Blogs

Post by Fabienne Sauberlich."The temperature of the room dropped fast. Ice formed on the curtains and crusted thickly around the lights in the ceiling. Then two yellow staring eyes materialized in the smoke. "Hey, it was his first time. I wanted to scare him"."This is the beginning of Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus Trilogy, a fantasy series that is all at once fantastic, thrilling and funny, with two main characters that will immediately capture your heart.So what's it about? The story is set in a world where wizards are the most powerful people, and humans without magical powers are lower class people. Wizards conjure up demons to work for them, but they treat them like dangerous slaves knowing that a demon will take every chance he gets to kill his master.The first book in the series, "The Amulet of Samarkand",  starts with a conjuration. Nathaniel, a very young wizard who is far too young to be allowed to adjure a demon. But Nathaniel is very talented. He conjures Bartimaeus a very powerful old demon. He should know what risk he is taking because conjuring "is not like hailing a cab. You don't get just anybody if you call".The story is told through the eyes of the demon Bartimaeus who he is a very unusual demon with a very good sense of humour. Bartimaeus doesn't like to be adjured anyway but a little boy trying to give him orders is really unacceptable. Unfortunately for him this boy is a very good wizard, so he doesn’t make any mistake that would allow Bartimaeus to kill him, and he is very good at getting both of them in a lot of trouble. Bartimaeus doesn't like trouble either, he knows when it is better to run away as fast as you can instead of fighting back. But unfortunately Nathaniel doesn’t know this and Bartimaeus has to protect Nathaniel and to obey his orders.And so they become a team although they don't like each other. This changes with the adventures they survive together, but they are both far too proud to admit it.The other books of the trilogy are "The Golem's Eye" and "Ptolemy's Gate". There is also a prequel that tells of the adventures Bartimaeus has experienced before called "The Ring of Salomon". About our Guest BloggerFabienne Sauberlich is a student of Library and Information Science in Germany with special interests in Psychology, Horror, Fantasy and Mystery Media.

With the release of the final Harry Potter movie this summer (on July 15 for those who are counting the days like me!!), and the release of the latest Harry Potter movie on DVD, it’s never too late to become a Harry Potter fan, (or like me read all the stories again in preparation for the film!)All seven Harry Potter novels and DVDs are available to borrow in Dublin City Public Libraries or you can reserve them online using your borrower number and pin number. Your borrower number is on your library card and if you do not have a pin number you can get it at your local Dublin City Public Library. Harry Potter novels and DVD's in order from first to last:Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone / Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone DVDHarry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets / Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets DVDHarry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban / Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban DVDHarry Potter and the Goblet of Fire / Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire DVDHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix / Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix DVDHarry Potter and the Half Blood Prince / Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince DVDHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows / Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – PART 1 DVDSome of these titles are also available in large print copy and some are available in talking book format on CD.