The Amulet of Samarkand: The Bartimaeus Trilogy, Book 1

If I had to pick one fantasy series that both adults and children will absolutely love to pieces, Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus series is it. It delighted me to no end!A quick synopsis of book 1: a very young, magically gifted boy named Nathaniel has been forfeited by his parents to the magician's adoption service in exchange for money and he goes to live with and be the apprentice to Arthur Underwood, a mediocre magician and Minister of Internal Affairs of the British government, who turns out to be a very strict, uncaring, cowardly master. Mr. Underwood's wife, Martha, welcomes young Nathaniel with open arms and cares for him greatly, and the feeling is mutual. Little does Mr. Underwood know of the true talent of his young apprentice, and while Nathaniel is barely being taught anything at all by his pompous old master, the brave young boy is devouring the books and learning much on his own.One day, a group of Mr. Underwood's friends, all powerful magicians and fellow employees of the government, are having a little get-together and Arthur decides to present his young apprentice, "the boy", to everyone. Simon Lovelace, one of the most powerful and arrogant magicians in the group, decides to question the boy about what he has learned, and although Nathaniel obviously displays much natural talent and knowledge of magic (much to his master's and everyone's surprise), Simon Lovelace completely dismisses the boy's talent and tries to make him look like an ignorant little buffoon. Completely angered and embarrassed now, Nathaniel talks back to the powerful magician and in return, he angers Mr. Lovelace so much that the magician does something awful to the boy to humiliate him in front of everyone present. Afterwards, Nathaniel runs up to his room crying and immediately plots his revenge on the evil magician. And this is where everything gets REALLY exciting.Nathaniel spies on and learns some devious details about Lovelace. Then he furiously reads all the books on magic he can get his hands on, and when he thinks he's ready, he secretly summons up the dangerous spirit Bartimaeus to do help him do his bidding. But Bartimaeus is much more than Nathaniel thinks he his and very difficult to control. And young Nathaniel is far more than what Bartimaeus is expecting, too. Together, these two embark on a hilarious, exciting, and very dangerous adventure while trying to bring about the ultimate downfall of the great magician Simon Lovelace.The chemistry between the outspoken, determined little boy and the endlessly sarcastic Bartimaeus makes for some of the most fun, enjoyable reading I've done in a very long time. The writing is so clever, witty, and devious that it had me laughing all the way through the book, and it's definitely humor that would appeal to all ages. Very highly recommend to everyone. This is a must-read!* Update 12/13/2014 - Just finished a back-to-back reading marathon of all four Bartimaeus books (The Amulet of Samarkand, The Golem's Eye, Ptolemy's Gate, and The Ring of Solomon). If you love the first book as much as I did, you will be unable to resist reading them all. Every single book in this series is just as wonderful, hilarious, and engaging as the others. 5 BIG STARS to all four books and crossing my fingers that one of these days I'll get to go on another wild adventure with my favorite naughty spirit, Bartimaeus. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!

The Bartimaeus Trilogy remains one of my all-time favorite trilogies, primarily because the first-person narration of Bartimaeus is so gosh-darned hilarious. Character-wise, Bartimaeus's voice is so strong and his whole character so vividly fleshed out that he sounds more like a living, breathing person than a character from a book. Okay, I know that makes me sound like a really creepy nerd, but I promise you that you will fall in love with Bartimaeus about two pages into the book.The plot of the novel is fast-paced and filled with enough twists to keep the pages turning. Even though from the description it might sound like a Harry Potter rip-off, Stroud's take on a magical world steers in a whole different direction and keeps the magic fresh. Towards the end, when the villain finally revealed his plans, it was such a delicious thrill to see how the characters worked within the rules and boundaries of the world that Stroud has created.The only negative part about this novel is Nathaniel's chapters and his background story. I felt like his whole "feud" with Lovelace was such a thinly-veiled plot device. The scene where he first met Lovelace in the house and was shamed by him wasn't very convincing and if anything, only made me dislike Nathaniel as a character. Don't get me wrong, I like flawed characters, but Nathaniel's not so much as flawed as two-dimensional. As a character, I found his voice to be really weak and his chapters didn't flow nearly as smoothly as Bartimaeus's did. Also, at times I reaaaaaally wanted to spank him.Despite that, I am still giving this book 5 stars because overall I enjoyed myself hugely while reading it and I was very sorry when it ended. There are few characters out there with Bartimaeus's fire and wit (I would rate his humor right up there with the best of Discworld characters) and it would be a shame for readers to miss it. Buy this book and read it now!

The Amulet of Samarkand is one of the best books ever made. I was reading Happy Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone to my class and remembered reading this book from my youth. If you like magic and djinni, and want a little bit more than Harry Potter, read this book.Bartimaeus is hysterical. I was I was as funny as he.

Les adjunto foto de la diferencia del libro clon y uno original

I enjoyed the story very much. Good mixture of bravery,enthusiasm, sarcasm, and willpower. Bartimaeus is funny ,intelligent, and witty for his own good.

I read fantasy since I was a child and now I'm in my fifties. This is an enchanting writing, a fantasy tale whose main character, Barthimeus, is an ancient genius apparently unfortunate but really clever in reality. You'll laugh a lot reading his adventures, I guarantee. I read the whole series of 4 books and then read also the Scarlett and Browne first book and Lockwood & co. whole series, of the same author. Jonathan Stroud is with no doubt my favourite fantasy author, he's simply fenomenal!

My husband said it's a funny, well written book