Book 349: Ptolemy’s Gate
The final entry in the Bartimaeus Trilogy. And I wouldn’t want to spoil the end for you now, but, let me tell you, it’s a doozy. It’s all redemptive and stuff, and I think it’s the perfect way for this series to end. It’s also an ending which requires a certain amount of cojones on the part of the author, but that’s another story.
I love that we are introduced to all kinds of new and crazy concepts in this book while we also get background information on Bartimaeus, the djinni hero of the trilogy. We also get to see more of Kitty, the Commoner girl who flickers in and out of the books, and we see a great example of what happens when a government controls the citizens too closely and the citizens finally rebel against it.
And, of course, the book deals with the consequences of slavery, having your forces overstretched in far-flung foreign nations, and failing to fully think out actions and decisions. All in all, a good time, and chock full of potential moral and political lessons. Fun for the whole family, I suspect.
Sure, the writing in this series isn’t exactly stellar, but I think it’s pretty darn good. If you’re into fantasy at all, you should definitely give it a shot.
Demographics:
Ptolemy’s Gate, by Jonathan Stroud. Published 2006, 501 pages. Fiction.
Tags: book project