Set in a modern-day London controlled by magicians, this hilarious, electrifying thriller series will enthral readers of all ages. To be reissued by Penguin in 2025, with gorgeous new covers to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their publication!
Extent: 496 pages (Book 1) / 592 pages (Book 2) / 528 pages (Book 3) / 448 pages (Prequel)
UK Publisher: Penguin, reissuing in 2025
Primary agent: Veronique Baxter
Film/TV agent: The Haworth Agency
Co-Agents: Chinese - Bardon Chinese Media; Japanese - Tuttle-Mori
Rights Sold: Danish - Lindhardt & Ringhof French - Gallimard German - cbj Italian - Salani Japanese - Sayzansha Turkish - Arkadas Ukrainian - A-Ba-Ba-Ha-La-Ma-Ha
In the first instalment, when the 5,000-year-old djinni Bartimaeus is summoned by Nathaniel, a young magician’s apprentice, he expects to have to do nothing more taxing than a little levitation or a few simple illusions. But Nathaniel is a precocious talent and has something rather more dangerous in mind: revenge. Against his will, Bartimaeus is packed off to steal the powerful Amulet of Samarkand from Simon Lovelace, a master magician of unrivalled ruthlessness and ambition. Before long, both djinni and apprentice are caught up in a terrifying flood of magical intrigue, murder and rebellion.
In the second instalment, two years have passed since the events of The Amulet of Samarkand and the young magician Nathaniel is rising fast through the government ranks. But his career is suddenly threatened by a series of terrifying crises. A dangerous golem makes random attacks on London and other raids, even more threatening, are perpetrated by the Resistance. Nathaniel and Bartimaeus travel to Prague, enemy city of ancient magic, but while they are there uproar breaks out at home and Nathaniel returns to find his reputation in tatters. Can he rescue it from his Machiavellian adversaries in the government bent on his destruction?
In the final instalment, three years on from the events in The Golem's Eye, the magicians' rule in London is teetering on a knife-edge, with strikes, riots and general unrest. The Prime Minister is largely controlled by two advisers, one of whom is 17-year-old Nathaniel. Meanwhile, living under a false identity, Kitty has been researching djinn; she has come to believe that the only way to destroy the magicians is with an alliance of some kind between djinn and ordinary people. Kitty seeks out Bartimaeus and embarks on a terrifying journey into the djinn's chaotic domain - the Other Place - which no human being has ever survived. But even as she does so, Makepeace engineers a dramatic coup d'etat. The outcome is a shattering of the magicians' control and all magical laws are turned upside down.
Can Bartimaeus, Nathaniel and Kitty settle old scores if they are to survive and prevent the earth's destruction?
In the prequel, we find everyone’s favourite irascible djinni serving at the court of King Solomon in 950 BC Jerusalem, where he is causing his customary chaos and must help a girl assassin sent by the Queen of Sheba to steal the all-powerful Ring of Solomon.
Jonathan Stroud is the author of two internationally bestselling series: the award-winning Bartimaeus sequence, which has been published in 36 languages, and the critically acclaimed Lockwood & Co, which is currently being adapted by Netflix. He lives near London with his wife and three children.
<aside> 💰 ‘I can't wait for volume two!’ — Diana Wynne Jones in The Guardian
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<aside> 💰 ‘Not since Gulliver's Travels has a children's writer managed to combine a thrilling tale of magic and adventure with such deliciously pointed comedy’ — The Times
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<aside> 💰 ‘Jonathan Stroud has created another winner in The Ring of Solomon. Wonderfully written and brilliantly plotted . . . Brilliant’ — The Bookseller
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<aside> 💰 ‘Terrific stuff’ — Mail on Sunday
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<aside> 🏆 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature (2006, USA)
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<aside> 🏆 Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire (2007, France)
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<aside> 🏆 Children’s Book Award (2007, Austria)
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<aside> 🏆 Corine Internationaler Buchpreis (2006)
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<aside> 🏆 Cybils Award - Speculative Fiction (2006)
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<aside> 💰 ‘The voice is as funny as ever, but there are also passages of eerie beauty . . . Stroud has lost none of his dazzle’ — Financial Times
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<aside> 💰 ‘Drama, humour and hypnotically engaging storytelling’ — The Independent
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<aside> 💰 ‘Bartimaeus's voice is laugh-out-loud sassy, while Nathaniel's story has an engaging poignancy’ — The Sunday Times
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<aside> 💰 'Fast, funny, inspired writing for children at its best’ — Publishing News
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<aside> 🏆 American Library Association’s Best Book for Young Adults (2005) - shortlisted
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<aside> 🏆 Locus Award YA (2007) - shortlisted
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<aside> 🏆 Colorado Blue Spruce Award YA (2007)
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<aside> 🏆 Costa Children’s Book Award 2010 - shortlisted
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<aside> 🏆 Der Leserpreis 2010 (YA category)
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