The Amulet of Samarkand

This is possibly the best known book on my list, yet it took me a long time to discover it.

This is a thriller-style adventure that follows Nathaniel, a young magician’s apprentice on a quest for revenge, who summons Bartimaeus, an all-powerful djinni. Nathaniel (unwittingly) and Bartimaeus (unwillingly) get caught up in a tangled plot of magic-fueled mayhem in which they have to work together to survive.

Bartimaeus’ sarcastic observations and side tangents add an element of humor that keep it from staying dark and somber, while also highlighting the underlying threads of slavery and social injustice in this fantasy… show more.

This is, by far, one of my favorite fantasy series. It was also one of the first books I listened to on audio, and I couldn’t devour/hear/audibly ingest the story fast enough. Nathaniel, a young wizard, has captured the djinn Bartimaeus and can give him commands. Bartimeus does not go lightly into this servitude: It is a most embarrassing thing to be under the control of a twelve-year-old. Bartimeus’s caustic wit, his inflated ego (he’s only a 14th-level djinni!), and his ability to get out of increasingly sticky and dangerous situations are wonderfully entertaining. And though he has a hatred… show more.

This was the first book I read by Jonathan Stroud, and I was hooked on page 4 by the unexpected and hilarious footnote from Bartimaeus, the delightfully egotistical and wily djinni summoned by Nathaniel, an eleven-year-old magician’s apprentice. But this isn’t your typical genie in the lamp story. This story is set in an alternate London ruled by magicians who control all types of spirits and are constantly battling for superiority. Nathaniel is out for revenge on the magician who humiliated him and sends Bartimaeus to steal his treasured amulet. However, Bartimaeus has a rival djinni who would love to… show more.

Okay, perhaps it’s a little strange to have a human companion on this list but hear me out. The protagonist of this story, the wise-cracking Bartimaeus, is a djinn and is the servant of his human summoner Nathaniel, so technically that makes Bartimaeus and Nathaniel companions to one another.

In the story’s alternative London, magicians rule and compel djinn to grudgingly do their bidding—unless they slip up a summoning and become the breakfast of their Otherworldly servants. The banter in this book is superb, along with hysterical one-liners and amusing (often snarky) footnotes that represent Bartimaeus’s ability to think on… show more.

The Amulet of Samarkand is the first book in one of the best young adult fantasy series I've read in years. Bartimaeus is a smart and delightfully sarcastic djinni working for (he’d say he was "enslaved by") magical wunderkind, John Mandrake. Well-written and laugh-out-loud funny, these books explore a wonderfully odd yet familiar world full of scheming, usually malevolent spirits, often loathsome, backstabbing practitioners of magic, and exciting action. The first book (Amulet) got me hooked, and I quickly went on to devour the entire series.

The first book in Bartimaeus trilogy, The Amulet of Samarkand is a dystopian fantasy. Set in an alternate London, where elite human magicians exploit their control over reluctant demons to rule the British empire. They jealously guard their power through an oppressive bureaucracy, strict cultural rules, and social stratification. Ensconced within the lower rungs of power, Nathaniel hatches a scheme to challenge the order. He summons an ancient djinni, Bartimaeus. While the demon is compelled to follow Nathaniel’s commands, he is not a willing partner. As Nathaniel’s machinations uncover a rebellion, the relationship between the two grows to grudging… show more.

Set in an alternate version of London where a ruling class of magicians lord over nonmagical commoners, The Amulet of Samarkand follows jaded young magician Nathaniel and the djinn named Bartimaeus he summons to enact his revenge on a powerful government magician who slighted him. An egotistical and sarcastic spirit who truly stole the show for me, Bartimaeus possesses a quick wit that shines not only through quips but also through hilarious footnotes littering his chapters. This novel explores the ethics of the magician class and the spirits they enslave as Stroud masterfully weaves this tale from two different perspectives,… show more.

This might seem an unlikely choice for a bromance, especially as the main characters are an ancient summoned demon and a young boy, but despite the young adult genre this book has excellent character growth. Nathaniel is the boy and he starts the book with the emotional depth of a water droplet, so it’s extremely satisfying when the demon mirrors my dislike and expresses the same emotions I feel toward his young captor. It’s even more fun when the demon is wise-cracking and sarcastic. Both characters are unlikeable in the beginning, which made it more satisfying for me when they… show more.

In this book, a boy (Nathaniel)—trying to impress his wizard master—summons a demon, which he then struggles to control. It’s the most obnoxiously loveable demon you’ve ever met. And the boy is a pretty obnoxious 12-year-old himself (as 12-year-old boy wizards are wont to be). Yup. We don’t start out with any truly likable characters. But, guess what, even though boy and demon start as enemies, then move on to become wary allies, they eventually become friends. True, sacrifice-yourself-for-the-other-person friends. However, the thing that—for me—might have been even more magical than that, was that I also become friends with those… show more.

Jonathan Stroud’s Bartimaeus Sequence, consisting of a trilogy and prequel novel, was one of the founding books for my love of fantasy. This is mostly due to the unique and engaging dialogue of one of the books’ protagonists: the ancient demon Bartimaeus.

Bartimaeus’s witty and hilarious interjections to the story come in the form of footnotes, which leave delightful little bits of information for the reader to enjoy throughout the narrative. These footnotes contain worldbuilding info, situational commentary, or even (my favorite) demon jokes.