The Bartimaeus Trilogy
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The Golem's Eye - UK first edition
The Golem's Eye
Biographical Information
Author

Jonathan Stroud

Release date

2004

Pages

570

Publisher

Doubleday

Chronology
Predeceded by

The Amulet of Samarkand

Succeeded by

Ptolemy's Gate

The Golem's Eye is the second book in the Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud. It was originally published in 2004 by Doubleday.

Blurb[]

The second adventure in the Bartimaeus trilogy finds our young apprentice magician Nathaniel working his way up the ranks of the government, when crisis hits. A seemingly invulnerable clay golem is making random attacks on London. Nathaniel and the all-powerful, totally irreverent djinni, Bartimaeus, must travel to Prague to discover the source of the golem's power.

In the ensuing chaos, readers will chase a dancing skeleton across London's skyline, encounter the horror of the dreaded Night Police, witness a daring kidnapping, and enter the Machiavellian world of the magician's government. Eventually, Nathaniel and Bartimaeus have to go head to head with the fearsome golem before the surprise identity of his master is finally revealed.

Summary[]

The magician Nathaniel's career in the government is seriously threatened by a serious of unexplained and mystreious attacks in London. Pressured to find out the source of this destruction, he is forced to again summon Bartimaeus to help, making yet another pact with him. In the meantime, the rebel group known as the Resistance attempt to pull off their most audacious mission yet.

Plot[]

Warning: Contains spoilers!

After unsuccessfully attempting to find information on the Resistance, Nathaniel is pressured into summoning an immediately accessible, loyal servant. He summons Bartimaeus and charges him to find the unknown attacker and destroy it or at the very least identify it.

Meanwhile, Kitty is a member of the Resistance trying to overthrow the oppressive rule of the magicians. They perform vandalism and robbery, but as yet have achieved nothing concrete. Kitty has serious doubts about the success of the Resistance, because "it didn't matter what they did in the end; it didn't matter what they stole, what daring attacks they made. It would make no difference ... Nothing she had ever done had made any difference, right from the beginning." Now, however they have a mysterious benefactor, and are planning to rob the grave of Gladstone, the first magician Prime Minister.

Bartimaeus and Queezle (a female djinni for whom he has affection) are put in charge of a small group of spirits. When the attacker enters the British Museum, killing Queezle, Bartimaeus discovers it is a golem. Together Bartimaeus and Nathaniel travel to Prague, and evading the police, discover the creator of the golem's animating scroll. Things become complicated however, when the Bearded Mercenary turns up. Once again, Bartimaeus narrowly avoids death at his hands, and the duo return to London, where they hear about the activities of Honorius the afrit.

Nathaniel charges Bartimaeus to destroy Honorius, which he nearly succeeds in doing, though he mistakenly believes that he has fully succeeded. He is then sent to kidnap Jakob Hyrnek to lure Kitty out of hiding. When the Night Police attack, Bartimaeus saves Kitty from them, taking her to an abandoned building he had hid in, together with Nathaniel, in the previous book. There, Bartimaeus and Kitty share an interesting conversation about demons and historical cycles. Events conspire against them, and Nathaniel, Kitty, Bartimaeus and Hyrnek end up in an alley facing the golem. Acting on Bartimaeus' advice, Kitty destroys the golem after it renders Nathaniel unconscious; she then flees together with Jakob and Bartimaeus tells Nathaniel that she died saving him.

Alternate History[]

It's important to note that each Bartimaeus novel has a variation of history. The only reference to history within the Bartimaeus novels is that eluding to William Gladstone in "the Amulet of Samarkand". It states that he died in 1898 and he died 110 years ago therefore the novel takes place in 2008. The Amulet of Samarkand, two years previous takes place in 2006. The novels were published in 2003 and 2004 so there set slightly in the future.

Gallery[]

Editions[]

Trivia[]

  • The Golem's Eye is the only book of the sequence not to feature a Greater spirit.
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