emotional, Bartimaeus’ in comparison to that were like a …
It’s good, alright. I already bought the 2nd book, and as much I expect him to be back, I really hope I won’t have to read from Nathaniel’s view again.
This boy stresses me out so much. His intentions are just – aargh. I kind of understand him, we all felt like that at some point. But his reasons were weak. And he just never learns. Even during the final battle, he only fought bc of revenge and pride, not bc he cared to save anyone.
I love Bartimaeus’ character tho and loved reading his view. His humor really carries the plot. It’s also refreshing to read about someone who doesn’t really care about the world and what happens to the magicians, only to save himself and so how survive all this.
While Nathaniel’s chapters were serious and (supposed to be) emotional, Bartimaeus’ in comparison to that were like a fresh breath of clean air.
The interesting thing about this book also is that Bartimaeus POV is written in first person, while Nathaniel’s POV in 3rd person.
It might be a bit confusing at first, but I personally got used to it pretty quickly.
As for the directed age group— the protagonist’s age makes you think it’s a middle grade book, but some scenes can be pretty detailed like in a YA. It might not be as gruesome and there isn’t any romance (thank the gods for that!), but a death count is there.
Which makes the book stand out pretty much, cause everyone can read it. For younger teens, they’d have to know themselves how much detail they can endure though, but as it is not a serious book to begin with, you can’t get nightmares from it anyway.
This one felt less like a complete story than the 0.5 one ([b:The Ring of Solomon|7640705|The Ring of Solomon (Bartimaeus, #0.5)|Jonathan Stroud|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348894736l/7640705.SX50.jpg|10170311]), but was still fun, still lovely characters, enjoyable adventure, the lot. I am curious now, though, about things that were referenced in this book but not resolved.
For an audience a little too young for me (12~ year olds).
