Commentaires client les plus utiles
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5.0étoiles sur 5
Courtesy of Teens Read Too, Aoû 27 2007
He's back! But this time around, the smart-mouthed djinni, Bartimaeus, is exhausted from too much work and not enough time to recover in his netherworld home. It's like they always say, "All work and no play makes Bartimaeus a dull supernatural being." Although, in this case, he's anything but dull. He's tired, weak, sharp-tongued, homicidal, and insulting. But definitely not dull.
In this third installment of THE BARTIMAEUS TRILOGY, the hero is again a djinni who has little respect for humans and even less interest in their petty wars and government squabbles. The magicians who rule England in this series of books insist on summoning Bartimaeus and scores of other demons to fight their wars, provide magical assistance of all sorts, and generally do their bidding. The demons see this treatment as slavery, and for good reason. What would you call forced servitude for no pay under threat of intense pain?
PTOLEMY'S GATE opens to find poor Bartimaeus stretched to the breaking point by his magician master, Nathaniel. A war in America is going poorly, the commoners of London are growing tired of the ruling class of magicians, and young Nathaniel is looked upon with jealousy and mistrust by his co-workers. As a result of all of these threats, Nathaniel rationalizes the need to keep Bartimaeus around to help him deal with the many problems that he faces. After a long association with the djinni, it is almost as if Nathaniel trusts his reluctant servant. And it is almost as if Bartimaeus has a shred of concern for human dealings. Almost.
PTOLEMY'S GATE is an excellent capstone to the extraordinary Bartimaeus series. I enjoyed all of these books immensely and recommend them to anyone who enjoys young adult fantasy. Like the first two books, THE AMULET OF SAMARKAND and THE GOLEM'S EYE, this one is filled with humor and excitement. These books also offer some social commentary for those who want to pay attention to such things. For example, the ruling class of magicians in these books take extreme measures to maintain their own positions, while claiming that they are really just interested in keeping the masses safe. There are resistance groups that oppose the government, and they engage in acts of terrorism to free themselves from the magicians' oppressive yoke.
The entiretrilogy is a fun-filled pleasure to read. Doubtless it would be possible to read PTOLEMY'S GATE without having read the previous two books, but I would not recommend it. There is quite a bit of background that would be missed, and the story would definitely suffer. While the first book in the series, THE AMULET OF SAMARKAND, could probably stand alone, the second two (THE GOLEM'S EYE and PTOLEMY'S GATE) should be read together. And once the last page of PTOLEMY'S GATE is turned, readers will undoubtedly wish they could summon Bartimaeus back for more.
Reviewed by: K. Osborn Sullivan
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4.0étoiles sur 5
Partnerships and Empires, Janv. 24 2007
The third part of The Bartimaeus Trilogy, "Ptolemy's Gate" finishes the story began in "The Amulet of Samarkand" and "The Golem's Eye". Like the first two instalments, the majority of the action is set in a mostly recognisable London - admittedly, with a few noticeable changes. The Empire (which still exists), having already defeated the Czech Republic, is now bogged down in a difficult war with the North American colonies. However, French and Czech spies are apparently operating in England, and there is trouble throughout mainland Europe. Magicians have been the ruling class since Gladstone's time, holding all positions of power. Rather than wands and potions, these magicians derive their power from their ability to summon and control a variety of demons - for example, afrits, djinn and imps. Meanwhile the non-magical human masses are referred to as commoners. Despite the fact that the Resistance formed by some 'militant' commoners) was defeated a few years previously, an increasing number of commoners in England are becoming restless.
Three years have passed since the events of "The Golem's Eye". Nathaniel (more widely known as John Mandrake) is now the Information Minister - although he still, unofficially, keeps an eye on things at Internal Affairs. His old rival Jane Farrar, the Deputy Police Chief, is the closest thing he has to a friend on the Council - both are favourites of Rupert Devereaux, the Prime Minister. On Devereaux's instructions, the pair have been working closely together. Following the actions of Lovelace and Duvall - two high ranking, treacherous magicians - Nathaniel and Farrar the pair have been monitoring other magicians. Their surveillance catches a very interesting conversation between two minor Civil Servants - the main point if interest being the mention of a 'Mr Hopkins'. This appears to be the same Hopkins who not only taught the treacherous Duvall how to control his Golem, but also worked with the commoners' Resistance. Nathaniel had searched for Hopkins following the incident with the Golem, but with no success. He also has suspicions there is a traitor within the government. Now, he believes he has found a path to his prey.
Bartimaeus, Nathaniel's favourite fourth-level djinini, is caustic, irreverent and hopelessly vain - he boasts about the walls he built at Uruk and Karnak, but never mentions his work at Jericho. While he was never too fond of Nathaniel, things have now gone too far. Two years have passed since Bartimaeus was allowed to go 'home' and, without a rest, he will die. As it is, he is much slower, weaker and is easily distracted from his duties - a mere fraction of the impressively talented djinn he once was. However, he has lost none of his wisecracking abilities. While he once favoured taking the form of a former master, Ptolemy, he has recently been appearing as Kitty Jones. Kitty, a commoner and former member of the Resistance, saved Nathaniel from Duvall's Golem. Although she escaped, Nathaniel believes she died - largely because Bartimaeus bent the truth beyond all recognition. Seeing Bartimaeus appear as Kitty always makes Nathaniel uncomfortable; as a result, it's one of the few pleasures Bartimaeus has.
Kitty, meanwhile, is still living in London - although she is operating under a number of false identities. (Luckily, she has the papers to support those identities thanks to a friend's father who runs a printing business). While she works some evenings in a pub, she has also started working for a magician called Button. Her new boss is a retired librarian who is interested in research, reading and writing. Unusually, for a magician, he has no interest in playing the political game. Kitty, despite her past in the Resistance, is determined to learn as much from him as possible; she is particularly interested in learning more about Bartimaeus.
Stroud has produced another very enjoyable book, though I am sorry it's the end of the trilogy. As with the previous books, the focus from one chapter to another switches between the characters. Stroud writes Nathaniel's and Kitty's stories ("Nathaniel grasped Kitty by the arm, drew her to one side."), while the djinni tells his own ("I delicately rearranged the fragments of cloth"). It also - finally - becomes clear why Bartimaeus remains so devoted to Ptolemy, his former master, as some of his chapters deal with his time in Egypt.
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5.0étoiles sur 5
excellent ending to the trilogy, Nov. 20 2006
This is a great ending to an excellent trilogy. I've said it before and I'm not ashamed to say it again: don't let the marketing towards the Young Adult bracket put you off; as an adult, and avid adult fantasy book reader, this trilogy could easily be considered for the shelves of the "adult" section too (which is where I found it in Australia, with, dare I say it, much better cover art). The language is quite sophisticated, which is great when mixed with engaging story-telling, in improving the reading skills (and vocabulary) of younger readers.
An excellent conclusion to the trilogy, Ptolemy's Gate neatly wraps up the various stories and plot lines, with some characters recurring to finish off their "dastardly deeds". The climax is satisfying not just in ending this book but for finishing the whole trilogy.
Kitty and Nathaniel (whose magician name is John Mandrake) join forces, with much squabbling, to defeat the demons who have taken possession of the government, while poor Bartimaeus is weakened by being kept in the human world without a rest in three years. His sense of humour is intact, but there's no question he is the most sympathetic character in the trilogy. Even Kitty, with her indomitable spirit and quick mind, needs less help than the poor djinni. Though, by the end, Nathaniel just manages to redeem himself.
The back story of Bartimeaus and Ptolemy is quite lovely, and, ironically, fleshes out the djinni into a character with a strong presence. The trilogy has managed to reveal his character, his personality, all his fears and desires and self-defensive mechanisms, with less tell and more show. Stroud has proven himself skilled at character development, pacing, plot construction and, of course, humour.
I'll certainly be keeping my eye out for more of his books in the future.
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de Jonathan Stroud
de Jonathan Stroud
de Megan W Turner
de Martha Brooks
