I have a couple questions regarding Ptolemy, my absolute FAVORITE character ever. My only sorrow in the trilogy in general is that we didn't see more of him.

1) Why is Ptolemy so less protective of his birth name than Nathaniel, when his name triggered his spirit to come back?

2) Ptolemy had a lot of other djinn at his command. Was he as close to any of them as he was to Bartimaeus? How close was he to Bartimaeus, exactly? Bartimaeus obviously thought a great deal of him.

3) I noticed a couple parallells between Ptolemy and Nataniel. For instance, both of them had encounters with the same sect of assians, despite the locational differences. Coincide, or did the Hermit move his base of operartions? Both of them were 12 when they summoned Bartimaeus for the first time. Is this intentional?

Sorry if I'm overanalyzing. It's only because I love the series (and Ptolemy) so much.

Hi there,

Thanks for your questions - glad you like Ptolemy. I agree that it's a shame we don't see too much of him. Maybe we'll see some more of him one day.

1. Ptolemy is a bit negligent generally about his own health and well-being. In some ways he's a lot less worldly than Nat or 99% of most magicians. He's interested in discovery, and in the spirits and the Other Place. To that end, he disregards a lot of the rules that the other magicians live by. One of these is his relaxed approach to his own name. He's happy for Bart (and presumably his other servants) to know it, because at some basic level he trusts them. This gesture is probably itself enough to generate sympathy and goodwill from Bart and the others.

2. I think Bart has to have been the closest, although no doubt the others to some degree all loved and supported Ptolemy in a way that is unique among spirit/magician relationships. But Ptolemy chose Bart as his guide in the Other Place, and that has to be significant. Of course, we only ever see their story through Bart's eyes; we don't see Ptolemy's point of view, so we can't get a well rounded perspective on what P really thinks, as we do with Nat.

3. There are a lot of parallels between N and P, and of course the most significant of all is the manner in which they leave (and spare) Bartimaeus at the end. And yes, they are both about the same age, and both hugely talented, though up to Nat's last change of heart, Bart wouldn't have said there was much similarity. You're right that the mercenary belongs to the same assassin sect, but that's more of a coincidence. Quite how the sect has survived for 2000 years or more is another story, which perhaps we'll learn more of, eventually...