Rating: 
Summary: Surprisingly Innovative
Review: Dealing, as this does, with the life of a 12-year-old English boy and the world of magic, it is bound to risk comparisons with both Harry Potter and Artemis Fowl. However, I feel that this is mostly where the comparison ends. Stroud gives us an engaging character in Bartimaeus, whose footnotes are not only explanatory but amusing. Nathaniel, the English boy, is less entertaining, but a certain amount of pathos in his dealings with human adults makes him interesting (if not fully likeable). I found the book a surprisingly gripping read and including a "demon" (djinni) as one of the main characters was very fresh. Fans of Kevin Smith's movie "Dogma" may have the same problem I did. "Bartimaeus," who is otherworldly, is rather like "Bartleby," who is otherworldly. I kept picturing Bartimaeus as a rather snarky Ben Affleck, even though Bartimaeus tends to appear as a 12-year-old Egyptian boy when forced to take human form! I recommend this book and am looking forward to the next in the trilogy.
Rating:
Summary: Another Novel About Magic in England, Another Classic?
Review: The story has been well-summarized in the editorial and customer reviews, and I will not be redundant. The novel has many strengths. It gives us a clear picture of an England ruled by magicians, with all the politics of any non-magical empire stirred in. The magicians here, though, are hiding two big secrets: there is a Resistance movement growing that is increasingly troublesome; the magicians' ONLY power lies in their ability to summon and control spirits, like Bartimaeus the djinni. The characters in The Amulet of Samarkand are well-developed. Nathaniel, the mistreated but ambitious apprentice, has many strengths, but has learned all too well the dominant attitude of haughtiness and condescension displayed by most magicians. Bartimaeus the djinni is hilariously condescending, snide, and contemptuous of Mankind, but also shows glimpses of having a heart and being a better mentor/teacher for Nathaniel than any magician Nathaniel meets. This is as dark as the fifth Harry Potter book, The Order of the Phoenix, with murder, treachery, deception, and a protagonist who is just as credible but not as likable as Harry. The Amulet of Samarkand starts this trilogy off with a bang, and promises much. Let's hope that Mr. Stroud can deliver on that promise. If he can, we might have to insist on more than just three Bartimaeus novels from him.
Rating:
Summary: Magicians, demons, and a great plot
Review: The Amulet of Smarkand is a good, if not great book. Many people find that it relates a little bit too closely with the Harry Potter series, and they're dead wrong. The plot is different in so many ways that it would take forever to describe. The Amulet of Samarkand is a great book. At times it got a little boring, and Bartimaeus's dry humor a little annoying but it turned out to be a heart-stopping thrill ride(!). Now here is where I stray off course. During the book, Bartimaeus and Nathaniel grow further apart, and I wonder if the second book in the series will be about Bartimaeus's adventures with Nathaniel, or just Bartimaeus in general. If you like Pendragon, Harry Potter, Eragon, Inkheart, Feary Wars, or even Fantasy/sci-fi in general, read the book (If you dont you'll regret it!)
Rating:
Summary: clever, original, witty--highly recommended
Review: As I've said in previous reviews, if you're going to set your book in England and have as a main character a young boy learning the art of wizardry, you've guaranteed yourself a comparison to Harry Potter. With The Amulet of Samarkand, Jonathan Stroud can proudly say, "bring him on--wands at 15 paces!".
With so much pallid fantasy out there, Amulet is a breath of fresh air, told in a witty, original voice within a well-constructed plot and structure focused on two complex characters. Amulet is set in an alternate England ruled by magicians whose powers come from their ability to conjure demons. The society is beset within (by a resistance movement of "commoners" as well as by the murderous in-fighting among the ruling class magicians) and without (at war with Prague). Nathaniel is a young magician's apprentice who, after being publicly humiliated, seeks revenge via the demon Bartimaeus and a powerful talisman--the book's namepiece. By the time the book closes, it will involve murder and mayhem, betrayal, the attempted overthrow of the government, ancient (and I mean ancient) grievances, several tense chase scenes, various escape attempts, political commentary, the searing intensity of unassuagable guilt, and more.
Despite all that is crammed in here, the plot moves along briskly for the most part (this despite its complexity and the use of footnotes). Nathaniel is a complex character, giving us easily as many reasons to dislike him as to sympathize with him. He is no paragon of heroism or innocence. The other and much more likable main character (or perhaps more accurately the true main character) is the demon Nathaniel summons and the trilogy's title character. Unlike Nathaniel, whose section is told in 3rd person, Bartimaeus gets to tell his section of the book himself, lending us a more intimate view and thus allowing us to empathize more directly with him. Even better, his is a wry, cynical voice, bitingly funny. He also has the advantage of centuries of experience to call upon for more material with which to sharpen his wit. His sections are simply a pleasure to read. He too is more complex than is typical in these works. For instance, a scene where he somewhat blithely is willing to kill three young teens with little remorse reminds us he is no tame funny pet for either Nathaniel or the reader.
While Nathaniel's main antagonist, an evil wizard whose plots really aren't that out of character for magicians in general it turns out, is perhaps one of the weaker characters--a bit bland in both villainy and dialogue, the various demon antagonists of Bartimaeus are all wonderful creations, especially his two long-running nemeses whom he comes across several times.
The structure moves back and forth skillfully between Bartimaeus's first person narration and the third-person description of what is happening with Nathaniel, pulling away from one to the other at just the right moments to create the greatest suspense. It is all deftly handled with no confusion whatsoever.
The story itself is well-paced and complex enough to keep the reader guessing. It ends independently but with enough loose ends to point to an obvious sequel, which I for one eagerly await. Very highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A Mystifyingly Dark Book
Review: Perhaps no novel will ever live up to Harry Potter but this one comes dangerously close. It's about a boy-Nathanial-who is a magician's apprentice. He's a very intelligent 5 year old boy who Arthur Underwood-a magician-takes reluctantly as his apprentice. Only Mrs. Underwood and his drawing teacher seem to like him.
Nathanial (in a few years) starts to learn the arts and precision of magic-which is just basically summoning and containing demons-and learns it all eagerly. All goes well until he meets Simon Lovelace who embarrases Nathanial beyond reason in front of many magicians. After that all he has is revenge on his mind.
He decides that his learning is going too slow for him to get his revenge and teaches himself magic through Mr. Underwood's books.
He later summons the djinni Bartimaeus to aid him with his revenge. Bartimaeus adds the humor and brightens up this morbid story. His footnotes give you the insight you might need to understand some words-maybe not-and they are also very funny and are bound to make you roll on the floor with laughter...anyway...Bartinaeus is sent to retrieve the Amulet of Samarkand from Simon Lovelace. Bartimaeus returns after much persuit with the amulet and recieves a command to put the amulet away. Everything goes downhill from there.
Where downhill does it go? I'll give you some hints...a demon/magician duel...spying...prison...and now that I have told you those, why don't you go read the book?
Rating: 
Summary: Amulet of Nothing
Review: I was excited by the premise of this book but I must give it a bad rating since nothing really happens in it. Having a djinni serve a young magician is a great idea but the author does nothing with it. The djinni does nothing exciting with his powers and the young boy magician is a snivelling bore. It seems many are trying to write the new "Harry Potter." Many are trying and many are failing...but they're getting published anyway. A total mystery to me. So, avoid this book and look for your young adult fantasy elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: Marvelous!
Review: This is one of the funniest books I've ever read. From the very beginning you can tell this is not one of those standard issue sword-and-sorcery novels with the Dark Lord, the Quest, the many races (elves, dwarves, orcs, etc), the young hero, the Old Wizard, etc. So you won't be stuck with a Tolkien wannabe. On the other hand, despite having an eleven year old magician's apprentice as "hero", it's most definitively NOT a Harry Potter clone. For starters, little Nathaniel's motivation is pure and simple revenge, and that doesn't change by book's end. In this modern day version of London, magicians are an aristocracy (although, since British magicians aren't allowed to have children to avoid dynastic conflicts, I guess oligarchy would be a better name) that rules Britain and its Empire, and commoners without magic have no political power. Taken from his family when he was five, Nathaniel has no friends and his whole world is his Master (a pathetic midlevel government magician), his master's wife, and his teachers. He grows up to be a very intelligent and gifted magician, with a relatively good heart, but also very arrogant and vengeful. So when the powerful magician Simon Lovelace beats and humiliates him in public while his cowardly master just watches, he begins his quest to get even. It takes him a year but without any help he finally masters a very complex spell that allows him to summon a powerful djinni named Bartimaeus to steal the Amulet of Samarkand, Lovelace's most priced possession. Because in this world the only so called "power" that magicians have is their ability to summon and enslave spirits that do all the magical work for them. And believe me, the spirits don't like it one bit. And here is where the book begins, when we get our first look at Bartimaeus, who is one of the funniest characters you'll ever meet. Since all the chapters from his point of view are written in the first person, we get the full blast of his wit, which is considerable. It's the first time I've seen footnotes used with such a great effect. In them Bartimaeus makes little commentaries and explanations about what is going on, which is an excellent way to provide information about the back-story without interrupting the flow of the narration, and avoids boring the reader. Believe me, the footnotes are the best part of the book. So Bartimaeus goes and reluctantly steals the Amulet from Lovelace's home and of course, everything blows up in their faces. From then on its one mess after another involving betrayal, power struggles and murder. A funny thing about this book is it seems there is no good guy. All the characters have negative qualities aplenty. All the magicians are arrogant jackasses with really tacky taste (they like jugglers a lot) who don't even consider commoners as "real" people. And that includes Nathaniel. In any regular book, by the end the hero has identified with the oppressed and taken up his cause. In this novel, Nathaniel's encounter with the Resistance only leaves him wanting to hunt them down to ensure the continuation of the magician's privileges. This reminds me of another point I really liked about this book is that Stroud avoided the trap of trying to do too much. The Resistance plays only a small role; it catches your attention and really leaves you wanting more. He doesn't explain their abilities and their small plot doesn't get resolved. You can tell Stroud is laying the foundation for the other books in the trilogy. Personally, I can't wait for the next one. You won't regret buying this book, believe me.
Rating:
Summary: Amzing! Oh Baby!
Review: Jonathan Stroud's first published book in the U.S is a huge succes. This book features Nathaniel, an apprentice, who seeks revenge on his magician master, Underwood, with help of a demon, Bartimaeus, who Nathaniel summoned. Together Nathaniel and Bartimaeus go on many spectacular adventures.
Rating:
Summary: A fresh, captivating novel
Review: I read this book when I was 16, and I have to admit that I loved it. I am an avid book reader and despite the recomended age group being 9-12, I thought it was rather clever and witty. The character Nathanial is a tad annoying and whiny, but the character of Bartimaeus was extremely interesting and fun. I could not put this book down, as it was so captivating. I recomend this book to anyone who enjoys stories filled with magic and adventure, and I can not wait till the 2nd book comes out.
Rating:
Summary: Highly Recommend
Review: Jonathan Stroud has written a masterpiece. This book is full of great characters, it is filled with humor, action, adventure, fantasy, more humor, and a little drama. This was surely a unique and wonderful book. This is not another wanna be Harry Potter Book, as I was afraid it might be, this novel is really new and refreshing from all the tragic Rowling impersonators. I highly recommend for any reader who enjoys a great, quick, and exciting read.
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