The first book in the series, The Amulet of Samarkand introduces Nathaniel, a gifted 12 years old student of a mid-level magician named Arthur Underwood. When a magician called Simon Lovelace cruelly humiliates Nathaniel in public, Nathaniel decides to take revenge by stealing Lovelace's most powerful possession, the Amulet of Samarkand. Without notice from his tutor, he begins to study advanced magic in order to summon the djinni Bartimaeus and enslave him to do his order. But Bartimaeus isn't a "sweet" djinni. Respected over centuries for his power, he won't easily gave up to a 12 years old's order, the fact itself made him shock already. Together, the two of them try to defeat Lovelace and his most powerful demon, Ramuthra, who was last seen destroying entire nation.

The other two books was about Nathaniel's growth and his journey to become somebody; a magician, and Bartimaeus of course. Together, with only a few other interesting characters; they serve such a magical story to remember.

It is the characters that really stand out in this book and I simply couldn't get enough of them. The narration switches back and forthbetween Nathaniel and Bartimaeus. Nathaniel is a complex, bad tempered, stubborn, highly-intelgent but often foolish and naive because of his age.The star of the show is of course Bartimaeus, an all-knowing Demon, with a wicked sense of humor, who enjoys causing much trouble as he can. It's addictive to read him tease and mock Nathaniel at every turn. 

I also like the concept of demon and master here. Even tough the magician master has full control over the demon they called, the demon themselves will take any opportunity to trick, deceive (or eat) their masters. In human world, magicians are in government overruling the non-magical commoners. So there's also some political issue through the 2nd & 3rd book. It made the story even humanly, with a nice touch of darkness. Much different from the Harry Potter series, it seems like no one from this story really reassemble the "good" main character, everyone of them is filled with darkness, until the commoner girl named Kitty came to Nathaniel and Bartimaeus's life.

Stroud has created a rich, vibrant world of magic and demons. Some readers may find the beginning a little slow. Everything is a little mysterious & at times a bit confusing, but I urge you to keep reading.. by a few chapters in I was hooked and couldn't pull down. I won't write much more about the actual storyline here, I wouldn't want to spoil you, except to say that it is a thrilling adventure—full of mystery and twists and whispers and a future battle that sets the foundations for a brilliant trilogy. Good read, good new world.

 Not to be missed for young adult fiction freaks !

NB : the character's name were all taken from Bible (author's note)