The Amulet of Samarkand (Book One in the Bartimaeus Trilogy) Book Review

Despite The Amulet of Samarkand’s (book one in the Bartimaeus Trilogy) fifteen-year-long reign, the story itself never fails to please. Its characters work in an undignified harmony; they really shouldn’t cooperate together, but by some level of charisma, unforeseen circumstances, and plain good writing, everyone came together. The uniqueness and opposite personalities of each character, from Nathaniel to Mr. Underwood to Bartimaeus himself, create the soul of the piece almost better than the plot does. That is not to say, however, that the plot isn’t up to par to these magnificent people. It is magical how Stroud took so many working pieces and brought them together in the end to create such an...explosive conclusion. The formatting of the chapters is integral to that fluid plot; it draws natural suspense from the sequence of events as well as giving the reader multiple sections of action at the same time, taking this huge clash between Nathaniel and Simon Lovelace and breaking it into more manageable chunks. I especially appreciate the ingenious footnotes in the Bartimaeus chapters, a much-needed release of humor and a true tribute to his character. The foreshadowing in this book for book two (which, if everything goes as planned, will be my next review) is well thought out and strategically placed. In fact, the minor events of book one snowball into major events in book two. Overall, any reader can see why The Amulet of Samarkand has been successful for so long.

Recommended for anyone who thinks a book with comical aspects can’t be worth its salt in quality writing. This will prove you wrong.

-Grace Nask