Bookbanter Column: Get Lost in a Good Children’s Series: THE BARTIMAEUS TRILOGY

Jonathan Stroud is your stereotypical British children’s author, polite and well mannered with a great imagination.  In 2003 he published the first book in a planned young adult fantasy trilogy, known as the Bartimaeus Trilogy.  In 2004 he released The Golem’s Eye, and in 2005 Ptolemy’s Gate.

While it has never reached anywhere near the bestselling status of say the Harry Potter books, it nevertheless sold very well in Europe and the United States, and yet there are still many fans of the genre who have never heard of this trilogy.

What’s interesting about the Bartimaeus Trilogy is that while it is a similar world to that of Harry Potter, set in Britain with magicians and magic, it takes on a subject matter and questions the status quo and dynamic of this world in ways that J. K. Rowling never did.

In the world of the Bartimaeus trilogy, magicians don’t actually have that much power.

[CONTINUE READING . . .]

“The Ring of Solomon” by Jonathan Stroud (Hyperion, 2010)

The infamously likable djinni Bartimaeus is back, only this time readers get to see an exciting, adventurous chapter out of his distant past.  Jonathan Stroud, author of the bestselling Bartimaeus trilogy, takes readers back into the ancient world of Jerusalem; 950 BCE to be exact, in The Ring of Solomon.

Even though the disreputable djinni known as Bartimaeus has been around for millennia, since the time of Gilgamesh, he is once again enslaved by the whim and rules of a cruel master, Khaba.  But Khaba, an evil and despicable magician, answers to an even more fearsome master, King Solomon.  It’s not so much that Solomon is a terrifying and evil master, but more that he possesses the most powerful ring in history.  A single twist of the ring brings about armies of monsters and creatures all in abeyance to Solomon, awaiting his every command.  People who disobey Solomon disappear in a flash, never to be seen again.

And yet King Solomon doesn’t have everything he desires.  He has set his heart on the Queen of Sheba, but she’s not interested in him, even though he asks for her hand in marriage weekly.  Then the Queen learns of a plot by Solomon to cause the destruction of all of Sheba, if she doesn’t agree to marry him.  Instead, she decides to send Asmira, her most trained assassin to kill Solomon and steal his ring.  Only Khaba also has his sights on the ring and becoming king of all the lands.  And, naturally, Bartimaeus gets involved in the whole big mess, partially through no fault of his own, and partially because he totally sticks his nose, feet and hands in wholeheartedly.

Stroud brings the lovable character of Bartimaeus back in this great story of intrigue, deception, murder, and terror, as well as fun, hilarity, and even love.  Fans will enjoy reading of Bartimaeus once again, as his vanity knows no limits, in his drive to let everyone know he’s simply the best djinni that has ever existed and even when his essence is in danger, he’s going to be sure to let you know that.

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Originally written on January 24, 2011 ©Alex C. Telander.

“Amulet of Samarkand (A Bartimaeus Graphic Novel)” by Jonathan Stroud, Andrew Donkin, Lee Sullivan, Nicolas Chapuis (Hyperion, 2010)

After the continued success and popularity of the Bartimaeus trilogy – think of it like Harry Potter except the wizards don’t have much power, so they have to summon djinn to do all their work for them – Jonathan Stroud turns his hand to adapting the first book in the series into a graphic novel with some very talented artists.  Stroud’s first effort in writing a comic book is a good one: while he is a little wordy at times, he does an excellent job of turning the almost 500-page book into a 140-page graphic novel.  With such a creatively conceived book that’s bursting with the fantastic, with the likes of djinn, imps, afrits, and all other manner of strange and unusual creatures and demons; along with an alternate London and world, the artists do a fantastic job of bringing this world to rich, detailed, colorful life.  And then there’s the fun and interesting character of the millennia-old djinn Bartimaeus.  Lavishly drawn with just the right amount of humor, bravery and wit; Stroud keeps his character similar to the books with his impatience, distaste and at times indifference to wizards.  Whether you’ve read the trilogy or not, this graphic novel will either serve to remind you of how much you enjoyed the series; or make you start reading the books as soon as you’re done.

CLICK HERE to purchase your copy from Bookshop Santa Cruz and help support BookBanter.

Originally written on November 16, 2010 ©Alex C. Telander.

11/12 On the Bookshelf . . . “The Ring of Solomon”

After enjoying the world of Bartimaeus and Jonathan Stroud’s last work, Heroes of the Valley, it was a delight to discover Stroud is returning to his entertaining character in the Ring of Solomon.

“Heroes of the Valley” by Jonathan Stroud (Hyperion, 2009)

Jonathan Stroud, author of the bestselling Bartimaeus Trilogy, returns with Heroes of the Valley, a wonderful original tale that deserves to be in the annals of the Icelandic Sagas alongside Leif and Erik.  A young adult book that anyone of any age can enjoy for the action, the setting, and the tension between its strong characters.

Halli Sveinsson is a teenager who feels he was born in the wrong time.  He dreams of the past when the great heroes lived – Svein, Arne, Hakon –  and fought the dreaded trows to keep them out of the valley, protecting the villages and people within.  Now their cairns are all that remain, protective burial mounds that keep the trows away and serve as a reminder that no one should pass their boundary.   The people of the valley no longer have any weapons; all disputes are solved by the Council.  Halli’s mother and father, Astrid and Arnkel, serve as lawgiver and arbiter of the house.

But Halli finds life in the valley extremely boring, which is why he is a very mischievous child.  When the Hakons from the other side of the valley come to visit for the annual fair, there is competitive tension between the houses.  An argument breaks out between Hord, the arbiter of Hakon’s House, and Brodir, Arnkel’s brother, which turns into a fight that leaves Brodir dead.  Halli witnesses it all and vows revenge on the Hakons.  This begins a series of events that will change the entire dynamic of the valley that has been quiet and calm for so long.  Then there is the pretty Aud, daughter to the arbiter of Arne’s House, who Halli befriends and becomes close to.  Halli will need all the allies he can find to keep the honor of his house’s name and maintain the memory of the great warrior, Svein.

Heroes of the Valley is a healthy mixture of adventure and history, with some strong lessons on what it means to be good to your word, respectful of your elders to a degree, and that sometimes you need to challenge the status quo.  It is a book about the importance of family, but also that one should encourage the independent spirit of any person, be they boy or girl.  Jonathan Stroud has delivered another impressive novel that goes beyond just a good story; a book that will be welcomed on anyone’s shelf.

If you liked this review and are interested in purchasing this book, click here.

Originally written on March 31st 2009 ©Alex C. Telander.

“Amulet of Samarkand” & “Golem’s Eye” by Jonathan Stroud (Disney, 2003 & 2004)

So I met Jonathan Stroud last Friday, author of the Bartimaeus triology, of which the first two are out: “The Amulet of Samarkand” and “The Golem’s Eye.” He came to the bookstore I work at in Petaluma, Copperfield’s, and was pretty entertaining. He was the classic English guy writing about a doomed England of magic and magicians and the regular people known as “commoners”: average English accent from near London area with some clipped Cockney when speaking, but when reading clear, upper class southern England accent; a very ordinary looking guy in a t-shirt and slacks, totally unassuming and seemingly unaware that he’s a big famous author who’s growing and growing in notoriety.
I was talking to him about how I really liked that in his fantasy books involving magicians being separate and higher in social stature than ordinary people like you and me, Stroud pays more attention to what is happening socially with the paradigm, than just telling a story about a hot-shot wizard doing great things. And he seemed happy to know that I had spotted this in his books. That they took a different direction to most of the kids fantasy books out today involving the Harry Potter character, which has now practically become an archetype.

In the world of the Bartimaeus trilogy, magicians don’t actually have that much power. They have all their control and magic from summoning djinn from another world and using them to do magical things, and all the summoning of imps, djinn, and higher level afrits is done through reading incantations from books. So in this world, the magicians really don’t have that much power. Yet the magicians control the entire government from Parliament to the prime minister.

And then you have the ordinary people, the “commoners” who are a subjugated people who work in factories and any and all jobs that involve labor. And are meek and always do as they are told, and it comes off as an almost Orwellian dystopia. Except there are a few that somehow possess some ability to take attacks from magicians and djinn and not be killed by them and that they are able to see on multiple planes. There are seven planes, humans can only see on the first, and magicians with the aid of lenses can see the first three, while the djinn and afrits are on all seven planes. And this group is known as the “Resistance,” as they try to overthrow the magicians and take back control of the country.

And then there’s the nebulous rest of Europe in which you have the east consisting mainly of the Czechs who are warring against the English and have been for a long time, but are now at truce.

So it’s a very interesting world with lots going on instead of just some tough wizard kid fighting a bad guy. I recommend it to all who want to read a different kind of fantasy.

If you liked this review and are interested in purchasing this book, click here.

Originally written on September 28th, 2004 ©Alex C. Telander.