Hi Mr. Stroud,

I can not wait for this book. It was such a pleasant surprise to hear you would continue to write about Bartimaeus and I hope that continues ;)

My question actually concerns the new book, The Ring of Solomon, which obviously takes place in Barty's past. Out of curiosity, will we notice any personality changes since Bart is essentially -ahem - younger, and maybe less jaded? I know you can't reveal too much, but thank you for answering my question and I hope you keep writing more books!

Ashe

Hi Jesary,

Thanks for your question. I hope you enjoyed the new book. If you've read it you'll already have your own opinion about Bart's character, but my own view is that he's similar, but slightly harsher round the edges, since he's still got 3000 years of experience to soften him up and make him the rather more world-weary djinni we see in the Trilogy. And of course he hasn't met Ptolemy yet (that's still 800 years in the future), so his approach to humans, and in particular, to his masters, is maybe a bit tougher. As Ezekiel finds out in chapter 3.

J

Hi!
I have already read book and I am soo glad it came out!
I found Bart to be a little different, as said, he was mostly similar but looking at his character like a human, I still found him a little immature and a little younger than the Bart I am used to.
That being said, I think it is in Bart's nature to give a chance and perhaps sometimes 'to do the right thing. He did not learn that from Ptolemy.

After I finnished the first three books, I thought that Ptolemy was the first human that Barti felt affection for, but maybe Asmirra was the first one. It really gets you thinking, the Ring of Solomon...

Isn't Asmira similar to Kitty, before she went through Ptolemy's Gate, though?

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So, maybe not affection, but respect?