The Amulet of Samarkand, by Jonathan Stroud (The Bartimaeus Trilogy, Book One)

Retrieved from: the library
(078681859X)

It's magical YA book month for me! This is a clever, but relatively obvious, rip-off of Harry Potter, but darker, more like Phillip Pullman's books. The magicians are pretty nasty across the board, sort of a really snooty upper class poshies.

The chapters alternate between the young magician, Nathaniel, and the djinn he conjures, Bartimaeus. Nathaniel's chapters are quite distant Omniscient Narrator style. Bartimaeus' chapters are first person, with footnotes containing asides to the audience. Very funny footnotes, sometimes. And because they are first person, at one point, there is a clear break between Bart's version of the story and "what really happened." Not in a major, plot-changing way, just a shift in tone that tells the reader a lot about Bart's ego.

Good story, a bit contrived, and clearly a trilogy. It doesn't quite stand alone, and you're left hanging a bit in anticipation of the next book in the series. Which I will probably read, because I like Bart. And Nathaniel's future has some interesting prospects.

(I find it interesting that Nathaniel's name means "gift of the Lord." Hmm, that can't be accidental. On the other hand, Bartimaeus is a cognate of Bartholomaus, which means "farmer" and that's just weird. So much for deep analysis...)