The Bartimaeus Trilogy: Ptolemy's Gate

Title:the Baritmaeus Trilogy: Ptolemy's Gate

Author:Jonathan Stroud

Rating:

Who Should Read It?Anyone into fantasy, only after having read and enjoyed (which of course you will) the first two.

What I Have to Say:Jonathan Stroud totally did it. After starting to get (VERY) minimaly bored with the second part of this trilogy, I was worried that Stroud wasn't going to be able to pull of the boom of an ending that the first book deserved and made the reader expect. But he did, and this is an AWESOME book! It is laugh out loud hilarious, it sometimes makes you step back and say whoa, and I think there was even a point where I cried (not for long, though, because Bartimaeus's snarky comments were just too funny for sadness). Kitty and Nathaniel became the characters I thought that they should have been in the second book. It was great to see both of them grow up and watching their relationships develop. Bartimaeus was back and even whittier than he was in book number 1.
It was also exciting to get to learn more not only about Bartimaeus, but also about Ptolemy, about whom we had heard little snippets in the previous two books, and his relationship with Bartimaeus. It's awesome the way that, over the course of the book, the reader really comes to understand Bartimaeus and how he developed his personality.
While being an incredible page turning fantasy, Ptolemy's Gate also broaches head on class issues, acceptance of those that are different, pride, and war.
This book is sheer awesomeness, a total success, and possibly and probably even the best of the trilogy.

Summary(direct from Amazon):Three years have passed since the magician Nathaniel helped prevent a cataclysmic attack on London. Now an established member of the British Government, he faces unprecedented problems: foreign wars are going badly; Britain’s enemies are mounting attacks close to London; and rebellion is fomenting among the commoners. Increasingly imperious and distracted, Nathaniel is treating Bartimaeus worse than ever. The longsuffering djinni is growing weak and vulnerable from too much time in this world and is nearing the end of his patience.

Meanwhile, Nathaniel’s longtime rival Kitty has been stealthily completing her research on magic, demons, and Bartimaeus’s past. She has a daring plan that she hopes will break the endless cycle of conflict between djinn and humans. But will anyone listen to what she has to say?

In this glorious conclusion to the Bartimaeus trilogy, the destinies of Bartimaeus, Nathaniel, and Kitty converge once more. Together the threesome faces treacherous magicians, a complex conspiracy, and a rebellious faction of demons. To survive, they must test the limits of this world and question the deepest parts of themselves. And most difficult of all–they will have to learn to trust one another.