New Price: $6.66

December 20, 2008.

Nothing like the 1st of the trilogy.

Rating: 3
Though the trilogy is marketed as a children's book, I liked the 1st one quite a lot. It was like Harry Potter without the fluff and gave a view from the demon's side, and a witty demon he was. So I wanted to read this book, the 2nd of the 3, but soon found out it was not like the 1st at all. We no longer have the lighthearted djinni nor do we feel a liking for Nat. This time around, the magicians are suddenly the root of all that it wrong with the Empire: they're fat, lazy, greedy, and have put up a police state to protect themselves and their rule from the "commoners", and Nat is now one of them.
In addition, in order to show what the commoners have to endure, the readers must now endure hundreds of pages of Kitty's side of the story. And it bloats the novel to well over 500 pages. By the end we don't know who the good guys are; certainly not the magicians, maybe not the commoners who have done nothing more noble than steal and use magic, causing death and destruction all over London; if anything we wonder if the 3rd book will give the demon some more leeway to be a force in his own right: after all, it's The Bartimaeus Trilogy, not The Nathaniel Trilogy.
Much too dark, brooding, serious, and preachy; and too long by at least 100 pages. I just hope the 3rd book is more like the 1st, with more demonic humor and Nathaniel (now John Mandrake) as a character we can empathize with once again. I was sort of glad to get through this one.

December 07, 2008.

Deserves 4.5 though....

Rating: 4
This is a pretty good book. It involves many questions answered from book 1, but creates more questions to keep you reading. Not as good as the first book, it starts kind of slow. Not much happens, but the it takes off and becomes like the first book. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes the Artemis Fowl series or the Lightning Thief. Even people who like Harry Potter should like it. Overall, pretty good book.
BY RYAN BADIEE

December 09, 2008.

Great read.

Rating: 4
I waited a few months before finally reading the 2nd installment of the bartimeaus trilogy, mainly because the first was good but not great. To my surprise, the 2nd book is even better than the first. The plot thickens substantially over the 1st. Nathaniel is 2 years older and it's clear that he is destined to be the stereotypical power-hungry magician with little conscience for matters that don't play to his own personal gain. It becomes clear that nathaniel is not intended to be a character to appreciate. Unfortunately 1/3 of the book is dedicated to his point-of-view. This makes the book difficult to read since most readers will not like him and will be rooting for his destruction.

The humor of bartimeaus is still fresh, which is an accomplishment. Similar characters in other stories tend to become stagnant or loose their appeal. You also get more insight into his background and substance is given to why demons truly hate magicians. The book also includes Kitty and the path of the resistance and by the end of the book, leaves the impression that something much bigger will come of it.

All-in-all, it was a very good book, although slightly longer than what i think it should have been. There is a lot of information to learn, but by the end you are almost skipping paragraphs to get to the point. I've read many Books longer than this one, yet for some reason this one just seemed like it would never end even though it was a great book. For that reason, and because I still strongly dislike nathaniels character and i think too much time was spent on him, i gave this only a 4-star review rather than 5.

December 24, 2008.

Another good tale.

Rating: 4
I had thought that the first book was okay, so I picked up the second book, even though I groaned when I saw all the chapters narrated by Kitty when I first picked it up. Contrary to what most people are saying, I loved wincing at Nathaninel's nastiness and I personally found Bartimaeus to be funnier than in the first book. I liked the plot much better and even found myself eventually enjoying Kitty's sections. Overall, a great book. I like Nathaniel and Bartimaeus's relationship and can't wait to see how it evolves. I also find Bartimaeus's fondness for his previous master Ptlomey touching.

December 18, 2008.

Not as good as the first, but still good.

Rating: 4
I read the first book to see if it was appropriate for my 9 year old twin boys. I really enjoyed the first book and decided to read the 2nd book of the three books. It was interesting at times, a little slow at times too. But I felt it wrapped up nicely. I'm willing to read the 3rd and final book just to see how it ends.