Bartimaeus Trilogy, anyone?

[Jane]

Squee!
I'm waiting till it comes out next month to order it.
It's a bit cheaper if a I get a slightly preused copy.
*doesn't want to pay (internet)retail*


I thought this thread had died and disappeared. d:

[Jane]

The Ring of Solomon has officially come out!

The UK/Australian cover is a lie!! He never actually wears the ring as a gargoyle!
Bartimaeus and Farquarl are as funny as ever, especially the bit with the drubbing. Asmira is tiring and her puppy dedication made me want to give her a slap. It's not as intricate or complex as the other Bartimaeus books, but I wasn't expecting it to be. It's still worth reading, though.

[mystmoon]

I found it quite fun, although Asmira grated a bit. Is it set pre-ptolemy? *can't be bothered to check dates for herself*

[Jane]

Yep, way before Ptolemy. I think it's 900 BC. Ptolemy was 125 BC, and Nathaniel was AD 2005(ish, depending on book).

I liked the return of Faquarl; he and Bartimaeus make an awesome duo, even though they don't like each other. Yeah, Asmira was a bit annoying - I'm happy she stopped being so "ILOVEMYQUEEN!" in the end.

[mystmoon]

Yep, way before Ptolemy. I think it's 900 BC. Ptolemy was 125 BC, and Nathaniel was AD 2005(ish, depending on book).

I liked the return of Faquarl; he and Bartimaeus make an awesome duo, even though they don't like each other. Yeah, Asmira was a bit annoying - I'm happy she stopped being so "ILOVEMYQUEEN!" in the end.

i's set in a country with a "puppet" leader again as well...reckon stroud had some bad experience?

[Jane]

Was Solomon a puppet?
He was a pretty awesome guy; the only thing he wasn't really honest about was using a glamour style illusion to make himself look younger.


And guess what?
They've reprinted new editions of the Bartimaeus Trilogy to match the layout of The Ring of Solomon. They now have gargoyle/impy looking Bartimaeus on EVERY COVER (even though he wasn't in gargoyle form in pictured scenes) with the swirly looking header and pentacle decoration. They're smaller than the old books, and Solomon too.
What's with that? 0_o

[mystmoon]

Was Solomon a puppet?
He was a pretty awesome guy; the only thing he wasn't really honest about was using a glamour style illusion to make himself look younger.


And guess what?
They've reprinted new editions of the Bartimaeus Trilogy to match the layout of The Ring of Solomon. They now have gargoyle/impy looking Bartimaeus on EVERY COVER (even though he wasn't in gargoyle form in pictured scenes) with the swirly looking header and pentacle decoration. They're smaller than the old books, and Solomon too.
What's with that? 0_o

I mean, Solomons court of magicians were all using his name to get them stuff, so he was a puppet in that respect.

Argh! I hate it when they change covers, it makes my bookshelf not match! They did the same thing with Artemis Fowl, and I've personally always perferred the originals of those cos you could translate the covers

[Jane]

Maybe Stroud just thinks that the lesson is "Power corrupts"?
It's the same as people charging free stuff on a company credit card.


I hate it when they put out editions of books with movie covers that are inferior to the regular one. And when they price them a few dollars cheaper.
Which Artemis Fowl covers are you talking about? The ones that look like diaries, or the ones with silhouette figures? Or the new ones with the digitally painted covers and a fancy new AF logo? There are so many variations that I've learned to just live with it.

Oh, and guess what I hate!
When a book series' rights get sold to a different publisher when it hasn't been finished, so books 1, 2, and 3 look different from 4 onwards. Different font face, different physical size, different cover style. It's just annoying.

[mystmoon]

Which Artemis Fowl covers are you talking about? The ones that look like diaries, or the ones with silhouette figures? Or the new ones with the digitally painted covers and a fancy new AF logo? There are so many variations that I've learned to just live with it.

I meant the ones that look like this

What fancy ones with a logo? They changed them again?

Stroud's message of Power corrupts is a good one, I just feel that it gets to the point where we're like "Yes ok i get it, magicians are bad powerful overlords, now get bartimaeus to say something funny!"

[Jane]

Yep, here are the new ones that look like this, with the fancy new swirly AF logo.
I don't like them as much as the classic diary style ones. These new covers look like they're aimed for a younger audience, and they're going to look tacky in a few years.

I never thought that the Trilogy got to the point of saying "this side is evil". Mostly because it showed that the other side could be bad, with the greedy graverobbing Pennyfeather crew, and how there were good guys like Mr Button and Ptolemy. It does, however, get to the point where we're like "Yes, ok, we get it! Slavery is bad!".

[mystmoon]

Artemis Fowl covers T^T next thing you know, they'll get rid of the code messages along the bottom

Don't get me wrong, I think Stroud makes some great points about power and how it fraks you up, but he just gets a little preachy, that was why I found Kitty a bit annoying towards the end, and why I was thankful that there was some good action around that bit as well

[Jane]

I wouldn't mind if they removed the message. I've only decoded it once, with the help of the AF Files book, and it took tons of time for a silly environmental message.

Kitty does get kinda preachy, but I'm glad she got called out for it. She was a terrorist after all.

Do you have any favorite characters? I've always thought young Jakob was cute, but then he turned moody and emo. Lucky we have Barty as comic relief or else it would turn into an angst-fest.
I have the feeling that his name is pronounced "Ya-kkob", not "Jay-cob" as I've always mentally pronounced it.

[mystmoon]

If you assume the the code on the front is the tag line on the blurb, they actually don't take that long *has translated all of them-too much free time*

I also liked Jacob, but I got confused as to how bad those burns actually were, because he and Kitty acted like they had completely turned him into the Thing, but Nathan and Bartimaeus didn't even seem to realise until it was pointed out to them.

I liked Queezle, it was interesting to meet a demon that wasn't a complete douche, but she died as well...

[Jane]

I usually go onto one of the fan website to see if they've posted the decoded message. And when it turns out to be disappointing, I go "Darn! Was that it?"

I don't think Nat and Bart realized that quickly because they're too self absorbed and probably didn't know or care what commoners looked like. Golem's Eye Nat was too "My collar! My cuffs! My coat! My job!" in the scene with Jakob to have noticed the Tumbler burns.

Queezle was cute, especially in the Prague prologue scene with Bart. Also, her wide eyed spaniel guise! SO ADORABLE! The book didn't state outright that she died, so you can just pretend that she's just gone into hiding, the same as Nathaniel. And Mrs Underwood. And Ptolemy (Bart left and didn't actually see him die.).

[mystmoon]

hehe, i do wonder sometimes if Nathaniel really kicked it. Would be nice to think Queezle is alive, but...

Nathaniel really is vain in Golem's Eye isn't he! Was glad when Bartimaeus took over the descriptions and blew that cool collected exterior out of the water