Dear Mr. Stroud

It was asked in 2005 whether you plan to revisit the Bart universe.

Well its 2009 now and i was wondering if you had desided one way or another. Even if it was just updating the bart journal on the website with new adventures whenever possible. Anyway I know it is the same question that was asked a while ago and just wanted an updated. Much respect.

-Nick

Dear Nick,

Many thanks for your question and apologies for taking an eternity (well, a year and a half) to reply. By now you'll know the answer anyway, and this is in fact the reason why I've not visited the Forums for so long. Ever since I finished the Heroes of the Valley tour about the time you were posting your question, I've been working on the new Bartimaeus novel that has become The Ring of Solomon. Curiously, in light of your question, it began life as a short story that I wrote expressly for my website - a scene where Bart meets Solomon for the first time. I never posted it up, though, as I realised straightaway that it had too much potential, so for a year or two it languished in a drawer while I worked on Heroes. Back in 2008 I dusted it off, and began to wonder how to develop it. For a long time I planned to write a series of short stories, set in different periods of Bart's existence... But this didn't work in the end, so I focused back on King Solomon. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it, when you track it down.

All the best,

Jonathan