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A review by shombiswas
Ptolemy's Gate by Jonathan Stroud
4.0
I read this in 2005, and wrote a note on it. Going through my old blog, I found this. So why not let's consolidate. So here you go, from Dec 28, 2005.
.....................................................................................
So what do we have? A young apprentice magician. Evil, evil foes that are out to rule the world. Murder and mayhem. Teenage crushes and all that.
Ah, another wannabe Rowling I see! Right?
Wrong.
I wish JKR has the courage to do a Jon Stroud. To stick to her story till the end and not sell out to popular demands of thrill-a-minute entertainment. And coming as it does from an unabashed standing-in-the-line-for half-an-hour-on-the-first-day-to-buy-the–newest-book Harry Potter fan, that’s quite a bit to say, trust me.
Yes, this series is good. THAT good. Take my word for it.
Coming to the storyline (one could relax, no spoilers ahead), Nathaniel alias John Mandrake is an ambitious young apprentice magician, with big dreams and supreme confidence, with an unhealthy concoction of cockiness and pride to boot. Present day London, where he lives, is literally the centre of the earth in terms of power and prestige, and that comes with the city boasting of the greatest magicians of the day, and Nathaniel too has dreams of reaching the hallowed pantheon of the likes of William Gladstone (Oh yeah, the same guy you read about in history books, the same scourge of Benjamin Disraeli and prime minister and prime mover of the British empire of the 19th century.. Just that, you did not know that he was a great magician, indeed one of the greatest, and thus came his repute). So, that’s the parallel universe we are talking about here. Stuck as he is as understudy to a rather vain yet quite mediocre magician, sometime in the past, Nathaniel was humiliated by a powerful magician called Simon Lovelace. A plan for revenge is hatched.
Here I have to mention that magicians, all powerful as they are, have as the only source of their power other beings, often referred to by the magicians themselves as demons, who are the ones who have the power to do magic. They live in the other world and the magicians can call upon them, and use them for their magical biding. Once a being is called upon (with a correct summoning of course, these beings are capable of, and eager for in most cases if I may add, immense devastation and if the summoning of these beings have not been proper, a magician is liable to be attacked and even destroyed by the being) the being is not released from its chore unless its master (i.e. the summoning magician) agrees to do so. These are, in an increasing order of power, imps, foliots, djinn, afrits and marids… of course, stronger beings than marids are also to be found, but being tougher to handle, are summoned rarely.
Coming back to Nathaniel’s story, he summons an extremely capable djinni (that’s the singular for djinn), Bartimaeus, a fourth-level djinni, also called the Sakhr-al-Djinni and various other names, for his biding. Five thousand years old (to note, the concept of time is different in the other place that these beings reside in), this Bartimaeus is a rather famous djinni. He has been slave to some of the greatest historical figures (e.g. Solomon, Gilgamesh), has had a hand in the creation of some of the most famous historical structures and had fought in some of the greatest wars in history. And now the story begins in all earnest… but as I have promised, none of that will be revealed here.
Now what about the non-magic people (muggles, did someone say)? Ah, no, you will not find too many of the Dursley ilk here. The commoners have a pathetic existence in this world dominated by magicians. Discriminated against, they are very much second class citizens here, never considered as equals by the more magically gifted ones. And that’s where the parallel story of Kitty Jones comes in. A commoner, she’s quite a feisty girl, and yearns for and plots to overthrow this tyrannical rule. This series is about how the lives of Nathaniel, Bartimaeus and Kitty come together in battles against imposing foes after another. And again, I will say no more. As promised, I refuse to divulge even a teensy little bit of the story.
Read the series, I’d suggest. It’s often hilarious (Bartimaeus, did I tell you, is a master of small talk and backchat, and his altercations with Nathaniel and the explanatory footnotes at the bottom of the pages are often a source of genuine mirth), is a genuine page-turner (I finished the series, three books, each at an average 500 pages long, in three days flat) and does not drag at any stage. The conclusion is heartening. Jon Stroud had a chance of continuing with the franchise (not quite a Harry Potter, true, but successful by all means) by extending the story beyond what it should, he didn't, and that stands for courage in my book.
A good part about the book is that if you are looking for Harry Potter, you will get Harry Potter (or very nearly). That is to say, if you would expect fun and frolic and standard-fare good vs. evil, you will get just that. On the other hand, if you would want to read between the lines and look for discrimination in the rule of the elite, look for vestiges of the colonial rule and the reasons for its fall, if you want to look at history, if you are looking for a satirical social commentary, basically if you are looking for serious stuff, you could find that as well. And the two co-exist, and co-exist well.
.....................................................................................
So what do we have? A young apprentice magician. Evil, evil foes that are out to rule the world. Murder and mayhem. Teenage crushes and all that.
Ah, another wannabe Rowling I see! Right?
Wrong.
I wish JKR has the courage to do a Jon Stroud. To stick to her story till the end and not sell out to popular demands of thrill-a-minute entertainment. And coming as it does from an unabashed standing-in-the-line-for half-an-hour-on-the-first-day-to-buy-the–newest-book Harry Potter fan, that’s quite a bit to say, trust me.
Yes, this series is good. THAT good. Take my word for it.
Coming to the storyline (one could relax, no spoilers ahead), Nathaniel alias John Mandrake is an ambitious young apprentice magician, with big dreams and supreme confidence, with an unhealthy concoction of cockiness and pride to boot. Present day London, where he lives, is literally the centre of the earth in terms of power and prestige, and that comes with the city boasting of the greatest magicians of the day, and Nathaniel too has dreams of reaching the hallowed pantheon of the likes of William Gladstone (Oh yeah, the same guy you read about in history books, the same scourge of Benjamin Disraeli and prime minister and prime mover of the British empire of the 19th century.. Just that, you did not know that he was a great magician, indeed one of the greatest, and thus came his repute). So, that’s the parallel universe we are talking about here. Stuck as he is as understudy to a rather vain yet quite mediocre magician, sometime in the past, Nathaniel was humiliated by a powerful magician called Simon Lovelace. A plan for revenge is hatched.
Here I have to mention that magicians, all powerful as they are, have as the only source of their power other beings, often referred to by the magicians themselves as demons, who are the ones who have the power to do magic. They live in the other world and the magicians can call upon them, and use them for their magical biding. Once a being is called upon (with a correct summoning of course, these beings are capable of, and eager for in most cases if I may add, immense devastation and if the summoning of these beings have not been proper, a magician is liable to be attacked and even destroyed by the being) the being is not released from its chore unless its master (i.e. the summoning magician) agrees to do so. These are, in an increasing order of power, imps, foliots, djinn, afrits and marids… of course, stronger beings than marids are also to be found, but being tougher to handle, are summoned rarely.
Coming back to Nathaniel’s story, he summons an extremely capable djinni (that’s the singular for djinn), Bartimaeus, a fourth-level djinni, also called the Sakhr-al-Djinni and various other names, for his biding. Five thousand years old (to note, the concept of time is different in the other place that these beings reside in), this Bartimaeus is a rather famous djinni. He has been slave to some of the greatest historical figures (e.g. Solomon, Gilgamesh), has had a hand in the creation of some of the most famous historical structures and had fought in some of the greatest wars in history. And now the story begins in all earnest… but as I have promised, none of that will be revealed here.
Now what about the non-magic people (muggles, did someone say)? Ah, no, you will not find too many of the Dursley ilk here. The commoners have a pathetic existence in this world dominated by magicians. Discriminated against, they are very much second class citizens here, never considered as equals by the more magically gifted ones. And that’s where the parallel story of Kitty Jones comes in. A commoner, she’s quite a feisty girl, and yearns for and plots to overthrow this tyrannical rule. This series is about how the lives of Nathaniel, Bartimaeus and Kitty come together in battles against imposing foes after another. And again, I will say no more. As promised, I refuse to divulge even a teensy little bit of the story.
Read the series, I’d suggest. It’s often hilarious (Bartimaeus, did I tell you, is a master of small talk and backchat, and his altercations with Nathaniel and the explanatory footnotes at the bottom of the pages are often a source of genuine mirth), is a genuine page-turner (I finished the series, three books, each at an average 500 pages long, in three days flat) and does not drag at any stage. The conclusion is heartening. Jon Stroud had a chance of continuing with the franchise (not quite a Harry Potter, true, but successful by all means) by extending the story beyond what it should, he didn't, and that stands for courage in my book.
A good part about the book is that if you are looking for Harry Potter, you will get Harry Potter (or very nearly). That is to say, if you would expect fun and frolic and standard-fare good vs. evil, you will get just that. On the other hand, if you would want to read between the lines and look for discrimination in the rule of the elite, look for vestiges of the colonial rule and the reasons for its fall, if you want to look at history, if you are looking for a satirical social commentary, basically if you are looking for serious stuff, you could find that as well. And the two co-exist, and co-exist well.