The Golem's Eye
By Johnathan Stroud
**Warning: This review contains information about book one, The Amulet of Samarkand that may spoil the first book.
Johnathan Stroud's second work, The Golem's Eye, is just as good if not better than his previous best-seller The Amulet of Samarkand.
After learning Nathaniel's birth-name in the first book, Bartimaeus is sure that the enterprizing magician Nathaniel (now called John Mandrake) will never summon him again, for it is a dangerous thing for a magician's birth name to be known by anyone but himself. But when Nathaniel's career in the fictional London's "Department of Internal Affairs" is going downhill, he calls upon Bartimaeus's help yet again. This time Nathaniel must battle a ferocious Golem, against which Bartimaeus is helpless. Nathaniel and Bartimaeus must learn to work together in some semblence of peace, or both their lives may be forfeit...
Meanwhile, Stroud introduces a third point of view into his stories, that of Kitty Jones, a young member of the Resistance which Nathaniel has been trying to track down for some time now. As Kitty's exploits with the small rebel group get more daring, the stakes get higher and the danger greater. After Kitty winds up alone and on the run from Nathaniel, they both become inter-twined in a desperate attempt to stop the Golem before Britain's enemies use it to destroy the capital...and the Empire.
Overall an excellent read. Stroud's patented mix of satire and edge-of-your-seat action will keep you up reading long into the night...
**Parental Warning: This book contains some brief moments of crude humor that some may find inapropriate for small children.**