Bartimaeus, John, and Kitty

[Steve]

Just curious if there are any fans of "The Bartimaeus Trilogy" by
Jonathan Stroud who have read or are reading or are planning to read
the latest book "Ptolemy's Gate"?

I highy recommend it. It is much more character driven, rather than
'action' driven, than the previous books, although it does have it's
far share of action.

I mention this because I think there are some literary lesson in this
book that spill over into the HP fandom. I don't want to mention
specifics because I don't want to spoil the book for readers, but
there are two key issues in this latest book that we have all pondered
with regard to the Harry Potter Series. 

Being as vague as possible, they issues involve the ultimate fate of
key characters, and where in the earthly and unearthly realm
characters are allowed to successfully go.

While I enjoy all of the Bartimaeus books, "Ptolemy's Gate" I
especially enjoyed. Again, it is more character drive, and the
previous books laid the stage nicely for the key characters to come
together in this books. I found the book enthralling and thoroughly
captivating. More than any of the previous books, this was definitely
a "can't put it down" book. (as many sleepless late night readings
will atest.)

We also get to see more of the internal emotional lives of the key
characters and indeed learn the details of Bartimaeus's past which is
a very sad and emotional story.

I highly recommend the latest book and the complete series to anyone
who might be interested in the type of reading. For me the true test
of the quality of a book is whether the main characters FIGURATIVELY
die on the last page, or whether they live on in my mind. In this
book, the key characters do live on. I had no trouble after reading
the last page and closing the cover, imagining the future lives of
each of the characters. 

When a book and it's characters are so realized that their lives
spring from the pages and live on in my mind, that is truly magical
literature. 

Just passing it along.

Steve/bboyminn