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Mar 10, 2019IndyPL_SteveB rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Super-fun 4th book in an excellent fantasy series for older children and teens, “The Bartimeus books.” Since this one takes place thousands of years before the other three, it is also a second convenient starting point for the series. It has an exciting, twisty plot with an even twistier main character. Stroud has come up with a clever, original approach to a world run by magic. In his world, much of the work is done by enslaved magic spirits. Magicians do not do magic themselves; they have been trained to know the proper techniques and incantations to summon these spirits from the spirit world and hold power over them while they perform labors. The main character is a sarcastic ancient djinn, Bartimeus, with his ironic observations on the action and humans. Bartimeus is summoned by a foolish and incompetent old magician in the employ of the great king (and wizard), Solomon. Solomon has a magic ring which allows him to enslave the most powerful spirit of all, of whom even Bartimeus is frightened. Solomon is trying to get the Queen of Sheba to marry him. The Queen is not impressed and tries to assassinate Solomon.. Bartimeus gets used by both sides alternately as different characters gain control of him.