Middle book syndrome? Or just me?

I read the first book in this series a couple of years ago and liked it, but I never got around to finishing the series. Probably should have read it closer together . . .

This was a perfectly serviceable follow up to The Amulet of Samarkand, and honestly I think my ‘meh’ reaction to it is mostly on me. The only real criticism I have of the book is that it was too long. This is supposed to be children’s/middle grade book, and it’s 562 pages with pretty small font. I suppose that wouldn’t matter (coughHarryPottercough) if I were engaged with it, but it just felt like too much. I could have cut 50-100 pages off this thing, easy.

This takes place a couple of years after the last one. Nathaniel is rising in the ranks of the government, and he is still serving as an apprentice to one of the government higher ups. It’s a pretty toxic environment. Then a mysterious and extremely dangerous magical entity starts destroying magical landmarks and tourist traps, and Nathaniel is tasked with bringing the culprit to justice. Of course, he enlists the “help” of Bartimaeus, and Bartimaeus is not happy about that. The beast turns out to be a golem, and they have to find out who put it together. Meanwhile, we also get a new POV this book, that of Kitty, a young member of the Resistance. We get her backstory, which explains about the Resistance as well, and her storyline begins to entwine with Bartimaeus’s and Nathaniel’s.

There’s a lot of really interesting stuff in here about systems of oppression and treasure hunts and miscarriages of justice and trips to ancient magical cities, but I had the hardest time getting through it, for no discernible reason. Bartimaeus is still a fun narrator. I still find it intriguing that our protagonist is so very flawed. I liked the addition of Kitty to the story. The golem was scary. I think it might just be wrong book, wrong time, and I may try again later. Unfortunately, I’m now reading the third and last book, so hopefully that goes better . . .