Review: The Bartimaeus Trilogy
I didn’t know these books existed before my serious relationship with Maayan. And when I first came over and saw her room, I noted them among her many books. A while later, when I was told of the great meaning of the shelf on which they stood, I filed them away on my list of books to read sometime in the future, maybe. Still later, at one point, she raved about how good they were, how well they were written and about how awesome Bartimaeus’ character is. So I bumped them up my list to the point of to read when I have time. And then she outwardly told me to read them.
So what could I do? Say no?
One more preface: this is a series of books Maayan keeps in both the original British version (seen to the left) as well as in the Hebrew translation. That’s saying something. The only other books who fit that category are the Neil Gaiman books. So Bear that in Mind.
In short, The Amulet of Samarkand, The Golem’s Eye and Ptolemy’s Gate follow Nathaniel, a bright and aspiring young magician in a world that is a sort of urban fantasy where the urban is represented by an early 20th, late 19th century tech level and the fantasy is represented by an elite class of magicians, people with the talent and the know-how to summon spirits to do their bidding. This leads to a Britain ruled by magicians who treat the common-folk like slaves and trash. The Bartimaues mentioned in the series’ title is an ancient Djinni who has the misfortune of being the first Nathaniel ever summons and later, the spirit he most frequently summons.
I won’t go into too much detail for I fear I might spoil at least the first book but the story revolves around Bartimaeus and Nathaniel’s relationship, the struggles they have to face in the world they live in and the villains that occupy it and the whole dynamic of men and spirits.
The story is impeccably told with a beautiful use of language that I always love to see. The characters are interesting, full and stand on their own. And Bartimaeus himself is about as cool as they come. He’s a just a Djinn, not the most powerful of the bunch, but he’s old and sneaky and very smart and funny. I wouldn’t go as far as to say the writing style changes with every shift in character perspective but it’s obvious, with each character getting a chapter all to themselves, that they each have their own style and, listening to it as I did, you can easily imagine and identify who occupies the scene just by listening to the voices and specific flourishes. However, note to the audiobook bunch, the names on the episodes could be considered spoilers as well so be careful.
Overall, I would have to say I enjoyed it very much. I don’t think it is good enough to unsit my top favorites like Ender’s Game or Starship Troopers but it is well worth its place. That is to say, I do not contend the position it holds on Maayan’s favorites shelf. It’s worth your time and while it’s nutritional value is not great, its razor-sharp wit makes it some of the most fun I’ve had with a book in a while. And I would recommend it if only for that.
Funny thing is… The series came out from 2003 to 2005 and when I went searching for images for this review, I came across something I didn’t recognize. Some wiki-looking revealed that there is a fourth book, a prequel to the series that came out in 2010. So now I have to go find it because Bartimaeus is just too much fun to pass up another go.
Posted in Reviews by Eran with 2 comments.
Because of this post we went searching for books and found (of course!) only the second one… and bought it.
So now we are on the lookout for the first and third, damn it all. :p
I listened to the audiobook read by the most awesome Simon Jones (Of H2G2 fame, if I am not mistaken…)