The Amulet of Samarkand: The Bartimaeus Trilogy, Book 1

By: Jonathan Stroud

Narrated by: Simon Jones

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 Library

Critic reviews

"One of the liveliest and most inventive fantasies of recent years." ( Booklist)

"Spun into surprisingly colorful cloth." ( The New York Times Book Review)

entertaining

While the story was predictable, the telling of it was fun to listen to and I found it quite entertaining. I especially enjoyed the character creations. I found Bartemaeus to be a delightfully sarcastic demon. I could almost envision Robin Williams' Djinni from the movie 'Aladdins Lamp' as I was listening. I was a bit disappointed with Nathanials development however. I didn't care for his pompousness and disregard for other people, but at least you know that deep down he does have a good heart.
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.

Excellent story, brilliant narration

After listening to dozens of audiobooks, Simon Jones has quickly become my favorite reader. With an easy-to-understand British accent, excellent vocal range and pacing, perfect enunciation and terrific character voices, he does yet another outstanding job with this book.

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.

A winner

I've just finished listening to this title for the second time; I loved The Amulet... the first time for its engrossing tale and wonderfully quirky characters, and the second for its sly wit and clever narration. Stroud has written a book that appeals to both my inner ten year old and the literary snob in me, and Simon Jones gives the book the narration it deserves. This is worth your listening time and your money.

Amulet of Samarkand

This is SUCH an excellent book! The reader makes it fun to listen to and I am looking forward to the next book!

Masterful entertainment - Simon Jones is terrific

I picked this book up by accident at a friend's house because their 12-year-old was reading it. I loved LOTR but have never been interested in Harry Potter. Couldn't put the book down and when I got home immediately ordered it on Audible. Simon Jones makes it twice as fun with his terrific characters. Buy it!!

Who new Djinn could be so sarcastic?

This book is a really fun read. The narrator is outstanding and for his performance alone, you should listen to the book. He brings the character to life with a dry and sarcastic sense of humor with a sprinkling of megalomania. The store is really good. If you are a child or an adult you will appreciate the great detail that the author brings to life. This is about a boy who is a naturally gifted magician. This also tells a tale of a class war going on in a parallel alternate timeline where magic exists but only the wealthy and elite are allowed to learn and master it. The magicians use summoning to gain the this magical ability. The book goes into more detail but lets just say you will love the intricate hierarchy of supernatural beings. If you like Harry Potter, Twilight, Artemis Fowl you will really get a kick of this book. You will love the characters in the book and for a bonus you will laugh at some one liners. The book is really fun and once you do go for it you will immediate want to get the 3 books in the series. This is also a great stand alone book. There is no cliffhanger the book does leave some questions unanswered but nothing that will make you bang you head against the wall. BARTEMEUS ROCKS!!!!

Not just another kid magician!

The narration by Simon Jones and the incredibly fun prose made this book for me, and the two that followed. I am normally turned off by a surfeit of unsympathetic characters, or by a theme (in this case, that of child magician) that has been done to death. But Jones turns both liabilities into assets, simply by writing much better than almost everyone in the genre. About the characters: nearly all of the humans (and all of the important ones) are unmitigated jerks. This isn't a spoiler; it's pretty clear a few minutes in. The "demons," and especially Bartimaeus, are where the psychological interest lies.

A Fun Listen

I enjoyed Bartimaeus' witty & sarcastic voice in this book. The narrator did an excellent job bringing the characters to life - particularly the djinni Bartimaeus. I found myself smiling at the dialogue and mainly amused by the plot. I plan on happily listening to all three parts of this trilogy.

The Amulet of Samkarkand

Great book and reading. My seven year old son and five year old daughter were very intrigued with this story. They liked the all the images from the magic. The five year old did have some troulbe following the storyline at times, but still enjoyed the way the reader told the story. I highly recommend this book.

Very enjoyable

Great narrator. He really brought the characters to life, especially Bartimaeus. The story was exciting enough for my older daughter (12), and not to scary for my younger son (8) -- a tricky balance to find sometimes. Super audiobook for a long trip in the car.