Dear Mr. Stroud,
First of all, I would like to say that I absolutely enjoyed your Bartimaeus trilogy and that it sits at the top of my list of favorite books (along with the Alex Rider and Artemis Fowl series), although I've sure you've heard all this before. Secondly, I would also like to congratulate you on the success of the Bartimaeus trilogy! ^^

However, I have a question regarding the series:

1) How did the test to identify children with magical aptitudes work? Did any child that possessed power get accepted, or was there a certain level of aptitude required? I'm asking this because I'm slightly confused as to how Kitty was able to perform summonings while she was a commoner.

Before I end, I would also like to add that I loved the ending to Ptolemy's Gate. Even though I was saddened by Nathaniel's death, I liked how you allowed room for the reader's own interpretation at the end: Bartimaeus could still have disliked Nathaniel, or he could have felt about Nat the way he thought about Ptolemy. :D

Thank you for your time and consideration!
Masterwolfie

Dear Masterwolfe,

Thanks for your message and your complements! Sorry to have taken zillions of years to reply.

Anyone can be a magician if they are clever enough, hard-working enough, brave enough, have a certain amount of physical strength and endurance, have an excellent memory, and have someone to teach them. The magicians guard their skills jealously, and only select certain kids (from any class of society) who are likely to have all the above qualities. It could be boys, girls, rich kids, poor kids - it doesn't much matter. But if you're NOT selected at a very early age, that's it - you don't get another opportunity to learn later. Kitty manages to find Mr Button, who's a rather unusual magician, and learns the basics from him: she succeeds because she has all the attributes necessary - and strong motivation.

Glad you liked the ending!

Bye,

Jonathan