The Amulet of Samarkand

British author Jonathan Stroud is known for his young adult fantasy novels often set in an alternate London. His works explore themes of class struggle, power dynamics, and oppression through fantastical and supernatural elements.

The Amulet of Samarkand (2003) was the first published book in Stroud’s Bartimaeus sequence. It was followed by two sequels, The Golem’s Eye (2004) and Ptolemy’s Gate (2005), and a prequel, The Ring of Solomon (2010), which traces Bartimaeus’s story when he was in service to King Solomon. The main trilogy is set in an alternate London, where magic is an integral part of life. Magicians in Stroud’s Britain are an elite, ruling class who control the country’s social and political structures. Blending Britain’s colonial past with magic and fantasy, the author levies a satirical perspective on institutional power, propaganda, systemic inequalities and exploitation, and the moral dilemmas of having tangible power like magic in an unfair world. Magicians are revered for their ability to perform spells and summon spirits from the Other Place. Unbeknownst to commoners (non-magicians), magicians draw all of their power from these spirits by enslaving them to their will. Without them, they cannot perform powerful magic and are deemed no better than charlatans. As magicians seek greater magic and power in perpetuity, they have little regard for commoners and treat them as second-class citizens, which prompts the civil discontent from which the Resistance is born. Enmeshed in this world, Nathaniel perpetuates its oppressions even as he, too, is harmed by it, and he must unlearn his negative attitudes toward spirits to accomplish his own goals.

Stroud’s other series and standalone novels reflect similarly hierarchical societies where power dynamics are central to the plot. For example, the Lockwood & Co. series is set in an alternate London plagued by ghosts. In this world, children with psychic abilities are the only ones capable of combating supernatural threats. The series’ young protagonists, who operate London’s only child-run ghost-hunting agency, must navigate the dangers of their world while challenging the authority of adult institutions. This premise, which addresses issues of child labor and exploitation, mirrors Nathaniel’s forced removal from his family and intensive magical training from a young age. However, Nathaniel's role in perpetuating systems of oppression in The Amulet of Samarkand contrasts with the role of Lockwood & Co.’s youthful ghost hunters, who actively resist and challenge the adult-run institutions exploiting their abilities, highlighting the different ways that young protagonists navigate and confront the power dynamics in their respective Londons.