CHILDREN'S FICTION
Jolly good yarn
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`Choosing between right and wrong and accepting the consequences of that choice seem to be a part of the quest undertaken by the heroes of fantasy.'
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WITH Harry Potter still dominating the children's book scene and "The Lord of the Rings" all set to bag coveted awards, writers are focussing their talent and time on churning out fantasy fiction to enthral readers of all ages. Fantasy, we tend to believe, is all "swords and dragons" or "some kind of fairy icing" when, from a historical point of view, it is the whole cake. Wizards, werewolves and witches come from ancient fears and power struggles and in the 21st Century, fantasy is expected to reflect as well transcend its time. Jonathan Stroud's The Amulet of Samarkand is set in modern-day London, controlled by magicians and djinnis belonging to other worlds and times... Nathaniel, a young apprentice of a magician, Underwood, summons the 5000-year-old djinni Bartimaeus to do his bidding; more precisely, to steal the powerful amulet of Samarkand from master magician Simon Lovelace, to avenge an earlier humiliation.
The powerful amulet of Samarkand, which is usually in the safekeeping of the government, is purloined by the wicked Lovelace, who, naturally, wants to use it for his own nefarious purposes. The amulet has been made by a Shaman, a potent magician who had used the sacred knowledge passed down through oral tradition to fashion it. Like all amulets or charms, "it can't be used aggressively to kill your rivals," the djinni explains; "it only works protectively."
The description of the amulet has all the ingredients of the gothic: "The Amulet was small, dull and made of beaten gold... In its centre was an oval piece of jade. The gold had been pressed with ... designs depicting running steeds. Horses were the prized possessions of the people from Central Asia, who had made the Amulet three thousand years before and buried it in the tomb of one of their princesses. A Russian archaeologist had found it in the 1950s and before long it had been stolen by magicians who recognised its value."
Nathaniel wonders how Lovelace will attempt to use the amulet in his plans to seize power from the existing government. Nathaniel, aided by his two slaves Bartimaeus and another imp, gets wise to the evil strategies of Lovelace, but only after a number of setbacks. After a series of encounters in which Nathaniel or John Mandrake (as he is christened by his master Underwood) seems to fare badly, he succeeds eventually in the final showdown! Of course, this would not have been possible but for the valiant efforts of the faithful Bartimaeus, the djinni originally summoned, who is always nearby to give a helping hand to his young master. The terrible demon Ramuthra, summoned by Lovelace, eventually destroys him as Lovelace loses the protecting amulet to Nathaniel, who, invoking the dismissal summons, gets rid of the demons and honourably restores the amulet to the Prime Minister. Bartimaeus cajoles Nathaniel to release him from his bondage and Nathaniel, his task accomplished, agrees. Bartimaeus gives a farewell speech which kind of sums up the character of the protagonist: "for a magician you have got potential... you've got far more initiative than most. And you have a conscience too... "
Lovelace himself concedes that his opponent, despite his tender years, has an iron will like himself. Nathaniel's love and loyalty for his master Underwood, his wife, and the art teacher Lutyens, as well as his perseverance, give him the desired heroic stature. The reader is left in no doubt about the outcome of Nathaniel's quest despite what seems to be an endless succession of spine-chilling confrontations with the forces of evil. The issues at stake in modern fantasies are pretty much the same as in those belonging to past decades. As always, it is concerned with the existence of good and evil and the morality of human behaviour. Choosing between right and wrong and accepting the consequences of that choice seem to be a part of the quest undertaken by the heroes of fantasy. The ending is true to the tradition of the beloved fairy tale even if the dialogues are deliberately flippant, keeping in mind the preferences of the youthful reader. For instance, Bartimaeus, having made mincemeat of the evil Jabor, comments glibly: "I didn't waste too much time on my goodbyes. I had other matters to attend to."
We are told that the book is to be made into a motion picture and it is bound to catch attention with its enormous scope for visual presentation. The 480-page book could, however, have been made slimmer, the story tighter and the reader would still have been left with a jolly good yarn.
PREMA SRINIVASAN
The Amulet of Samarkand, Jonathan Stroud, Doubleday, p.480, price not stated.
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