The Amulet of Samarkand (The Bartimaeus Sequence)

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After quailing under Lovelace's magical intimidations, Underwood leads Lovelace to his study where the amulet is discovered.

Bartimaeus isn't sure what demon or demons are stuck inside the amulet; all he knows is that they are extremely powerful and that it makes the wearer invulnerable to magical attack. Nathaniel gets along tolerably well over the years in the Underwood household until the summer before his eleventh birthday. Once he is released, Nathaniel sets a fleet of mites upon Lovelace, which he easily destroys, and is punished with a beating from one of Lovelace's imps. I also enjoyed the speed at which I could read the book – it took me a couple of days instead of the week or so the original book by Jonathan Stroud would have done – and yet I don’t feel like I missed out on any story. He uses a lot of footnotes in his narrative, supposedly because it is the only way to allow us lowly humans to grasp his complicated operatus mondi (he doesn’t think too highly of us, does he!I did have to explain to my son a bit about the "universe" the book is set in, as the graphic novel version was fairly light on that aspect. Previously, Bartimaeus had awoken in the Tower to be unsuccessfully interrogated by Sholto Pinn and Jessica Whitwell, the Minister of Security. Not surprisingly, this very intelligent boy can’t stand him but he likes his wife, whom he sees as a substitute mother of sort.

Finally, Nathaniel dismisses Bartimaeus with a mutual agreement that he will never summon Bartimaeus again and that Bartimaeus never reveal Nathaniel's birth name to other spirits and other magicians. I found Nathanial’s characters and nativity annoying at times, but considering his age that is nothing to be frown about. Against his will, Bartimaeus is packed off to steal the powerful Amulet of Samarkand from Simon Lovelace, a master magician of unrivalled ruthlessness and ambition. I neka vas ne brine ako se čini da je za mlađe naraštaje pošto i mi straiji možemo mirno da uživamo u ovome. It would have been easier to absorb, would have saved me from moving my eyes, and would have kept the book flowing smoothly.When Nathaniel encounters Simon Lovelace, a brutal, ruthless magician whose ambition knows no limits, Lovelace chooses to openly display his terrifying power and publicly humiliates Nathaniel while Underwood stands meekly by doing nothing to defend his young charge who has barely begun to learn the rudiments of his magical craft. Luring the top echelons of the government to the hall for a conference, Lovelace wore the amulet when he used a summoning horn to summon the great demon, Ramuthra, to kill the government magicians. Now, with world-wide interest in the best-selling Bartimaeus Trilogy, he devotes himself to full-time writing. We both enjoyed the graphic novel version and plan to read the book and remainder of the series soon.