I really don't have a whole lot to say about the final book in the Bartimaeus Trilogy. I quite enjoyed reading it but I must say that I found the ending highly surprising.

Well, I loved it so much that I had to run the child to the library as soon as it was done on the excuse of returning her library books, but really, so I could check out the next one.

Bartimaeus is fabulously snarky, but this one really takes the time to explore how this alternate world England works. In short: the magicians have made a mess of things. Fortunately, there is a perfectly good character interested in fixing all this. I dearly love how Kitty doesn't even pretend that she's not going to keep right on at her chosen tasks.

Great stuff, including the lesser characters, both good and evil.

Library copy

Upon reading the cover and the first few pages I thought this was a knock off Harry Potter.  But first impressions are often wrong--and I was so wrong that I find it funny now!  Reading this book I fell in love with a sassy mid-level Djinni named Bartimaeus.  I never thought I'd ever be able to see lovable in a demon character (fiction or nonfiction)! I found the book enchanting, engaging and interesting.  It was a surprising mix of themes.  You could see parts of the book being inspired by 1984 where the elite were 'magicians' or people who used demons as magical slaves over their proletariat masses. Interestingly the world was crafted so layered, imaginatively, and well thought out-- that it included a seemingly modern world that lacked most modern advances of our actual civilization because the elites stifled innovation by using their supernatural and dangerous slaves as work force instead of relying on human innovation.  It is a unique concept written plausibly to a logical conclusion in the world written.  I really enjoyed the story! 

Books I "have" to read by December 31st, even though literally nothing will happen to me if I don't. It is completely arbitrary and motivated solely by my OCD.

(Part I Here)

(Part II Here)

Pages: 562.

Genre: YA Fantasy.

First Sentence: "At dusk, the enemy lit their campfires one by one, in greater profusion than on any night before." 

Summary: It has been a few years since Nathaniel and Bartimaeus last met, and since then, Nathaniel has made a name for himself in the British government. He has been tasked with putting a stop to the Resistance, a rebel group that has been embarrassing the government with their raids and attacks on the magicians. Although Nathaniel had promised Bartimaeus he would never summon the djinni again, Nathaniel finds himself in need of a competent demon in a hurry, and the only one that comes to mind is Bartimaeus.

Review: While I thoroughly enjoyed the first book in this series, The Amulet of Samarkand, The Golem's Eye did not live up to my expectations. Nathaniel is 14, and is going through an awkward stage in his life. This teenage angst combined with the fact that he has lost sight of his morals while moving up in the government made him a rather annoying character to read. While the chapters that were told from his point of view were interesting, that was more due to what was happening to Nathaniel, as opposed to how he reacted to the events.

I was also hoping for more camaraderie between the characters. Nathaniel and Bartimaeus bicker quite a bit, just as in the last book, but they didn't exhibit a lot of team work while trying to bring down the Resistance. The one character interaction I was interested in (Kitty and Bartimaeus) was too brief and located at the end of the book. The relationship those characters had was what I wanted to see between Nathaniel and Bartimaeus. 

Some people will probably say, yes, Anna, that's the point of this novel, and perhaps the third one will be about them all coming together and growing up and sticking to their ideals. Well, whatever. It was too much of a drag for me, personally, which is a shame because I thought the first book was pretty fab.

The plot was great, but dragged on a bit at the beginning. Altogether, not a terrible book, but definitely a let down. 

tl;dr: Magicians, demons, a rebellion, and angst. 

Rating: 3/5.