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This is a cracker of a story. Stroud introduces Bartimaeus, a 5000 year old djinni, cynical, arch and fond of footnotes. This poor unfortunate djinni gets tangled up in the plans of one Nathaniel, 12 year old apprentice with a grudge and a line in spectacular bad luck.
The two confront a conspiracy to overthrow the magicians ruling England. Given that neither the would-be conspirators nor the incumbent magicians are exactly pleasant human beings it's good that Stroud keeps the focus tight on Bartimaeus and Nathaniel and we follow their trials and troubles to a satisfying conclusion.
Clearly the character of Bartimaeus is the high point of this book. He's a loveable liar, self-agrrandising and resentful, but terribly funny and sarcastic about his 5000 years of interactions with the dumb and greedy humans he has had the misfortune to have known.
I'll be buying The Golem's Eye, the second in the series, soon.
Big thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
fjm and chilperic for the recommendation. Much appreciated.
I'm hoping that future Bartimaeus novels tell us more about the rotten political system that rules England. The magitocracy(?) in charge is corrupt, arrogant and should be heading for a fall. I'm sure our pal Bartimaeus would be happy to give it a push.
[Also read as a bedtime story last night for the first time The Bears of Hemlock Mountain by Alice Dalgliesh. Just scary enough to get DD worried but a satisfying end quickly allayed any 'devoured by bears' fears.]
The two confront a conspiracy to overthrow the magicians ruling England. Given that neither the would-be conspirators nor the incumbent magicians are exactly pleasant human beings it's good that Stroud keeps the focus tight on Bartimaeus and Nathaniel and we follow their trials and troubles to a satisfying conclusion.
Clearly the character of Bartimaeus is the high point of this book. He's a loveable liar, self-agrrandising and resentful, but terribly funny and sarcastic about his 5000 years of interactions with the dumb and greedy humans he has had the misfortune to have known.
I'll be buying The Golem's Eye, the second in the series, soon.
Big thanks to
fjm and chilperic for the recommendation. Much appreciated. I'm hoping that future Bartimaeus novels tell us more about the rotten political system that rules England. The magitocracy(?) in charge is corrupt, arrogant and should be heading for a fall. I'm sure our pal Bartimaeus would be happy to give it a push.
[Also read as a bedtime story last night for the first time The Bears of Hemlock Mountain by Alice Dalgliesh. Just scary enough to get DD worried but a satisfying end quickly allayed any 'devoured by bears' fears.]
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Man, I should reread those.
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Three very good years in a row there -- 2005 was A Hat Full of Sky, the first Pratchett I've actually liked. 2007 was Catherine Fisher's Corbenic.
2008 was, of course, the Harry Potter series. General consensus of the committee (of which I am not a member, as the Adult list alone keeps me hopping) was that, regardless of its flaws and committee members' various annoyances with the series, it was too bloody important not to get the award.
I understand this. I was, however, rooting for Nancy Springer's Dusssie, which did make the finalist list, and did pass the muster of one of the only under-18s on the committee. We always want to hear what they think. The two people who've been under 18 have two basic principles, apart from, y'know, good writing and plotting and mythopoeisis and stuff:
1. The kids should be kids, not grown ups in kid suits.
2. Keep a lid on the emo whiny stuff.
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