Book
Summary
The
Amulet of Samarkand, Book One in the Bartimaeus series, is a fantasy set in an alternate universe where
magic is common and those that wield it hold the power to rule. It is the story
of Nathaniel, an eleven year old apprentice to a magician. When he is
humiliated by Simon Lovelace, an evil and powerful magician, Nathaniel devotes
himself to learning the difficult spell of summoning a djinni (basically a form of demon). He succeeds and summons Bartimaeus - and old
and powerful djin. Needless to say, Bartimaeus is not pleased at being summoned
by a young whippersnapper of a child. Nor with the command to steal the Amulet
of Samarkand from Lovelace - but he must obey his master. The theft unknowingly uncovers murder, mayhem, and a plot to overthrow the government and give Lovelace ultimate power. It will also result in an unusual
friendship between Nathaniel and Bartimaeus.
APA
Reference of Book
Stroud, J. (2003). The
amulet of Samarkand. New York: Hyperion Paperbacks for Children.
My
Impressions
Stroud has created an intriguing alternate universe where
magicians wield the power in several governments around the world - including
London - where the story takes place. There are hints dropped by Nathaniel’s
art teacher that this is not the case everywhere in the world and that there
are governments that do not use magic but are run by so-called “commoners”. Nathaniel is petulant, prideful, and power
hungry - though possibly being sold at a young age by his real parents and
abused by his master, Arthur Underwood, are partially to blame for his attitude.
Fortunately, Mrs. Underwood genuinely loves the boy which allows him to grow up
with a bit of a conscience. Unfortunately you really do not see that until the end of the
book so he is not a very likable character for a large portion of the story. Even though he uncovers he manages to save the government, he does it out of revenge, not to benefit anyone but himself - at least initially. This makes him a bit of an odd protagonist. I did, however, like the djin, Bartimaeus, Nathaniel's so-called partner in crime and intrigue.
Especially his footnotes on what he thinks about humans - they were quite humorous. Nathaniel and Batimaeus are well-developed characters; the others not as much.
But it is an intriguing - though quite dark - tale (lots of people die rather
gruesome deaths). I am interested to see how Nathaniel fares under his new
mistress, Jessica Whitwell; what part the Resistance plays; and how Bartimaeus
comes back into Nathaniel’s life in the next book, The Golem's Eye.
What
the Professionals Say
KIRKUS
REVIEW ~ In a contemporary London full of magic, a thrilling
adventure unfolds. Twelve-year-old Nathaniel is apprenticed to a politician
(which means magician), but early emotional pain leads him toward hardness and
anger. Arrogantly summoning a djinni to help him steal an amulet from slickly
evil Simon Lovelace, he’s swept into a swirl of events involving conspiracy at
the highest government level. Nathaniel’s perspective alternates with that of
Bartimaeus, the cocky, sardonic djinni. No character is wholly likable or
trustworthy, which contributes to the intrigue. Many chapters end in suspense,
suddenly switching narrators at key moments to create a real page-turner.
Readers will hope that Stroud follows up on certain questions—is it slavery to
use a djinni? will shaky looming international politics affect the empire? who
deserves our alliance? and who are the mysterious children
ostensibly running an underground resistance?—in the next installment, sure to
be eagerly awaited.
2003, Oct. 1. [Review of the book The Amulet of Samarkand by J. Stroud]. Kirkus Review. Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jonathan-stroud/the-amulet-of-samarkand/.
A
Suggestion for Use in a Library Setting
The
Amulet of Samarkand has been pulled from middle school libraries
as well as recommended reading lists because of concerns that the book deals
with the occult, though it has yet to be actually banned. Upon examination, the
book is always allowed to remain on the shelf since the challengers only see one
small part of the book and disregard the fact that it is a worthy work of
fantasy. We do quite a bit at my library
to recognize Banned Books Week, including creating a display of banned and
challenged books. I would happily include The
Amulet of Samarkand as a part of that display and any discussion that we
have regarding challenged and/or banned books.
No comments:
Post a Comment