Semian wrote: Nat died and right after he had gone from the semi-corrupted Mandrake back to Nathaniel.

I was soooo like u when I first joined this forum. Nat's death had forced me to join this forum (not that I would'nt have done otherwise - Its the best forum in the world, yet sadly unknown). Its gr8 to share ur views with others on Nat's death & the amazing thing is we seldom get bored talking abt it.

I'm sorry if I'm being too critic.

I believe Strout committed two major mistakes in the trilogy: the character Nathaniel (for reasons I'll post later) and that ending.

By the beginning of the third book one could already see there are too many sub-plots to be resolved in only one book. The fate of the English empire and the commoner revolution, Kitty's antempt to change history, Nate's relationship with Kitty, the Mandrake versus Nathaniel issue, the development of the character Jakob, the enslavement of the spirits and their resistance and Bart's relationship with Nate were some of those that haven't been well resolved. And OK, there is always the possibility to end a book without explaining everything, but that's usually done for some reason; in the case of the Bartimaeus Trilogy, it just seems like there were not enough time to solve everything. That left me a little frustrated in the end of the third book.

Actually, the ending should have been like that; life goes on. Kitty will survive with those gray hairs. London survived. And there wasn't really any sub plots left out in my opinion.
By the sound of that, you don't seem to like the Trilogy Arthur. But obviously you do.

If that's the case, then I think Stroud planned to let us use our imaginations to wrap up all those unsolved parts of the story. :)

Arthur wrote: By the beginning of the third book one could already see there are too many sub-plots to be resolved in only one book. The fate of the English empire and the commoner revolution, Kitty's antempt to change history, Nate's relationship with Kitty, the Mandrake versus Nathaniel issue, the development of the character Jakob, the enslavement of the spirits and their resistance and Bart's relationship with Nate were some of those that haven't been well resolved. And OK, there is always the possibility to end a book without explaining everything, but that's usually done for some reason; in the case of the Bartimaeus Trilogy, it just seems like there were not enough time to solve everything. That left me a little frustrated in the end of the third book.

I like the way you think.
In a way, many of the subplots you listed were solved.
Kitty did change history, mainly by traveling to the Other Place on speaking with Bartimaeus on even terms, but her quest "to change the world," as you put it, worked.
She was part of all of this, and she was the one that took control of the remaining magicians and sent them on their errands while Nat was off fighting. She was the one that initially dealt with the commoners and such, though after a couple days, I'd've handed it off, too.
On the Mandrake v. Nathaniel issue, I think the landmark moment in that inner struggle was when Nathaniel tells Kitty to call him by his true name, signifying he accepts who he is, and that the struggle has ended.
On the Enslavement of spirits, I never saw a subplot there, just Ptolemy's attempts. If you wanted to, one could say Kitty's little adventure ended the subplot as well.
The relationship between Nat and Bart was resolved with that last paragraph.
Anything not resolved or not resolved completely Stroud did on purpose, letting our imaginations finish the story, as Nero said.
Stroud set up everythng, laying a foundation, in AoS, built upon that in GE, the "frame" of the building, then finished everything nicely with PG.

I love having intelligent conversations.

~Darkfire-Dansariki~

Don't get me wrong: I love the trilogy. It's far, far better than most other books in the genre (caught, Potter, caught). I'm just being a little bit too critic here: there are a few things that I think could be better.

Well, Dansariki, I understand your point, but he still lets some questions hanging in the air. For example, even though London has been saved from the last attempt against its existence, we don't have a clue if it will last long. We don't know if the commoners and the magicians will get along, we don't know if Faqarl will strike again, we aren't even sure if Nate is dead. You see, that isn't necessarily negative, many people seem to like it, after all, it's just that I don't very much.

I hoped I had more time to discuss the subject here. I'll try to post something here tomorrow. See you, people.

Actually, Nat and Bart destroyed Faquarl when he was in hybrid form. Near the end, when they were in the park/dome thing.

Oooops. I kind of forgot that. Anyway, there are several other spirits tired of enslavement, and not all of them were killed.

Only four on the loose. Soon they'll die because their human protection won't last long.

Quite.
I think Stroud left the questions you mentioned hanging for us to think about, for our imaginations to linger on.

The End.

No....
I have a question:
Who gets elected prime minister?

*smack's hand on forehead*
Ya had to ruin it Dansariki.
Prime Minister: George Bush. We're screwed.

No...it's either gonna be Gladdy, Sent, or Nat.

XxHogwartsHokagexX wrote: No...it's either gonna be Gladdy, Sent, or Nat.

....WHAT?
We're talking about after the events of PG. ;)

btw it was the Crystal Palace where Faquarl was killed.
Apologies, I like continuing topics.

Nero wrote:....WHAT?
We're talking about after the events of PG.  ;)

Hehe, just joking. That could have been a bit odd, but I seem to mix up fiction w/ real life a lot these days...

I think Rebecca Piper would be it, but I think they would choose a commoner for PM instead, after all the corruption and abuse they encountered from the magicians. Not just any commoner though, cause he might rely on the magicians too much if he's weak (and therefore start the whole cycle again). Someone like Kitty, who can resist magic, and has a bit of experience in magic, yet still a commoner.

As for Bush...we won't be seeing him much longer in politics. ;)

His terms up in nine months anyways...
sheesh.
Kitty'd never do it.
Piper would, she likes the idea of power.
Being a magician, that's not surprising.

...hello? Anyone miss me? :P

Hi Nero!!!