This was a nice adaptation of the novel which I read a few years ago. I've found with some of these novels adapted into graphic novels, you really have to have read the novel first in order to follow the graphic novel. This one could stand on its own or, even better, inspire people to read the novel, which is top notch kids' fantasy, right up there with the Harry Potter series and the Abhorsen trilogy, and better than the Percy Jackson books (although I enjoy those too). ( )

It's been many many years since I read the original novel version of the story of Nathaniel and Bartimaeus, so I can't quite remember enough of the details to do a true comparison with this graphic novel edition. That being said, there are some really wonderful things and some really terrible things about this book on its own. The big benefit to presenting this novel in graphic format is that the illustrations add a lot of flavour to the story. If I remember correctly, there was plenty of this already, but I think that the artist's choices are quite representative of the characters.

What bugged me about the adaptation right from the beginning was the chapter headings. They appear far too often in story line at the beginning and take up an entire panel, which totally throws off the reader's visual progression and makes it difficult to get immersed in the story. Clearly they were trying to maintain the chapter breaks from the novel, but when they're therefore on every page it is obvious that it would have been better to break up the graphic novel into larger "chapters" and do away with the original chapter breaks.

Overall, it was an entertaining read once I got past the diversions and really got into the plot, but it's pretty clear that the graphic novel doesn't quire stand up on its own - hence the rest of the novels not getting adaptations as well. ( )

I very much enjoyed this book--I listened to the audiobook version and the narrator had the most wonderful voice. The character of Bartimaeus was the chief joy of the book for me--arrogant and cheeky and sly, as a demon should be, with a personality as big as his notion of his own wonderfulness. I didn't like the main human character, Nathaniel, as much, but have hopes that he might improve (that is, become less whiny and self-pitying) in later books. ( )

This book is one of the best graphic novels I have ever read. It is about a magician's apprentice named Nathaniel (John Mandrake) who wants revenge on his master. He summons a 5000 year old powerful djinni named Bartimaeus. He is charged to retrieve the Amulet of Samarkand from the house of a master magician - Simon Lovelace. This book is thrilling and really fun. Anyone will love reading this. ( )

A djinn unlike any other will make you laugh and wonder how you could actually like a creature so devious. But I guess in a world that he is summoned to, it isn't so hard to love him.

Bartimaeus is a very old, quite powerful, and especially hilarious djinn. He is summoned by a new wizard, a boy, who should not have the ability to summon anything remotely as powerful as Bartimaeus, but he does. Not only does he summon him, he outwits him and tricks him into doing his bidding.

There is a bad wizard out there. Lovelace is power hungry, greedy, and just a nasty piece of work. He embarrasses this young, powerful wizard and this child is not playing games. He is now out for revenge against Lovelace. His journey of vengeance causes him to lose everything he ever loved...

I loved this book when I read the novel about a year ago. I was sucked into the brilliance of the story, the original way it was told, and the overall feel of the book. When I saw there was a graphic novel available, I jumped at the chance to get to see what I had imagined all this time.

The artwork in this book is very striking, and I think this graphic novel did a great job leaving the main essence of the story in place. Like any movie adaptation, a graphic adaptation of a novel will have to change a few details and leave things out, but this story was just as engaging as the original. I highly recommend it to anyone.

It really was a treat to get to see the different planes the way Bartimaeus gets to see them, the imps, the demons, and of course the climax of the story was quite captivating. I am looking forward to seeing the rest of the books in the series in graphic novel form. It was a great break in my work day to sit back and relax with this. ( )