Last night, I finally finished The Golem's Eye, the second book in the Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud. I had to read the first Bartimaeus book, The Amulet of Samarkand for Karin's Harry Potter class last semester. I loved Amulet, so I was excited to read the second Bartimaeus book. However, I found The Golem's Eye to be a little difficult to get into. Amulet had a split narrator: portions were third person limited omniscient and focalized through Nathaniel, a young magician's apprentice. Other portions were first person told through the perspective of Bartimaeus, a dijin (demon). I love, love, LOVE Bartimaeus. His snarky and often irreverrent attitude reminds me a lot of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels.
The Golem's Eye, however, was a bit of a let-down. Don't get me wrong, I thought it was awesome, but I feel like there was too little of Bartimaeus. This novel saw the introduction of a third perspective, third person limited omniscient narration focalized through Kitty, a teenage member of the Resistance, and underground movement seeking to overthrow the magicians. I like Kitty a lot - I think her morals are in the right place, even if she chooses to act in ineffective ways. However, the introduction of this third perspective meant that Bartimaeus took a backseat to Kitty and Nathaniel's points of view.
Magic in the Bartimaeus Trilogy, functions in an interesting way. The magician of almost modern-day London have all the power and control the Commoners - those that do not practice magic. Unlike other series in which magic figures prominently (Harry Potter, for instance), magical ability seems to be arbitrarily decided. Children are given up to be apprentices to magicians when they are very young - Nathaniel is given to his first master, Mr. Underwood, around age 6. During their apprenticeship, these young men and women learn magic - it is not an inherent quality in an individual. Additionally, all the power of the magicians resides in being able to control various demons through incantations and complicated terms of service. Demons, for their part, are enslaved by the magicians and, once called, MUST do their master's bidding. They do try to misinterpret commands as much as possible, as it is their only way to "fight back" against those that are enslaving them (think disobedient house elves).
Anyway, more to the point. The Golem's Eye develops the series by exploring the purpose and origins of the Resistance. The first Bartimaeus book saw some tangles with the Resistance, but no explanation of why this subversive movement arose. I liked Kitty's perspective and it was interesting to compare her morals and values with Nathaniel. While he was supposedly the protagonist of Amulet, he wasn't the most attractive character. He did show an affinity for doing the right thing, but in the end, he was more interested in the advancement of his career than actually helping people. He was a bit arrogant, and refused to see that other points of view had validity.
The second installment of the Bartimaeus Trilogy is no different. Nathaniel is still arrogant and selfish, even more so than in Amulet. It's not that he's a bad person - he's just concerned about his career. The near-affectionate relationship he developed with Bartimaeus is nonexistent in this volume, and Bartimaeus is less than pleased with Nathaniel's "progression" as a magician.
Kitty, on the other hand, is awesome. She cares about doing the right thing which, for her, is overthrowing the magicians and their tyrannical rule. She, as well as the other members of the Resistance, have a resilience to magic. Some members can see or hear magical auras and all have some level of immunity to the magician's powers. Kitty, for example, survived an attack by a demon that left her friend Jakob near-dead and scarred for life.
Overall, I liked the novel, but not as much as I liked Amulet. Perhaps the third volume will recapture some of that excitement for me.
What's up next: On the Edge: My Story by Richard Hammond. You might recall that I posted last time about purchasing this book. As a refresher, Hammond is one of three presenters of BBC's Top Gear, a show for motoring enthusiasts. Even if you know nothing about cars (like me!) chances are you'll enjoy it. Hammond, James May, and Jeremy Clark do ridiculous things (launching a rocket-powered Mini off a ski jump, driving old cars across Botswana, building their own limos, etc) and hilarity often ensues.
Anyway. Hammond's book is partially biography and partially about his September 2006 car crash that nearly killed him. It's likely to make me bawl like a baby, since his wife writes part of the book (He was in a coma after the crash and basically forgot two weeks of his life). I can only imagine how horrific that must have been...I'm sure I'll get into that when I review the book, though.
Also, I fully plan on posting a review of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, but I'm waiting until tomorrow when I see it for the second time.
Mischief Managed,
Pearl
17 July, 2009
28 June, 2009
The Gunslinger / The Drawing of the Three
So...I decided at the end of the school year to turn this blog (at least in part) into a book review blog. Even though I'm done with school, I don't want to lose any of the passion I have for discussing literature. So even if nobody reads these things, even if I never get a single comment, I'm still going to write about the books I read.
Now here's confession time...For as long as I can remember, Stephen King has been an important part of my life. Okay, that sounds creepy. What I mean is that I've read Stephen King's books for a long time. When I was a baby, my mom used to read his books to be as bedtime stories...Well now...That doesn't sound too much better...
At any rate, I love everything Stephen King. He is uh-ma-zing. But I did have one tiny complaint: The Dark Tower series. I read The Gunslinger, the first book in the series, once upon a time. Actually, I tried to read The Gunslinger. I quit after less than 100 pages. It was the only book I ever stopped reading. And from that moment on, I hated The Dark Tower. Passionately.
But I decided this summer to give Roland and The Dark Tower another chance. And - gasp - I enjoyed it. A lot, actually.
For me, brilliant writing means nothing if I don't have an emotional connection to the characters. Even badly written novels can have a fun story if I care about the characters. I dislike the Twilight series because I think it's poorly written and I didn't care about the characters. The more I read, the more I didn't care what happened to them. Edward could have cooked Bella in a stew and I wouldn't have cared.
But I digress. The point is, the first time I read The Gunslinger, I didn't care about Roland. Which is a problem because, in case you didn't realize this, Roland is the character you focalize through. For the whole book. In fact, for much of the book, he's the only character there is. So if you don't like Roland, you're stuck. This time, I cared. I was immediately interested in who Roland was, where he came from, and why he was after The Dark Tower. And, of course, like any good series, King refused to give answers. I guess I'll have to read the other six books for that.
After I finished The Gunslinger, I moved on to the second book, The Drawing of the Three. This one, I didn't like as much. Basically, to move on in his quest to get to The Dark Tower, Roland has to draw people from our world into his world. The first person he draws, Eddie, is a heroin addict. I didn't like him all that much. He had some spunk, but in the end, he's a junkie. Then there was Odetta/Detta (she had a split personality. she got better and now she's called Susannah). I wasn't a huge fan of her. Well, Odetta was alright. Detta was insane. Literally.
Essentially, I felt like King spent too much time with Eddie and Odetta/Detta and not enough with Roland. Maybe that's cause I have a tiny imaginary-person-crush on him, but I missed him. It also didn't help that Roland was in a bad way through most of the book - after having several of his fingers snipped off by a lobstrosity (they gave me nightmares. not pretty) - so it's also a quest to get Roland cured before his time runs out.
In the end, I liked The Drawing of the Three, but not as much as The Gunslinger. Never thought I would say that...
What's up next: The Golem's Eye by Jonathan Stroud.
I'll keep reading The Dark Tower series, but I want to finish up Stroud's Bartimaeus Trilogy first.
Oh, and on another note, I just ordered three really awesome books from the UK. The first is More Tales from Shakespeare by Marcia Williams. It's a sequel to Tales from Shakespeare, and it's basically comic panels of Shakespeare's plays. They're pretty neat.
The second and third are by Richard Hammond, one of the presenters on Top Gear, a BBC show. Justin and I recently discovered Top Gear, and we LOVE it! Hammond is uh-ma-zing. He does ridiculously dangerous things (and almost died doing one of them), but he's fantastic. One of his books is a book for kids about physics (called Putting the Fizz Back in Physics) and the other is an autobiography, mainly about the crash that almost killed him
Anyway, enough gushing for the night. I'm off to bed so I can get to work tomorrow.
Mischief Managed.
Now here's confession time...For as long as I can remember, Stephen King has been an important part of my life. Okay, that sounds creepy. What I mean is that I've read Stephen King's books for a long time. When I was a baby, my mom used to read his books to be as bedtime stories...Well now...That doesn't sound too much better...
At any rate, I love everything Stephen King. He is uh-ma-zing. But I did have one tiny complaint: The Dark Tower series. I read The Gunslinger, the first book in the series, once upon a time. Actually, I tried to read The Gunslinger. I quit after less than 100 pages. It was the only book I ever stopped reading. And from that moment on, I hated The Dark Tower. Passionately.
But I decided this summer to give Roland and The Dark Tower another chance. And - gasp - I enjoyed it. A lot, actually.
For me, brilliant writing means nothing if I don't have an emotional connection to the characters. Even badly written novels can have a fun story if I care about the characters. I dislike the Twilight series because I think it's poorly written and I didn't care about the characters. The more I read, the more I didn't care what happened to them. Edward could have cooked Bella in a stew and I wouldn't have cared.
But I digress. The point is, the first time I read The Gunslinger, I didn't care about Roland. Which is a problem because, in case you didn't realize this, Roland is the character you focalize through. For the whole book. In fact, for much of the book, he's the only character there is. So if you don't like Roland, you're stuck. This time, I cared. I was immediately interested in who Roland was, where he came from, and why he was after The Dark Tower. And, of course, like any good series, King refused to give answers. I guess I'll have to read the other six books for that.
After I finished The Gunslinger, I moved on to the second book, The Drawing of the Three. This one, I didn't like as much. Basically, to move on in his quest to get to The Dark Tower, Roland has to draw people from our world into his world. The first person he draws, Eddie, is a heroin addict. I didn't like him all that much. He had some spunk, but in the end, he's a junkie. Then there was Odetta/Detta (she had a split personality. she got better and now she's called Susannah). I wasn't a huge fan of her. Well, Odetta was alright. Detta was insane. Literally.
Essentially, I felt like King spent too much time with Eddie and Odetta/Detta and not enough with Roland. Maybe that's cause I have a tiny imaginary-person-crush on him, but I missed him. It also didn't help that Roland was in a bad way through most of the book - after having several of his fingers snipped off by a lobstrosity (they gave me nightmares. not pretty) - so it's also a quest to get Roland cured before his time runs out.
In the end, I liked The Drawing of the Three, but not as much as The Gunslinger. Never thought I would say that...
What's up next: The Golem's Eye by Jonathan Stroud.
I'll keep reading The Dark Tower series, but I want to finish up Stroud's Bartimaeus Trilogy first.
Oh, and on another note, I just ordered three really awesome books from the UK. The first is More Tales from Shakespeare by Marcia Williams. It's a sequel to Tales from Shakespeare, and it's basically comic panels of Shakespeare's plays. They're pretty neat.
The second and third are by Richard Hammond, one of the presenters on Top Gear, a BBC show. Justin and I recently discovered Top Gear, and we LOVE it! Hammond is uh-ma-zing. He does ridiculously dangerous things (and almost died doing one of them), but he's fantastic. One of his books is a book for kids about physics (called Putting the Fizz Back in Physics) and the other is an autobiography, mainly about the crash that almost killed him
Anyway, enough gushing for the night. I'm off to bed so I can get to work tomorrow.
Mischief Managed.
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