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Title: Amulet of Samarkand, The Author: Jonathan Stroud Copyright Date: 2003 Publisher: Mirimax Books

December 2004

Reviews

This book was as entertaining for a Young Adult book that it can be for an adult. The situations were, improbable, but one does suspend disbelief when reading a book of fantasy. Even so, the idea of a child having the ability to summon a strong demon with only book training is, well, ludicrus. The end was also a bit too deus ex machina for my tastes (Caution Contains Spoilers). I mean the bad guy gets in over his head, by wanting to kill the entire government and get power for himself and gets swallowed up by that demon is a little too easy.

I understand the desire to further the suspense of the sequel by not revealing the 'true' bad guy, but it makes Simon Lovelace a red-shirt. There is no real 'bad guy' in the entire book and Nathanial's desire for revenge is too childish to appeal to an adult. However, since the intended audience is younger, this makes sense. Kids do stupid things for stupid reasons.

I do like the idea that the book takes place in the modern world and the characters are believable. Of course my favorite character was Bartimaus and one great character will save a book for me. He's hilarious and the foot notes at the bottom of each page are truly the best part of the book.

This book was an amusing change from our usual choices and after the drama of November's Feature, we decided to treat ourselves with some Young Adult (YA) fiction. This story wasn't just the usual fluff people expect from YA Fiction.

Set in an alternate world where Magicians run the governments of the world and Non-magic users are their reluctant servants. The twist is that all magic is accomplished through the manipulation of demons. A wide variety of demons serve as slaves to the Magicians and wish to slip their leashes to have their revenge. It had a darker side that surprised me with the degree of corruption presented.

Not since Mos Eisley have I seen such a hive of scum and villiany.

All the Magicians cared about was advancing their own petty ambitions. The ruthless nature of their political power struggles made this story more mature than I expected.

Gripes

Gripe #1: "It's a rock monster! It doesn't have motivation!"	I can look back on my youth and remember the idiotic drive to get even over some stupid matter, so I understand the boy's desire to do just that. But I have problems with the adults acting like children. Kids do stupid things for petty reasons but the adults should show a bit more maturity.
Gripe #2: "Maybe you're the plucky comic relief?"	The footnotes were a mixed blessing for me. Some had me laughing my head off while others interupted the flow of the story. Like a paragraph long footnote in the middle of a sentence.