The Golem's Eye (Bartimaeus Trilogy, Book 2)

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Summary: The Golem's Eye
Review: "Picture the scene. London in the rain. Gray sheets of water tumbled from the sky, breaking upon the pavements with a roar louder than cannon fire. A strong wind buffeted the rain this way and that, blowing it under porches and eaves, cornices and capstones, drowning each possible refuge with a freezing spray. There was water everywhere, bouncing off the tarmac, swilling along the gutters, congregating in basement corners and above the drains. It overflowed the city's cisterns. It cascaded horizontally through pipes, diagonally across roof-slates, vertically down walls, staining the brickwork like sweeping washes of blood. It dripped between joists and through cracks in ceilings. It hung in the air in the form of a chill white mist, and above, invisibly, in the black reaches of the sky. It seeped into the fabric of buildings and the bones of their cowering inhabitants.
"In dark places underground, rats huddled in their lairs, listening to the echoes of the drumming overhead. In humble houses, ordinary men and women closed the shutters, turned lights full on and clustered about their hearth-fires with steaming cups of tea. Even in their lonely villas, the magicians fled the endless rain. They skulked to their workrooms, bolted fast the iron doors and, conjuring clouds of warming incense, lost themselves in dreams of distant lands.
"Rats, commoners, magicians: all safely undercover. And who could blame them? The streets were deserted, all London was shut down. It was close to midnight and the storm was getting worse.
"No one in their right mind would be out on a night like this."

But, of course, everyone's favorite wise-ass, shape-shifting djinni is stuck out in the rain. Nathaniel, who is now a few years older, much more arrogant, and now calling himself John Mandrake, has dragged Bartimaeus back to work in London.

It took me quite a while to finally get to work reading THE GOLEM'S EYE.

Bulldozing my way through mountains of books in preparation for the just-concluded Best Books for Young Adults committee meetings in Boston this week, I repeatedly shunted aside this 550+ paged middle volume in Johnathan Stroud's Bartimaeus trilogy. This, despite the fact that the first book (THE AMULET OF SAMARKAND) was my favorite fantasy of 2003. But being responsible for thoroughly reading as many BBYA nominations as possible--and there were 214 nominations this time around--I focused on building up my "Books Read" total and saved Bartimaeus for the final week before the meetings.

It turns out that I saved one of the best for last.

Danger, action, mystery, evil, and humor, (and occasionally a lot of rain) make THE GOLEM'S EYE a fantastic fantasy. But the eloquent vocabulary, vivid and melodic descriptions, significant themes, and Orwellian overtones make this a profound piece of Young Adult literature.

With the publication of THE GOLEM'S EYE, Jonathan Stroud demonstrates emphatically that his name deserves to be spoken in the same breath as J. K. Rowling and Philip Pullman. And in the same way that I don't take anything away from the life-altering experience of first reading the advance copy of the HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE by contending that HP3 was a better written book than HP1, I take nothing away from the genius of AMULET OF SAMARKAND by noting that Mr. Stroud has thoroughly surpassed his previous effort in writing his second book of the trilogy.

THE GOLEM'S EYE features Kitty Jones, a young commoner who made a brief but memorable appearance in AMULET. Stroud reveals the story of Kitty's recruitment into the Resistance after she and her childhood friend Jakob are thoroughly (and nearly fatally) wronged by a prominent magician in the government. It is the damaged, self-absorbed, and full of himself teenaged Nathaniel who is assigned the task of playing cat-and-mouse with the Resistance when a massive mud man cloaked in a black cloud begins wreaking massive death and destruction amidst several of London's prime tourist destinations.

The political commentary in which Stroud's story is immersed makes this book worthy of in-depth study by high school students, just as the thrilling story on its face will totally suck in younger readers.

One of the most memorable aspects of THE GOLEM'S EYE involve the scenes in which the enslaved Bartimaeus meets and gets to know Kitty, the oppressed commoner. Kitty is changed as a result of their philosophical conversations. (The question is how will Kitty influence Bartimaeus in the third book of the trilogy.) The astute reader will leave the book questioning the use of violence, the means to an end, and how power corrupts.

I almost envy those of you who haven't yet read THE AMULET OF SAMARKAND and have the opportunity to thoroughly immerse yourselves in the first two volumes of Jonathan Stroud's alternative London.


Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: The purpose of a review is not to blurt the story and ruin it for the postential reader, but rather to interest, persuade and guide such a reader. Here is mine:

The first book was obviously a smashing success. This second book presents some interesting issues. The descent of Nathaniel into the ambitious and corrupting world of wizardry is extremely interesting, and Bartimaeus himself is always entertaining. However, I found Kitty to be a drag. She is an interesting side character, yet I found her to be dense and sometimes strangely unnecessary to the overall story. I think this sequel is meant to lead into a much darker third book, perhaps where Nathaniel is one of the "bad guys" and Kitty would take the role of the normal, human overthrowers of the magical government. It'd be interesting to see how the author handles future skeins and storylines. Overall, I recommend the reader go back to the first, and then read this second.

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Summary: Bartimaeus II : The Commoners Strikes Back !
Review: The second part of The Bartimaeus Trilogy, "The Golem's Eye" continues the story began in "The Amulet of Samarkand". Like the first instalment, the majority of the action is set in a mostly recognisable London - admittedly, with a few noticeable changes. The Empire (which still exists), having already defeated the Czech Republic, is now considering war with the North American colonies. All the same, some Czech spies are still operating in England, and the Czech immigrant community is viewed with suspicion. Magicians have been the ruling class since Gladstone's time, holding all positions of power. Rather than wands and potions, these magicians derive their power from their ability to summon and control a variety of demons - for example, afrits, djinn and imps. Meanwhile the non-magical human masses are referred to as commoners - some of whom have formed a very troublesome resistance.

Nearly three years have passed since the events of "The Amulet of Samarkand". Nathaniel (more widely known as John Mandrake) is now apprenticed to Jessica Whitwell, the Security Minister, and works at the Department of Internal Affairs. His boss, Julius Tallow, is a typical magician : cruel, arrogant and self-serving, he would happily throw another (such as Nathaniel) to the wolves if it meant saving his own hide. (These same qualities, with extra ambition, have also become more pronounced in Nathaniel). However, since Tallow has more problems than he's aware of, Nathaniel's main rivals are the Chief of Police (Henry Duvall) and his assistant (Jane Farrar).

Nathaniel has been put in charge of pursuing the Resistance, a group of commoners who oppose the Magicians' Rule. Generally, their attacks have been limited to small-scale thefts, nothing that would've left Nathaniel under any great pressure. However, the night before Founder's Day (Gladstone's Birthday), a number of shops are attacked and practically destroyed. Policemen were killed, while a number of demons and search spheres used in investigate are missing. However, there are no indications the attack involved the use of magic - although Nathaniel is far from convinced, the Resistance are the most obvious culprits. Under no illusion that results are required, he realises he has to summon Bartimaeus again.

Bartimaeus (the fourth-level djinn summoned by Nathaniel) is caustic, irreverent and hopelessly vain - he boasts about the walls he built at Uruk and Karnak, but never mentions his work at Jericho. While he wasn't too fond of Nathaniel when they first met, he is even less impressed with his master in this book : in fact, he is determined to let Nathaniel whenever and wherever possible. The last time the duo worked together, they briefly stumbled across three of the Resistance's members - a small group, led by a girl called Kitty. In this instalment, they share the spotlight with Kitty - a commoner with a limited natural resistance to magic.

While Kitty's introduction reduces the amount of time Bartimaeus features, it gives some indication of how the commoners are treated and why there is a Resistance. It means fewer wisecracks (Bartimaeus is the book's funniest character), but it adds to the story and action significantly. The focus from one chapter to another switches between the characters, though the story never stalls. Stroud writes Nathaniel's and Kitty's stories ("Kitty and her parents watched him in silence"), while the djinni tells his own ("I could tell it was Prague as soon as I materialised"). "The Golem's Eye" is very easily read and very enjoyable - but I would recommend starting with "The Amulet of Samarkand".

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Summary: I bought these books for my kids, but...
Review: These books were a little advanced for my boys age 5 & 7 I however enjoyed them very much.The characters have depth and personality. The story line is not as predictable as you might guess, and I really enjoy the way the author footnotes the thoughts and feelings of the demon.

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Summary: The best book I HAVE EVER READ!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: This is the most spectacular book i have read in years! If every book were like this one, everyone in the world would love to read!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!