We Haven't Seen the Last of Bartimaeus (Yay!)

The Golem's Eye, Jonathan Stroud's thrilling sequel to The Amulet of Samarkand, can only mean one thing: we haven't seen the last of Bartimaeus.

I enjoyed this book from the start. Not only did it add new twists and interesting characters, but it did a fantastic job of supporting two separate plot lines. One plot starred Bartimaeus and Nathanial while the other starred Kitty Jones, a character briefly introduced in the first novel. The plot lines ran close together, periodically crossing with the characters from both interacting with each other. If Kitty (being part of the resistance) did something, often would it effect Nathaniel, and vice versa.

But of course we all know the best part of the book is Bartimaeus.

 

The biggest thing I noticed about The Golem's Eye was the brilliant characterization. Especially Nathaniel's. He's a dynamic character, as you might have guessed. But unlike most protagonists,  his dynamic character growth goes down hill. In the first book, Nathaniel had morals, knew right from wrong, wanted justice. Which is weird, as Bartimaeus pointed out, because that isn't how most other magicians are. However, in the second book, Nathaniel is crueler, power hungry, and has no morals, like the other magicians. After taking a job with Internal Affairs, he quickly changes for the worst. You start to see Nathaniel and John Mandrake(Nathaniel's magician name) as separate people. But before you know it, Nathaniel is gone. He makes bad choices that other magicians would make, taking any opportunity to seize power. He kidnapped Kitty's friend, and back stabbed Kitty when he promised he would let her go free. Throughout the book you witness his internal struggle between being Nathaniel and John Mandrake. At the end of the book (spoiler alert!) Bartimaeus is fed up with the new Nathaniel, and a bit disappointed in the young magician for acting like the others. Before being released, he says to Nathaniel:
" 'Yep.' I performed a formal salute. 'I bid the magician John Mandrake farewell. May he live long and never summon me again... By the way, notice something there?'
The magician paused with his arms raised and his incantation at the ready. 'What?'
'I didn't say 'Nathaniel'. That's because I see you more as a Mandrake now. The boy who was Nathaniel's fading, almost gone.'
'Good.' He said crisply. 'I'm glad you see sense at last.' He cleared his throat. 'So. Farewell, Bartimaeus.'
'Farewell.' He spoke. I went. I didn't have time to tell him he'd kind of missed the point."
 This quote is shows Bartimaeus explaining to Nathaniel that he had changed for the worse, that the old Nathaniel is gone, replaced by John Mandrake, a magician no crueler than any of the others. Its amazing indirect characterization sums up exactly who Nathaniel has become.

Now, I can't leave out Bartimaeus, who has always had some of the best characterization I've ever seen. You learn a lot about him in this book, how he actually can have a good side. And compaired to Nathaniel, he sometimes seems like the good guy lacking free will. After all, he's just taking orders. Here are some examples of his characterization:
" 'What can you know about it, demon?!' Kitty was white with rage. 'You're a monster! How dare you even imagine what I'm feeling!' She was so furious, she almost lashed out.
The boy tutted. 'Let me give you a friendly tip, He said. 'Now, you wouldn't want to be called 'female mudspawn', would you? Well, in a similar way, when addressing a spirit such as me, the word
demon is in all honesty a little demeaning to us both. The correct term is djinni, though you may add adjectives such as noble  and resplendent if you choose. Just a question of manners. It keeps things friendly between us.' "
I love this quote because it shows the careful characterization of Bartimaeus, explaining one of his pet-peeves (being called a demon) and how he can be a bit vain at times.

Overall, this book has some of the best characterization you'll find. I loved reading it, and hope some more people will pick the series up sometime.

Some of my favorite Bartimaeus quotes:

 

 

The Newest Addition to My Favorite Books List

Don't you just love it when you fall in love with a book only to find out that it's a trilogy? Well, duh, yeah, it said it was a trilogy on the cover. We've gotten past that feeling. But now imagine that you're in the middle of finishing this awesome trilogy, and find out that there's a FOURTH book. Mind blown. Boom.

Yes, of course, this happened to me.

Now, my previous post was doubtful that I'd continue reading the latest book I picked up. But thanks to an unfortunate week of standardized testing, I had ample time on my hands. Therefore, I pushed my was through The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud. By the time I had reached page sixty, I was convinced. This book is awesome. And to my luck, there is not only three books, but four.

It wasn't hard to start to like the series. I know I tend to be a bit hesitant when getting into knew books, but this one became a quick favorite. It wasn't necessarily the plot that led me to becoming a fan, but more so the characters and their development; particularly the star of the show, Bartimaeus.

 Throughout the book, Bartimaeus continually gives witty comments that make the story. Multiple times reading the book I burst out laughing, my friends giving me an odd look. For example, my favorite quote from Bartimaeus:

“That did it. I'd gone through a lot in the past few days. Everyone I met seemed to want a piece of me: djinn, magicians, humans...it made no difference. I'd been summoned, manhandled, shot at, captured, constricted, bossed about and generally taken for granted. And now, to cap it all, this bloke is joining in too, when all I'd been doing was quietly trying to kill him.”
― Jonathan Stroud, The Amulet of Samarkand    

The voice within the book, as you can see, is very strong as well. My favorite chapters were the ones with Bartimaeus narrating, partially for his wit and partially for the adventure. Because Bartimaeus is more of a sly, clever, villainous character, his chapters are full of action and escapes. He would do anything to kill his newest master, Nathaniel, another main character, especially when he has leverage. When Bartimaeus discovers Nathaniel's birth name(he can use it to deflect punishments and such and spread it to other demons so Nathaniel can't control them either) he says,

“I had a chance at him now. Things were a bit more even. He knew my name, I knew his. He had six years' experience, I had five thousand and ten. That was the kind of odds that you could do something with.”
― Jonathan Stroud, The Amulet of Samarkand

So in all, it's an interesting concept with interesting characters. It's neat how Magicians summon demons to do their dirty work, or just to wash the dishes and other chores. So, it's easy to see how this has quickly become on of my favorite books.

 

Check out Bartimaeus's website! Get info on the makings of the books, Jonathan Stroud's blog, and Bartimaeus's own blog(It's hilarious)!

 

http://www.bartimaeusbooks.com/index.html

 

Thoughts on starting the next book

I'm done being in between books, so, evidently, I've just started another. I'm only a few pages in, but that's still enough to determine whether or not this is going to be worth the read.

We're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but we all do it anyway. This book is called The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud. It's the first book in The Bartimaeus Trilogy. Its got a shiny cover with a smirking goblin-like creature holding a gold amulet, in case you were wondering. Obviously, it's a fantasy. I could tell from first glance it was going to be high fantasy, but had no idea about the plot.

It's about an eleven year old magician's apprentice who was humiliated by this awesome magician who's apparently ruthless and ambitious. The boy teaches himself spells way beyond his years because he seeks revenge. (Already feeling inclined to find out what this guy did to this poor kid.) So the eleven year old, Nathaniel, summons Bartimaeus, a five thousand year old djinni, to assist him.

I didn't really know what to expect. After reading the first few pages, I found out pretty quickly that the book takes a action-now-explain-magical-stuff-and-reasons-behind-everything-that-is-happening-that-would-be-really-helpful-to-know-later kind of approach. I couldn't decided whether to give up and call it a night after I went through pages having no idea what was going on or continue to read to find out why it feels like the author skipped the exposition and went to the beginning of climbing action immediately then back to exposition(read it and you'll know what I mean).

Overall, It seems a little intimidating at first; you're placed in a high-action situation with magic spells and little explanation as to what's going on. However, Once you read further, you start to see how the pieces fit together and everything becomes slightly less confusing. So I've decided to let curiosity get the best of me and continue to read the book. Hopefully things will be explained in the next chapter.

So Far Not Impressed

I decided to go out of my typical reading bubble and venture into some romance. I decided to read the bestselling book The Fault In Our Stars by John Green. This was a big step for me, given I typically read fantasy adventure books with magic and epic battle. I grew tired of normal fiction long ago, (Sorry Cami, but I have no idea why you love fluffy romance novels, I mean, where is the magic and epic journey?) and I never was one for romance. They weren't my thing.

But  just had to read The Fault In Our Stars. So many people read it and loved it, and there was a movie made about it, so why not? It's bound to be good.

That was an overstatement.

Now, 'm not hating on the book or anything, I'm not saying it's utterly terrible. I'm just saying I'm done reading it. I believe I'm on chapter four? I'm sure that's too soon to make a proper judgment, but I'm so far not impressed. I honestly do not know what makes this story so appealing to young adults like myself.

I like conflict, especially being a fan of action-packed fantasy novels, and , well, after reading the first couple chapters, I couldn't find any. I saw room for potential conflict, but that was as close as I got to being interested. Overall, the book had a slow start in my opinion. I had to force myself past the second chapter.

The dialogue was pretty good, I'll admit. But I can't see much of a plot developing. I know that problems do occur, given the spoilers explained by some of my friends, but in the second chapter it's just a date used for character development. I don't know about you, but some pretty nice character development happens during conflict. I know I'm probably being a bit nit-picky here, but I'm done reading. I want conflict.

There are some interesting ideas and new perspectives on life introduced, which I thought was cool. Don't get me wrong, the book isn't bad, I just don't think it has enough action. It's very slow paced in my opinion, and, in conclusion, wasn't exactly what I expected.

Wishng I Could Change the Ending (Spoilers! DUH)

Have you ever read an entire series just to have it end in a way that makes you flip back a few pages and say to yourself "Wait...that was it?" of course you have. Everyone has. We all find that really good series that just ends...not so good.

I have recently (recently meaning a few weeks ago because I swim competitively so getting around to these posts/finding a new book is like asking a cat to not jump up on the table...it won't work out) finished Abhorsen, the third book in the Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix. I enjoyed reading the book. It wasn't the most fast-paced book but it was creative and thought out with a unique writing style. It was still a page turner, my favorite parts being when Lirael was traveling into Death. However, when I came to the end, the final battle against the Destroyer, I guess I just expected...more.

Leading up to the end, the book got progressively better. The events got more exciting, but they were all relatively low key. There wasn't a lot of suspense in my opinion. I was reading to find that big "wow" ending that is so action packed it blows my mind. Well, I got a sorta action packed ending that only got good towards the end when Sabriel returns. There wasn't a lot of fighting, even in Lirael's battle with Hedge. I guess when you battle one of the most powerful necromancers you leave with only a scratch on your arm.

Lirael didn't even kill Hedge, when he looked up at the sky while in death (the Dog tripped him and that made him look at the sky) it was his time, because he had been avoiding death for awhile, and he just died. No epic charter spells here. Just dead.

Nix did a good job on the end of the ending though, when they finally battled the destroyer and everyone had to come together, each person representing a bell. Lirael used a special sword to kill the Destroyer, doing so she knew she herself would die(she didn't share this with Sam and the others, though) and knew what must be done. However, while being engulfed with flame, about to meet her end, the Disreputable Dog jumps in, bites Liraels hands off the sword that they were fixed to, and takes her place as the sacrifice. This was the good action packed ending I was hoping for. People injured, my favorite character unfortunately died, all was good.

But it wasn't all good. I still craved more action, more of that sweet, sweet action. But there wasn't any. That was it. End. The multiple chapters leading up to it, with the destroyer present, that couldn't have been more action packed? The book waited until the last few pages to get really good?

So I find myself among tons of other readers who finish a series only to be unsatisfied. Like many readers, I'm wishing I could change the ending.

Columnist Project

I read 14 different articles written by a variety of columnists. I found some I liked, some I didn't like, and some that made me laugh out loud. While reading, I learned a lot about the perspective of each column and how the author makes his or her argument..

The column I liked the best was a column by Dave Barry called "The Mother of All Parties". It was a humorous piece about mothers going all out for their kid's birthday party. It said, "
Like many moms, my wife believes that a child's birthday party requires as much planning as a lunar landing -- more, actually, because you have to hire a clown." It uses funny lines like this to get the argument across. What I thought was funny was when it went into comparing a mom planned party against a dad planned party. It said, " It would be different if dads planned birthday parties. First off, the party would be about a month after the child's actual birthday, which is when Dad would remember it. Dad's party theme would be ``delivery pizza,'' which would also serve as the cake, the craft project and the party favor. The entertainment would be pulling Dad's finger. The kids would have just as much fun." I thought this was funny, knowing my dad, and how his idea of a birthday party is the most dirt cheap party ever.

I thought the article was funny and well written because you could relate to the situation. A lot of stuff was over exaggerated, adding to the humor. Overall a very good column.

Fahrenheit 451 Theme Handout

Fahrenheit 451 Theme Handout:

Theme: Engaging with difficult and uncomfortable thoughts and experiences is the only route to true happiness.

Group Members: Sammi St. Arnold, Brian Whitney, Hannah Lea, Stephanie Schoenlein, and Evan Haas Bell 3

Events

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1. Clarisse asks Montag if he's happy.

2. Montag realizes he's unhappy, and threatens to start reading books.

3. Montag meets Faber and realizes the power of reading/ learning

4. The firemen went to Montag's house.

5. Montag burns Beatty.  

6. Montag meets Granger.

Quotes

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1. "He was not happy.  He was not happy.  He said the words to himself. He recognized this as the true state of affairs.  He wore his happiness like a mask and the girl had run off across the lawn with the mask and there wa no way of going to knock on her door and ask for it back." (Bradbury 12).

2. " 'If there was no war, if there was peace in the world, I'd say fine, have fun! But, Montag, you mustn't go back to being just a fireman. All isn't well with the world.' " (Bradbury 104).

3. " 'We all made the right kind of mistakes, or else we wouldn't be here.' " (Bradbury 150).

How it Relates

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1. This theme is important to our understanding of the story because the story is based on a society that believes in the opposite, that thoughts and uncomfortable experiences actually diminish a person’s overall happiness, and have rules against people creating their own thoughts and opinions.  

2. This connects to our society today because people are depressed and don’t realize that they have to deal with and engage in uncomfortable and difficult experiences is the only way to achieve true happiness.  It is important to study and be aware of this theme so that we can grow and be happy in our daily lives, dealing with the hardships in our modern world.