Hello, how are you? This is so cool how you answer questions here! It’s been over 3 years I think since I first read these books and I’m still craazy about them.

Okay here are the questions I want to ask you...

1) How much can Bartimaeus lift and throw in measurements? Im into little pieces of info like that. Was the statue he throws at the mercenary heavy for him?

2) Are there any cool Foliots or Imps? Are djinn IQs generaly relative to power?

3) Why was the overthrow of Akenaton sad? Was that queenly woman Kitty seen in the Other Place Nefertiti?

4) Were Affa, Penrenutet, and Teti/(?)Methys free like Bartimaeus? I think they might have been because Affa, Penrenutet and Teti where there when Ptolemy died and he was in no shape to summon 3 or 4 djinn.

5) I can't rememer if this has been cleared yet, but did the afrit and Jabor in AoS really die by the rift or could they have just been sucked back into the other place? What happened to them exactly?

6) If a djinni stayed in a human body for long would he get more of a connection with earth and therefore powers over the elements of Earth and Water? Probably not, but when it seemed like Faquarl was acting a little human it got me thinking…

7) Are elementals stupid or more like not really conscious?

8) Can you Confine a djinni inside a house like the infinate confinment for a tin? I was thinking it would be nice because then it wouldn't hurt. But the object probably needs to be compleatly sealed. If you cant, how does the case or spell protect a djinni's essense?

9)What parts of personality does a djinni have without his first summons? All djinn aren’t the same when they first come over are they? What is a new djinn like? I was thinking pretty passive and that it wouldn't have instincts, which makes sense to me. Well they would be passive until they realized their bonds. I think it would even take a while for a djinni to realize humans are edible. Would they?

10) "The temperature in the room dropped fast" AoS. How does Barti have power outside his pentacle? Can he do things like that so long as it isn't to harmful to the magian because they are protected? Smells are another example

11) How old is Faquarl? And Barti says about Faquarl at the end of PG "He made some movment or other with his fleshy body, I dont remember what." what had he done? What did that mean?

12) What would have happend to the possesed magicians bodies and the spirits in them eventually? Wouldn't their bodies age and die and if so what would happen to the spirits then? Im comparing them to Honorius' predicament see. But Honorius was trapped in Glads bones specifically right? Would Glads bones have continued rotting and honorius reduced to bone dust or would the bones be preserved because of Honorius? I was just thinking maybe Barti thought of that and it might have been another reason he was okay with killing them off, sort of putting them out of their misery early. And also if the bodies arnt preserved..spirits really arnt good at thinking ahead are they?

And are you working on anything now? what is it?
Edit: Oh-My-God, your working on something Bartimaeus. I can not believe I'm going to get what Ive been whishing for! I definately have something to look forward to :D Theres so much Id like to find out in that book. Is Bartimaeus talking in post Bartimaeus trilogy persepective? Also, some authors put up the first chapter or something of their next book on their websites, could you do that? Will your make another Barti book after that one? ;) A collection of short Barti stories would rock

Btw- The Ptolemy Podcast download on your website where The Gaurdian interviewed you and you the begining of PG doesn't work about half way through =(


Thats it, Thank you so much if you answer these (theres way to many, sorry). , though Ill probably get answers in the RoS. Congratulations on Ring of Solomon! When I read your journal entries and see how happy you are about the book I always want to congratulate you. I can't wait. I dont know what else to ask you but feel free to say anything about the Trilogy or RoS and I will eat it up.
And Great Job, I really really wish I could be inspired enough to write a good book. Actually a series would be better!

GoodBye

Hello Chiz,

Great questions - sorry to take such a long time to answer them. Mind you, I've an excuse... I've been scribbling.

So, some answers:

1. Hmm. Not sure, measurement-wise. He can lift a camel. Might have difficulty with a full-grown bull elephant. He could chuck a car over his shoulder. Certainly that statue wouldn't have been much of a problem for him.
2. Personally I think quite a lot of the imps and foliots are cool, mainly because of their heroic ineptitude. I've noticed that cheekiness is inversely proportional to power. A lot of the strongest spirits are a bit dull. Bart would argue that IQ works like a bell-curve along the hierarchy of spirits, coming to a maximum among the middle-ranking djinn.
3. Poor Akhenaten. Did you see the latest issue of National Geographic? There he is. Perhaps Bart will tell the full story of his overthrow one day. No - I don't think that woman was Nefertiti, although I did consider it.
4. Yes, those others were similarly faithful to Ptolemy, and he was faithful to them.
5. They died because they were still tied to earth by their summons, so their essence was ripped apart.
6. That's an interesting concept... I hadn't thought of that. I don't think he would get any 'new' powers over those elements - he wouldn't suddenly become like an elemental, for instance. But having said that in a way Bart DID achieve a kind of genuine bond with earthy things when he allowed himself to join properly with the living Nat, so perhaps the answer is yes, in a strange sort of way...
7. Yes, they're pretty dumb. A strong kinetic force without much directive intelligence.
8. You're right that the object needs to be pretty small, and then sealed by complex magic, to (a) keep the djinni trapped, (b) limit the deterioration of the djinni's essence. So it would be impossible to seal them in a big space, like a house, but possible to fix them into an element within that house, such as a wall-painting, as happened in Ancient Egypt.
9. Hard one to answer. It's probably not dissimilar to the question of what a new-born infant brings into the world. Their exact personality depends on the nature/scale of the essence brought across in that first, crucial summoning, plus, over time, how they are treated and what happens to them. It's a good philosophical connundrum...
10. Yep, it's on a par with the visual illusions he can command. The magician observes them, ie. is affected by all these different sense impressions, but isn't truly threatened unless they step out.
11. Faquarl is (according to him) about 10 years Bart's senior. The movement Faquarl makes at the end is ambiguous, but might be a sign of acceptance of death.
12. You're right about this: the fleshy bodies would have deteriorated. In a very real sense Faquarl and Nouda are carrying out a nihilistic act, abandoning the Other Place and embracing death...
Thanks for all your good words, Chiz - hope you enjoy Ring of Solomon. It began as a series of short stories, like you suggested, but morphed midway into the present novel. I'm very happy with it. It's great to have been using Bart's voice again... I'll put more info up about it over the next few weeks, hopefully... but you'll see, soon enough!
Best wishes,
jonathan