The Bartimaeus Trilogy: the Golem's Eye

Title: The Bartimaeus Trilogy: the Golem's Eye

Author: Jonathan Stroud

Rating:

Who Should Read This Book? Anyone into teen fantasy with a bit of second degree humor; any adult looking for a dark, funny, pseudo-light but kind-of deep read with demons, magic, and politics.

What I Have to Say: Because of how much I love love LOVED the first book in this trilogy, I was SO hoping to be able to give this book five stars, and in the beginning, I thought I was going to be able to. Bartimaeus was back, with the same hilarious and sarcastic whit. He was everything the first book brought us to expect and then some.
Unfortunately, Bartimaeus's point of view is severely underrepresented in this second volume. Stroud puts way too much focus on Nathaniel who, despite being the main character, has gone from just somewhat unlikable to completely unlikable, and this adds a little bit too much gloom to the already gloomy atmosphere of the book.
Luckily, Stroud also spends a great deal of time focusing on Kitty, a fiery, feisty girl who plays a major role in the resistance. She is completely likable and allows us to see everything from an outsider point of view.
Jonthan Stroud's writing is strong, his story intricate, complex, and exciting. One of the amazing things accomplished in this book is that it is almost impossible for the reader to decide whose side they are on. Who are the good guys and who are the bad guys? It's hard to tell.
While there were a couple parts that lagged and while I think a bit more Bartimaeus would have made it a bit more readable, this book was awesome for what it was, and the world Stroud creates is vivid and fascinating and something about which I am excited to read more..

Summary(taken directly from Amazon):Due to the success of his first campaign involving the Amulet of Samarkand, Nathaniel, now fourteen, has been appointed the youngest representative ever to the Office of Internal Affairs, and has been devising traps to capture members of the Resistance--a secretive group of commoners who are determined to undermine the ruling class of magicians. When a magic-sapping Golem’s surprise first attack is labeled an act of Resistance terrorism, Nathaniel reluctantly summons Bartimaeus for help. Meanwhile, a zealous young member of the Resistance, Kitty Jones, is planning to rob the sacred tomb of the great magician Gladstone, and turn the power of his buried magical instruments against the spell makers. The towering clay Golem and its shadowy master unites the destinies of Nathaniel, Bartimaeus, and Kitty together in one fateful night--unfortunately, that night is much too slow in coming.