Ptolemy's Gate

Jonathan Stroud (author)

Doubleday, UK: 2005; 515pp

ISBN: 0385608683

Genres: adventure, fantasy

Issues: community, ethics, friendship, identity, tolerance, values

John Mandrake, seventeen, is now an influential member of the British government and growing in power as a magician.

Bartimaeus, however, is not doing so well. Two years after the events of The Golem's Eye, the djinni's essence is stretched thin due to spending such a long time away from the Other Place. Mandrake refuses to release Bartimaeus, who knows his true name, fearful that another magician might summon the djinni in the interim.

As Information Minister, Mandrake is well aware that the world is changing rapidly. An increasing number of commoners have developed immunity to magic. They are able to see the demon servants of the government magicians when they should be invisible to all but their masters. His concern over this becomes even greater when he realises that Bartimaeus lied to him and that Kitty Jones, former member of the Resistance, is still alive. A crisis occurs when Mandrake arrests her and the pair find themselves forced to work together to save not just themselves but the rest of the population.

For the demons, the greater and lesser beings of the Other Place, have found a way to gain control over those who summon them. After centuries of painful servitude, they are determined to wreak vengeance on those who enslaved them. Only by making a dangerous journey to the Other Place, following in the footsteps of Bartimaeus' beloved Ptolemy, can Kitty get the information and assistance that Mandrake needs if he is to control the power of Gladstone's Staff and banish the demons.

This delightfully witty and absorbing conclusion to the Bartimaeus trilogy will satisfy all those who have grown to love the djinni's mischievous and wise ways. Readers of the trilogy so far will be delighted to see that this novel is more like the first in terms of humour and speed of narrative. Bartimaeus' sardonic, cynical narration is blended with a perennial hope in the better side of human nature that means he is constantly on the lookout for a person who might be interested in more than a master/servant relationship. He hoped to find that in Nathaniel but really found it in Kitty, the one without the official magic. Stroud further enriches the character of Bartimaeus by showing him nurturing both Nathaniel and Kitty, guiding them to become the best they can be. This results in excellent character development of Kitty and Nathaniel, especially Nathaniel, as they develop a wider view of their society and the people in it.

Stroud has excelled himself in this final novel, with a really wonderful combination of fantasy, humour and pointed social commentary. Those who have not read earlier novels might find the time shifts confusing as this book gives insight into Bartimaeus' experiences with Ptolemy. Altogether a very different type of fantasy, the Bartimaeus trilogy's originality is remarkable given the expectations of the genre. No wonder it has sold so well - over 1million copies worldwide.