
The Amulet of Samarkand: The Bartimaeus Trilogy, Book 1
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Narrated by:
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Simon Jones
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By:
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Jonathan Stroud
Nathaniel is eleven-years-old and a magician's apprentice, learning the traditional art of magic. All is well until he has a life-changing encounter with Simon Lovelace, a magician of unrivaled ruthlessness and ambition. When Lovelace brutally humiliates Nathaniel in public, Nathaniel decides to speed up his education, teaching himself spells far beyond his years. With revenge on his mind, he masters one of the toughest spells of all and summons Bartimaeus, a five-thousand-year-old djinni, to assist him. But summoning Bartimaeus and controlling him are two different things entirely, and when Nathaniel sends the djinni out to steal Lovelace's greatest treasure, the Amulet of Samarkand, he finds himself caught up in a whirlwind of magical espionage, murder and rebellion.
Set in a modern-day London spiced with magicians and mystery, The Amulet of Samarkand is an extraordinary, edge-of-your-seat thriller with many unexpected twists. Following Bartimaeus and Nathaniel in turn, the story introduces us to two wonderfully memorable characters destined to go through many adventures together and bound by a spell that is nearly impossible to break.
©2010 Johnathan Stroud (P)2010 Listening LibraryListeners also enjoyed...




















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I was also a bit confused by the chronolgy of the book. In one section they are talking about the War with the American colonies, and then later make references to people like Stalin, Lincoln and Churchill. In alot of ways the author was all over the place.
But; like I said, all of that aside, I still found it to be very entertaining and all in all I gave it four out of five stars.
entertaining
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The book itself is something kids and adults will enjoy. The main characters, Nathaniel (a young magician's apprentice), and Bartimaeus (a demon conjured by Nathaniel and forced unwillingly to do his his bidding) are well-developed and brought engagingly to life by the reader. Bartimaeus's wry comments about Nathaniel and life in general will have the listener chuckling quite often.
Nathaniel is somewhat of an anti-hero at first; he's deceitful, proud, arrogant, and above all impatient to prove and test his abilities, which of course causes all kinds of tragedy, mayhem and suspense.
The author's style of writing several chapters first from the demon's viewpoint and then the boy's keeps things quite interesting and engaging. We get to see what's motivating both of them from different vantage points, and it works well to keep the story flowing smoothly and provides a cliff-hanger or two when we switch from one to the other.
Simon Jones also reads book 2, which is every bit as good as this one. Both are well-worth repeated listenings. Here's hoping he reads book 3 as well.
Excellent story, brilliant narration
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A winner
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Amulet of Samarkand
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Masterful entertainment - Simon Jones is terrific
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Who new Djinn could be so sarcastic?
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Not just another kid magician!
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A Fun Listen
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The Amulet of Samkarkand
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Very enjoyable
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