The Amulet of Samarkand (A Bartimaeus Graphic Novel) (A Bartimaeus Novel)
Disney/Hyperion follows its adaptation of Rick Riordan’s The Lightning Thief (2010) with this sumptuous graphic novelization of the first book in another hit fantasy series, Stroud’s multilayered Bartimaeus trilogy. The fairly text-heavy treatment is a welcome way to balance Stroud’s ever-clever writing with a visual treatment of the plot, in which a boy apprentice summons an impish djinni named Bartimaeus to help him exact revenge upon a particularly nasty magician. Stroud’s inspired twist was to tell the bulk of the story from the tremendously entertaining point of view of Bartimaeus, and here his narration works wonders counterpointing the drama and dialogue in the panels. The artwork is lively, atmospheric, and exciting, with a couple quibbles: the coloring is almost off-puttingly oversaturated, and a longer page count would have alleviated the problem of a few key action sequences getting crammed into tinier and more claustrophobic spaces. Still, the depth of Stroud’s alternate London, some complex political machinations, and the large cast of human and demon characters are all well realized here. Fans and initiates alike will be enchanted. Grades 6-9. --Ian Chipman