Gated community

Read: January 2009
Title: Ptolemy's Gate
Author: Jonathan Stroud
ISBN: 0786818611
Binding: Hardcover

Another three years have passed and Mandrake, now seventeen, is in charge of the Information Ministry. This means he's responsible for, amongst other things, coming up with the propaganda leaflets used to tempt commoners into joining up to fight in the war against the rebel colonies in America. He has also kept Bartimaeus constantly summoned for nearly the entire time, partly to keep another magician from summoning the djinn and finding out Mandrake's true name and partly as a reminder of simpler times when he was only under constant threat of immediate horrible death. Unfortunately for Bartimaeus, extended presence in the material world is inimical to a demon's very essence and the poor fellow has been worn down to a nubbin and is barely able to maintain his shape, much less fight or do anything more energetic.

Our third major character, Kitty, has gone underground after the events of the second book and is living under a couple of assumed names. Under one of those names, she's become the commoner assistant to an old and eccentric magician who has undertaken to show her the rudiments of magic - in much the same way that one might decide to teach a pig to sing (ie, she's not really human and the attempt is likely doomed to failure, but it passes the time and the results might be amusing).

Not much can be said without giving away large plot points, but this is the book in which Mandrake/Nathaniel completes his hero's journey, catalyzed by meetings (chance and otherwise) with those he has admired or detested in previous books. We also get even more of Bartimaeus' personal history, Kitty makes a huge choice, and the diabolical mastermind who has stayed in the shadows throughout the trilogy unmasks just before all hell (or, at least, the demon world) breaks loose.

Highly inventive, very bittersweet, and lusciously detailed. I was sorry it had to end and I'd love to someday see a collection of short stories set throughout Bartimaeus' long long life. Recommended.

Oh! What big eyes you have!

Read: January 2009 (again)
Title: The Golem's Eye
Author: Jonathan Stroud
ISBN: 0786818603
Binding: Hardcover

It's been about two years since the end of the first book and Nathaniel, now operating under the use-name "John Mandrake", has secured both a new master and a high position in the security apparatus of the government. His job is to break the growing resistance movement, which appears to consist almost entirely of young commoners who've begun to develop the ability to resist or detect magic. Unfortunately, he's not making much progress and his superiors are beginning to eye him as a convenient scapegoat for their own lack of success. When something huge, dangerous, and apparently invisible and impervious to magic appears and begins to wreak havoc, Mandrake breaks a previous agreement and summons Bartimaeus again. Of course, all sorts of chaos ensues as Bartimaeus repeatedly just scrapes by the Golem (it's not a spoiler if it's in the title, is it?) and Mandrake bounces back and forth between London and Prague trying to gather enough evidence to prove the thing isn't just a figment of his imagination (and save his own skin in the process).

In this novel, in addition to the Mandrake and Bartimaeus story lines, much attention is paid to Kitty (briefly introduced in the first book) and her group of resistance fighters. For the most part the resistance doesn't really amount to much, mainly pilfering magic trinkets here and there in hopes of finding something they can use against the magicians.

The climax comes when the resistance group is hired by a mysterious stranger to steal some very powerful items from an extremely important magician's grave. Mandrake, Bartimaeus, and the Golem converge on the tomb at the same time, much to the detriment of virtually all involved.

Things I have not mentioned yet: Werewolves, ambulant skeletons, much more Bartimaeus backstory, skinny pants and trenchcoats, The Black Tumbler, and the dangers of angering your local print shop.

This is a great middle novel. It continues to flesh out the world, with more insights into the politics and history and the little touches that make a place feel lived-in. It advances the plot. It ends in a moderate cliffhanger to make you read the third book. Recommended.

Djinni & Ifrits & Imps, Oh My!

Read: January 2009 (again)
Title: The Amulet of Samarkand
Author: Jonathan Stroud
ISBN: 0786852550
Binding: Hardcover

When first we meet the main human character, it is through the eyes of Bartimaeus, a demon (of the djinn variety, more powerful than imps and foliots but less so than ifrits and marids) summoned for the express purpose of stealing the title object from a renowned magician in vengeance for a humiliation recently suffered at the hands (at least, by proxy) of that magician. The impression is not a positive one. The summoner is a mere boy of no more than 12 years of age, gangly and greasy and puffed up with pride and ambition. Bartimaeus unwillingly (since most anything a demon does for its master is not done willingly) does as he is told, with unintended and somewhat disastrous consequences, and the plot rolls quite robustly along.

The story alternates chapters between Bartimaeus' first person POV and third person narration about Nathaniel (for that is the boy's name). We learn that Bartimaeus has been around for a couple of thousand years, has been summoned by the likes of Ptolemy and Solomon (though honestly, what demon didn't meet Solomon at least once), and is still around mainly due to his wit (which he's quite proud of) and a certain tendency to slope off rather quickly when the going gets rough. We learn that Nathaniel has been apprenticed to his master since around the age of six, knows quite a bit more about magic than his rather mediocre mentor might suspect (due to a voracious appetite for the books in his master's study), and really should not have gotten into the habit of letting his master's wife call him by his given name. True names have a power, you see, and as soon as Bartimaeus stumbles upon Nathaniel's, the shoe is on the other foot... or cloven hoof... or whatever.

The true joy in this book for me was the marvelous world-building. It's set more or less in modern-day England, mostly in and around London, but the level of technology hovers around the early 1940s (don't need much science when you've got the occult) and there's a very 1984 vibe in the air. Magicians have controlled the entire apparatus of government since the great magician Gladstone became Prime Minister about 150 years ago and commoners (ie, nonmagicians) are very much second class citizens, existing at the whim of forces they can't control and don't understand. One particular detail I noted was the heavy use of search spheres, mystical orbs that roam about transmitting images and sound back to a central location, to literally keep an eye on the populace. The parallels between this and the real-life ubiquity of CCTV cameras in modern Great Britain are pretty striking.

This is the first book in a trilogy so you know the main characters survive, though others are not so lucky. This doesn't keep them from having a few close scrapes. Overall, the level of action in this book stays pretty high and you find yourself rooting for Bartimaeus and Nathaniel throughout (though Nathaniel could doubtless profit from a good bit of ego deflation - a task Bartimaeus undertakes with great gusto). I had first read this book five or more years ago and I enjoyed this second reading just as much if not more so.

Recommended.