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I really loved this book, the first of the Bartimaeus Trilogy.

It's tempting to compare the book to the Harry Potter series. Young boy. Magic. Sneaking around. Breaking the rules. Stern teachers. But the similarities really end there.

In Stroud's world, magicians have no power of their own - their power lies in the knowledge of how to summon (and enslave) spirits, like the djinni Bartimaeus, to do their will. These magicians are the proud, arrogant, entitled upperclass that pretty much oppress the commoners who work the city's factories and low-life jobs. They are bred for government, are not allowed to themselves breed, and thus take on apprentices instead to further the magical profession.

One of the book's protagonists, Nathaniel, is one such apprentice, to the ineffectual Mr. Underwood. And the book's 2nd protagonist is Nathaniel's djinni of choice. the book's namesake, the delightfully sarcastic, witty, and mischievous Bartimaeus.

There are a lot of fantastic things about this book. Bartimaeus' hilarious footnotes. The witty style of writing. The changes of style that accompany the change in POV from chapter to chapter. Characters that aren't just flat out good or bad, but rather a more mixed bag. "Real" people, in other words, motivated by ambition, or revenge, or greed.

Anyway, the book is good. And best of all, it's well written. I can't wait to read the rest of the trilogy.