Ptolemy's Gate by Jonathan Stroud

"Ptolemy's Gate" is the last book in the "Bartimaeus Trilogy" by Jonathan Stroud. Through out the entire series you hear Bartimaeus lament about the slavery of the demons to magicians, but you really don't think too much about it, because the focus is more on the struggle between the commoners and magicians. In this book that background theme is brought to the front. One of my favorite parts of the book is that we finally learn the story of who Ptolemy was, and what his relationship with Bartimaeus was. 

I love the character development that's portrayed in this book, both with Bartimaeus, and with the humans Kitty Jones and Nathaniel. Especially Nathaniel. We already knew that Kitty is a great person, but we've spent the majority of the trilogy hating Nathaniel. In this book he finally begins to see himself for who he really is, and he actually redeems himself by the end of the book!  

I really enjoyed this trilogy and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves the fantasy genre. It's written as juvenile fiction, but adults will love it too! I plan on reading more by the author as soon as I can get my hands on it.

The Golem's Eye by Jonathan Stroud

When I first started reading "The Golem's Eye" I was a little disappointed. One of my favorite things about the previous book in the series, "The Amulet of Samarkand," was that the djinni Bartimaeus did quit a bit of the narration. Well, Bartimaeus still makes his presence known in this book, but it's not a constant as in the previous book.

I soon got over my disappointment though. The reason Bartimaeus doesn't talk as much in this book is that we spend quite a bit of time getting to know Kitty. Kitty is a commoner with a natural resistance to magic. Because of this talent, she ends up joining the resistance against the magicians, in fact this is why we first met her in the last book! Now we get to learn more about how she ended up in that life and who she is as a person.

There are also a lot of magical hi jinks to keep you intrigued and laughing the whole way through. Golem's, explosions, yellow faces, and much, much more! I really enjoyed this book and I hope you will too.

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud

"The Amulet of Samarkand" is book one in the Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud. This is a childrens/young adults book, but I thought it was a great read anyway! I've found that I'm enjoying going and reading some of the new young adult books that are out there. It's so much fun! I think they have a better selection of the type of books that I like now than they did when I was young. Ah well, I'll always be young at heart, so I'll keep reading them!

In "The Amulet of Samarkand" we meet a young magician named Nathaniel. Nathaniel has a burning desire for revenge, and that has driven him to study many things with out the knowledge of the magician he studies under. Now he feels he's ready to take his revenge, and so he summons up Bartimaeus, a 5,000 year old Djinni. His revenge doesn't quite go as planned and he spends most of the book scrambling to figure out what to do next!

The book alternates between narrative that's focused more on Nathanial, and seeing the world through the eyes of Bartimaeus. Bartimaeus has very definite opinions about magicians, other djinni and spirits, and just about everything he comes in contact with! I enjoyed the parts of the book told from his point of view the most because I laughed my way through all of them!