On the HahaFiction shelf
The Amulet of Samarkand
The Bartimaeus Sequence · Book 1
Audiobook available
An ambitious apprentice magician summons Bartimaeus and orders the djinni to steal an amulet from a powerful rival. The theft pulls them into a dangerous conspiracy in a London governed by magicians. Commanding an ancient spirit proves less straightforward than summoning one.
From the publisher’s blurb
“But summoning Bartimaeus and controlling him are two different things entirely”Read the full description at Publisher description, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
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What makes it funny?
Bartimaeus has little respect for the young magician giving him orders. His cocky, sardonic account supplies a running objection to an apprentice's grand ambitions and increasingly unmanageable scheme.
The comedy at work
The story alternates the apprentice's perspective with the djinni's knowing first-person voice. Bartimaeus gives the reader a skeptical view of magical authority from the position of someone forced to serve it.
Try this if…
Magical intrigue and a sarcastic supernatural companion are the attractions. Readers who like seeing an ambitious hero's plans examined by a less impressed observer may enjoy the alternating perspectives.
Good to know
Written for younger readers, the story still involves murder, coercive service and characters whose motives are difficult to trust.
A few distinguishing details
- An ancient djinni under an apprentice's orders
- A skeptical view of magician-ruled London
More funny urban fantasy
Sources & further reading
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