Mr. Stroud,
If you don't mind I have a couple of questions about the trilogy (which are my favorite books). But first, I'd like to thank you for writing something that made me enjoy reading it so much. (Especially about Nathaniel as he reminded me of myself.)
1. In The Amulet of Samarkand, Bartimaeus mentions cats can see auras. Did you chose to put this in the trilogy for any specific reason?
2. Hypothetically, if Nathaniel hadn't of died would thing with Kitty ever gone off from more than friendship?
3. Also, I've been wondering about pentacles and why you chose to use them in the trilogy. There have been other ways of summoning in books I've read and I'm rather curious of why you've chosen this one.
4. Other fantasy books, like Harry Potter, have been ridiculed for use of magic. Has this happened to you? Just wondering.
Thank-you for your time!
"You belong in Gryffindor,
where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve and chivalry
set Gryffindors apart."
Hi Ianna,
Glad you enjoyed them so much. Yep, there's a lot of me in Nat too...
1. There's a lot of folklore surrounding cats, particularly the tradition that they are sensitive to phenomena (ghosts etc) that are hidden to humans. So I thought I'd give an explanation for that: if they see the second plane, they no doubt get startled by all kinds of imps, ghuls and other things that you and I can't see. Also, I like cats - it felt good to give them this extra talent.
2. Hmm... tricky question. I think there's no doubt that NAT was thinking along those lines. Whether Kitty was, however, is more questionable. Certainly her opinion of him was speedily being revised in the last few hours... I'll leave it to you to judge!
3. I liked pentacles because they emphasise the ritualistic care necessary to summon a spirit - in Nat's world it is an occupation fraught with risk. Any mistake and it's curtains. In Amulet we see Nat taking years to get to grips with the tools of his craft: immaculately drawn pentacles almost symoblise the effort he has to take. If he could just wave his hands and summon Bart up casually, we wouldn't have the immediate sense of danger at the beginning of the book.
4. I think a few years ago any writer who wrote stories with magic in them was often marginalised and looked down on by the literary establishment. It wasn't 'serious' writing. But with the success of H. Potter, Phillip Pullman, and many other fine writers, this is less of a problem. The danger now is that LOTS of people are doing it, so you have to work hard to establish your individual voice.
Thanks for the questions!
J.
