The Golem's Eye

Jonathan Stroud (author)

Random House Children's Books, UK: 2004; 570pp

ISBN: 038560808X

Genres: adventure, fantasy

Issues: corruption, ethics, friendship, power, values

The second in the Bartimaeus trilogy, this is definitely the darker ‘middle act' in Jonathan Stroud's interesting narrative.

The young magician, John Mandrake, whose true name is Nathaniel, is rapidly rising through government ranks following the events of The Amulet of Samarkand. Success is dangerous, however, especially in a society where everything revolves around power.

Many older and more experienced magicians who would love to see the arrogant young man fall from favour, despite his undoubted natural talent. If Nathaniel fails to end the terrorist activities of the Resistance, it may well be that his career will be over before it's started. When some of the most famous and significant places in London are damaged in a series of terrifying attacks, his superiors give Nathaniel an ultimatum: capture the leaders of the underground movement or go back to being a nonentity.

Although he promised to leave him alone, Nathaniel summons the troublesome, mischievous and sardonic djinni, Bartimaeus. Furious, the djinni teases Nathaniel unmercifully - until he realises the power that is really behind the terrorism. It is a power that Bartimaeus encountered three hundred years earlier when he was working for another wizard. Despite his disinterest in human affairs, Bartimaeus has no intention of being killed by a Golem, and works with Nathaniel to track the source of its power, a journey that leads them into the centre of the enemy city of Prague.

Ancient curses, magical devices, intrigue and treachery - all these are woven into a complex and nightmarish narrative that gifted readers will thoroughly enjoy. Stroud once again uses the multiple narrative perspectives that were one of the most original aspects of the first book in this series. Each chapter is written in the third person but with a definite bias towards a particular character's point of view. Bartimaeus' chapters are full biting sarcasm and sardonic black humour. Nathaniel's are imbued with his view of himself as brilliant young magician on the rise, with an underlying sense of deep insecurity and loneliness. Kitty, a leading member of the Resistance, often provides an opposing view, a more cynical and embittered interpretation of how the power of the magical government affects the rest of the population. All of this is expressed in a wide-ranging and advanced vocabulary that will delight readers who are tired of less challenging text.

The novel is cleverly paced, with Bartimaeus' quick-witted retorts and comments adding spice and pace to Nathaniel's more pompous and self-conscious dialogue. Although Bartimaeus is given the prologue, the fact that the djinni doesn't enter the action of the narrative until Chapter 10 does cause the novel to drag a little until then. The addition of Kitty to the story, although essential to the plot, results in a text that is slower, darker and more serious than The Amulet of Samarkand. This is not necessarily a bad thing, simply a reflection of the developing conflict and narrative complexity.

Recommended for advanced readers.