Nathaniel is a young boy, age 11, who is the apprentice of a magician. He has had a fairly smooth life after the age of six. He had intense studies and lessons for every type of education, including language, math, writing, drawing, etc. Around the age of 9 he had gone to a celebration with his master to see his master’s colleagues. During the party Nathaniel’s master showed him off to some of his superiors. They questioned him and got answers. They said his master did a bad job. Nathaniel got snooty and was abused for it by the leader of the group, Simon Lovelace. Meanwhile his master sat and watched. After this night Nathaniel sped up his education in order to get revenge. After two years Nathaniel summons a powerful djinn, Bartimaeaus. He then orders Bartimaeaus to go steal a valuable artifact from Simon Lovelace, an object that Nathaniel knew Lovelace had stolen, the Amulet of Samarkand. This was a great book with a couple of twists in the plot. It takes place in a futuristic world where magicians rule. During the book there is narration from two points of view: one from Bartimaeus and one from a narrator. This book is intensely unnerving and suspenseful. It has some mystery and a lot of humor. During the time when Bartimaeus is telling the story he puts little footnotes in that really add to the humor of the book. Look out for those! This book has battles with demons where there is no way out by force, but only by mind. This should be a tempting target for any adventure reader and I recommend it to any one of those. I would put this on my top ten list of favorite books. Anyone who appreciates a good adventure, and has any hint of liking for magic and different variations of it, will love this book.

Bartimaeus: An arrogant, yet hilariously flippant and mouthy djinn; Nathaniel: An overconfident and overlooked magician-in-the-making. Put them together, and what do you get? You get an amazing, suspenceful, heartbreaking, funny (I could go on, but I'd only bore you!) trilogy about a boy and his servant out against their rivals. A treasonous magician, Simon Lovelace, attempts a massacre of the great ones of the government. Nathaniel steals Lovelaces's prize posession: The Amulet of Samarkand.. And Lovelace wants it back.. This book was fantastic. Over half of the book, I was rolling around in my seat over Bartimaeus's hilarious comments and his (occasionally) sophisticated air. Nathaniel's reactions to the djinn are purely comical. I also highly recommend the unabridged audio book production of "The Amulet of Samarkand". Simon Jones gives all the characters the personality and spark they need. "The Golem's Eye" and "Ptolomy's Gate" are also great books, and if you liked "The Amulet of Samarkand", I highly recommend them. A "The Bartimaeus Trilogy: The Amulet of Samarkand" review.

Stroud's work is wonderful! A great book about magicians and spirits. Highly recommended. May need a little parent guidance, because there is a lot of fantasy violence. I praise Stroud for his work!

It's a great book! I finished the whole series. I almost went crazy waiting for the last book to come in at the library. I recomend it for people who are almost teens and up.

Very good book, I give two thumbs up (the best).

Unappreciated wizard apprentice Nathaniel draws sympathy from the reader, none from sarcastically hilarious Bartimeaus. You can really relate with Nathaniel as the world as he knows it crumbles and he enters the magical world. Funny, action and magic packed, along with the unique idea of Bartimaeus' priceless footnotes makes this a great book. Can't wait for the rest!

reading it know so far its great