Skip to main content

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud

 

11005242_420016808157892_1389918266_n
This is the best book I have read recently. The style is unique, the tone is witty, the characters are really entertaining and the plot kept me on the edge of my seat. I can't think of any other book that so cleverly tells the story as Stroud has done with this series. It’s written from the third person perspective for the young boy Nathaniel and the first person perspective for the superior Djinni, Bartimaeus. The footnotes that can be found in Bartimaeus chapters greatly enhance the story with humorous remarks. It may sound tedious to read a bit, jump to the bottom for the footnotes and then carry on back up top. But Stroud has done it masterfully and these footnotes add magic to the book. They actually bring out a whole new aspect to Bartimaeus' character.

I’m not enamored with the protagonist, Nathaniel, but I actually really like that he isn’t a self-sacrificing noble boy. Instead he is a selfish, arrogant, and ambitious apprentice. It’s good to have somewhat flawed and ignoble heroic protagonist in your story every once in a while. Bartimaeus, on the other hand, is the magic of this story. I absolutely love him. This ancient, powerful Djinni is a delightfully sarcastic, self-centered and a very entertaining character. To be honest, Bartimaeus chapters alone are worth the read.

Stroud has created a magical world consisting the elements of friendship, loyalty, survival, moral values, determination, greediness, and corruption. This is not a more easily read novel and it is quite long read compared to other YA books. It does require a fair amount of attention to enjoy every aspect of the story and the uniqueness of the writing. But trust me, Bartimaeus will be worth your time.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck

When I was at the international book fair few weeks back, I found this interesting book. I was attracted to the book because of the cover. I picked the book and read the back cover and it seemed interesting to me. So I bought this book Tiger’s Curse and the second book of the series Tiger’s Quest . I am glad I bought it.   I found it is very hard to put the book back once I started reading. I really love the plot, which blends Indian mythology with romance and adventure.  Houck surely has done a lot of research into the mythology and it reads well and feels so real. I always love to read about myths and this story with the actions and romance…. oh I really love it. First I didn’t much like the writing of the story. I thought it was very childish, but after reading few chapters and glued to the book, the writing style didn’t matter to me. But I felt like something missing, because Houck was telling the story rather than showing it.   The characters of the st...

House of Cards

I don’t know how I missed House of Cards, if KP hadn’t mentioned it I wouldn’t know the existence of this great political drama. Somehow I am glad that I missed it when they aired the first season, hence I watched the whole two seasons at a stretch, with no breaks, without waiting for another year.   “There are two kinds of pain. The sort of pain that makes you strong, or useless pain. The sort of pain that's only suffering. I have no patience for useless things.” With a cynical narration, Frank Underwood starts his mission to become the most powerful man in the United States of America. His wife, Clair Underwood is his backbone and helps him unconditionally to achieve his ambition. Even though Zoe Barns is just a pawn in this game, she plays a significant part with a great ambition to become a top journalist. Frank Underwood cynically moves Peter Russo as his Pawn with the help of Doug Stamper, one of his Nights, to win this political game. ...