Sep 08 2007
Author: Christopher Priest
ISBN: 0684817551 DDC: 823.014
Read for the RIP Challenge
See also: LibraryThing ; Fantasybookspot ; Review in Haiku
It began on a train, heading north through England, although I was soon to discover that the story had really begun more than a hundred years earlier.
Apr 04 2007
Dir: Neil Burger
Writ: Neil Burger based on short story Eisenheim the Illusionist by Steven Millhauser
In Austria at the turn of the 20th century a young carpenter’s son falls in love with a girl from the local nobility. Obviously her family are not impressed by this and do their best to separate the pair, and after much drama they succeed. The young boy is Eisenheim, aka Eduard Abramovich, and at the very beginning of this film we see him on stage in Vienna. As he begins his act he is promptly arrested by Inspector Uhl. Uhl then heads off to debrief the Crown Prince Leopold, and as he does we get to see all the back story too.
I loved the look of this film. Visually it worked really really well. Such a pity then that the rest of the film fell short. I never got a sense of Eisenheim as a character. Yes, we know that he loves Sophie, who by now is unofficially engaged to the Leopold, but as for the rest of his character? Nothing. Sophie is slightly more understandable. She has grown up knowing that eventually she’ll have to marry for the good of her family, but yet was never able to forget her teenage love. Leopold is another character fairly lacking in development. He’s the badguy. And that is about it. Inspector Uhl is probably the most rounded of the main characters, and he is played superbly by Giamatti.
If I’m going to be brutally honest I was a little bored by this film. Possibly because I had a fair idea of what was going to happen all along. Show Spoilers ▼
IMDb | Stuff as Dreams are Made on | Western Eye | At the movies
Tags: 6 Stars, Austria, based on book, C19th, Edward Norton, Eisenheim the Illusionist, Jessica Biel, magicians, missing characterisation, murder, Neil Burger, Paul Giamatti, Rufus Sewell, Steven Millhauser, The Illusionist, visually stunningNov 16 2006
Dir: Christopher Nolan
Writ: Christopher Nolan, & Jonathan Nolan
I really wanted to enjoy this film. I thought the trailer made it look intriguing, I liked the films of Nolan that I’ve already seen. And who isn’t a fan of Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman? But, something, I’m not quite sure what, felt flat and dull about this film.
The plot revolves around two magicians in London at the end of the 19th century. They start the story as friends, working in the same act, but then an accident happens and they end up bitter rivals. At first they try to ruin each other’s careers and lives, but soon both get caught up in “the ultimate trick” and try to figure out how it is done.
The plot unfolds through flashbacks and the reading of diaries, both men picking through the lives of the other. We start towards the end of the story, with Borden (Bale) in prison awaiting trial for the murder of Angier (Jackman), and at the end we return to that time for the grand finale.
All the acting is top-notch, but the story is a bit of a let down, and more than a little obvious. There are twists and turns, but all are signposted and although not everything turns out exactly as you might have thought, in most cases I could see what was going to happen. Then again I suppose that is part of the film, and for the most part the rest of the film makes up for this limitation.
What I really liked about The Prestige was the fact that there were no good guys and no bad guys, no one in a white hat to cheer on. Both rivals had their reasons for acting and the audience’s sympathies do switch from one to the other.
I did like the film, but I couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed in it.
IMDb | SSD | Slant Magazine | Me against the Keyboard
Tags: 8 Stars, Andy Serkis, C19th, Christian Bale, Christopher Priest, diary, flashbacks, historical fiction, Hugh Jackman, Jonathan Nolan, magic, magicians, Michael Caine, Piper Perabo, Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson, The PrestigeOct 15 2006
Author: Jonathan Stroud
ISBN: 0552550280
DDC: 823.914
Book 3 in The Bartimaeus Trilogy
See also: Library Thing ;
The assassins dropped into the palace grounds at midnigh, four fleet shadows dark against the wall. The fall was high, the ground was high; they made no more sound on impact than the pattering of rain.
The third book in this series, Ptolemy’s Gate is the final chapter in the story of the djinni Bartimaeus and his master Nathaniel, aka John Mandrake. Three years have passed since the end of the second book, and in that time Nathaniel has become more and more John Mandrake the magician, and less and less Nathaniel the person. He has also kept Bartimaeus around for far too long, two years without respite, and now the djinni is far from his best, weak and almost powerless, yet never without a sarcastic remark to make.
Kitty also makes a return in this book, although this time without the Resistance. She has grown disillusioned with the futility of trying to battle the magicians, and the constant talk but little action from many of the “commoner’s groups”. But she does have a plan of her own. One that involves Bartimaeus and his past, and the reason he so often takes on the guise of an Egyptian boy.
As in the other books we get a variety of narrators, each with their own style and humour, from Bartimaeus to Nathaniel, to Kitty to an omniscent narrator. My favourite has to be Bartimaeus, maybe because I am partial to footnotes and sarcasm.
This is a little dark in places, but overall a fun, entertaining, humourous read. I’m also tempted to say that it may possibly have political overtones, what with an overly authoritarian government spying on its own people “for their own good” but I won’t bring that up. There are some very nice touches throughout the book, whether that is rewriting history and myth so that events fit into this alternate world, or just Bartimaeus’ views on the world. Well worth reading.
Tags: 7 Stars, 823.914, alternate history, djinni, ffseries, group read, Jonathan Stroud, magicians, Ptolemy's Gate, sff, The Bartimaeus TrilogySep 19 2006
Author: Jonathan Stroud
ISBN: 0552550272
DDC: 823.914
#2 in The Bartimaeus Trilogy
Group Read: FFseries
See also: Library thing
London: a great and prosperous capital, two thousand years old, which in the hands of the magicians aspired to be the centre of the world. In size at least it had succeeded.
Although in the previous book Nathaniel said, almost promised, he wouldn’t summon Bartimaeus again, events force his hand. He needs a servent demon that he can trust trust. Well, for a certain value of trust, given the relationship between magicians and their slaves.
The resistance that made a brief appearance in The Amulet of Samarkand make a reappearance, and a much more substantial one as they attempt to rouse the general populace into revolt against the tyranny of the magicians. But the commoners aren’t to be persuaded by random acts of theft and violence. So the resistance have to raise their game.
So we come to know more about Kitty, the girl who turned up in the first book. How she became part of the Resistance, and why.
And then there is the mysterious entity causing widesprad destruction throughout London. No one knows what it is, all they know is that it is dangerous, having killed several spirits.
Stroud’s second book in The Bartimaeus Trilogy is even more readable and enjoyable than the first. We get to see what changes 2 years and 8 months have wrought on Nathaniel, and to find out that for the most part these aren’t too great. Now moving in more powerful circles he has become more and more a magician, with all the faults that entails, such as being overly ambitous, power-hungry, unfeeling, vain and I could go on.
Bartimaues, of course, is his usual old self. Time doesn’t really pass in the Other Place, and besides as a djinni several thousand years old almost 3 years isn’t really that long a time span.
As with the last book the narrative shifts from one point of view to another, though this time round there are three narrators; Nathaniel, Bartimaeus and Kitty. Each with their own agenda and perspective on events.
This is the middle book of the trilogy, the one that is usually the least entertaining as there is no “shiny new world� to show off, and a lot of set-up for the final installment. This doesn’t really suffer from that problem as it has one self-contained story that the book resolves by the end. Stroud also develops the world he has created, so we get to visit Prague, and to see how the commoners live.
All in all an entertaining and amusing read, with plenty of humour thrown in.
Tags: 7 Stars, alternate history, ffseries, Jonathan Stroud, magicians, series, sff, The Bartimaeus Trilogy, The Golem's EyeAug 30 2006
Author: Jonathan Stroud
ISBN: 0552550299
DDC: 813.54
#1 in The Bartimaeus Trilogy
Group read: FantasyFavorites & FFseries
See also: LibraryThing ; Official Site
The temperature of the room dropped fast. Ice formed on the curtains and crusted thickly around the lights in the ceiling.
In an alternate modern day London a young boy, Nathaniel is busy summoning what he would call a demon. Bartimaeus, the being summoned prefers the term djinni (genie), but he’d actually prefer not to be summoned at all. He’ll do anything he can to free himself from his master’s control. Especially when he learns that Nathaniel wants him to steal a very valuable amulet from a powerful amulet. But if Nathaniel remains careful and keeps to the rules then Bartimaeus must obey or face punishment and pain. Obeying also has its own worries, the guardians and security around the amulet. Not to mention the fact that the other djinn might learn that his master is all of eleven years old. Slightly embarrassing when you are a 5,000 year old djinni.
Stroud has created an interesting world in this book. One where magician’s rule England through the power of the djinn, and other beings, that they summon and control. These beings are never happy about being enslaved, and if they get the chance will kill their masters so that they can return back to where they come from. The magicians are the elites of this world, they have all the power, and the commoners have nothing.
In the occasional mentions of other countries and past centuries, we learn that not all lands have magicians in control. In some places the magic users have been overthrown, and commoners rule. But in England the magicians are in control. They run the government, they are the politicians, and they care very little for the lives of anybody but themselves.
But all that is simply backdrop to the story of Bartimaeus and Nathaniel as they both get pulled into intrigue and danger, all arising out of Nathaniel’s childish wish for revenge.
The narration of the book is divided between the usual, all-knowing narrator and Bartimaeus as a first person narrator, complete with footnotes. He operates on several planes at once you see, footnotes are his way of simplifying matters so that humans can understand. But Bartimaeus’ story is not that straight forward, occasionally it’ll seem as though the third person narrator has taken over, only for the reader to discover that no, it is still Bartimaeus telling the story, he is simply describing the form he has taken, and its actions as though it were someone else.
At first this switching between perspectives is a little distracting, but you soon get into it and it makes a lot of sense.
The book is a nice blend of humour, action and magic. Bartimaeus is probably more interesting than the other main protagonist, but Nathaniel is only eleven, it is understandable that he is slightly more straight-forward. I liked the fact that our two heroes don’t really like each other, they certainly don’t trust one another. Like all magician’s Nathaniel has been taught to fear and hate the spirits he summons and controls. And as for Bartimaeus, well it is easy to understand that he might not enjoy being at the back and call of any old human who knows the summoning spells.
I’ll look forward to the next two books in this trilogy.
Tags: 7 Stars, 813.54, alternate history, djinn, Fantasy Favorites, group read, London, magic, magicians, sff, The Amulet of Samarkand, The Bartimaeus TrilogyDec 04 2004
Author: Susanna Clarke
ISBN: 0747570558 DDC: 823.923
