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Here's a brief character study on one of my oldest faves for the Literary Lads we Love carnival!
Upon re-reading The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud, I have to state again how highly I recommend this series, even to people who don’t normally read YA fantasy. It’s based on a universe where magicians abuse their magic powers as a rule, and there are no benevolent Gandalfs or Dumbledores looking out for the powerless. Because really- why would there be? The magic in this series isn’t some speshul inborn ability of the magicians- magic comes from spirits/djinni that magicians have learned to enslave, and everybody else is being crushed under their patent leather shoes as they fight amongst themselves for even more power and wealth.
The protagonists are: a terrorist commoner, a pompous magician, and a snarkily superior djinni. And it’s engaging and well written- you’ll feel sympathy for all their POVs and note how Stroud seems to delight in subverting tropes and even breaking the fourth wall with humour and flair. The only thing I dislike about this series is how it ends. :P (But that's what fix-it fics are for.) There's also a prequel, "The Ring of Solomon", that was published a few years after "Ptolemy's Gate", which I won't be referring to since Nathaniel isn't in it.
Nathaniel starts the series as a five-year-old boy, sold by his commoner parents to become a magician’s apprentice. And we watch as he is shaped to become one of the power hungry rulers through the series, from hero to anti-hero to anti-villain.
( What's in a name? )
Upon re-reading The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud, I have to state again how highly I recommend this series, even to people who don’t normally read YA fantasy. It’s based on a universe where magicians abuse their magic powers as a rule, and there are no benevolent Gandalfs or Dumbledores looking out for the powerless. Because really- why would there be? The magic in this series isn’t some speshul inborn ability of the magicians- magic comes from spirits/djinni that magicians have learned to enslave, and everybody else is being crushed under their patent leather shoes as they fight amongst themselves for even more power and wealth.
The protagonists are: a terrorist commoner, a pompous magician, and a snarkily superior djinni. And it’s engaging and well written- you’ll feel sympathy for all their POVs and note how Stroud seems to delight in subverting tropes and even breaking the fourth wall with humour and flair. The only thing I dislike about this series is how it ends. :P (But that's what fix-it fics are for.) There's also a prequel, "The Ring of Solomon", that was published a few years after "Ptolemy's Gate", which I won't be referring to since Nathaniel isn't in it.
Nathaniel starts the series as a five-year-old boy, sold by his commoner parents to become a magician’s apprentice. And we watch as he is shaped to become one of the power hungry rulers through the series, from hero to anti-hero to anti-villain.
( What's in a name? )
