Ptolemy's Gate

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Title Ptolemy's Gate

First edition cover
Author	Jonathan Stroud
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Bartimaeus Trilogy
Genre(s)	Children's, Fantasy novel
Publisher	Mirage
Released	2006
Media type	Print (Paperback & Hardback)
Pages	502 pp (first edition, paperback)
ISBN	ISBN
Preceded by	The Golem's Eye

Ptolemy's Gate is the third book in the Bartimaeus Trilogy, written by Jonathan Stroud. It was released in the UK in September of 2005, and in the US in December of '05.

[edit] Synopsis

Three years have passed since the magician Nathaniel (otherwise known as John Mandrake) helped prevent an attack on London that would have been cataclystic for its magicians and commoners. 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 fermenting among the commoners. Increasingly imperious and distracted, Nathaniel is treating Bartimaeus worse than ever. The long-suffering djinni is growing weak and vulnerable from too much time in this world, and his patience is nearing its end. Meanwhile, undercover in London, Kitty has been stealthily completing her research on magic, demons, and Bartimaeus' past. She has a 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 stunning conclusion of the Bartimaeus trilogy, the destinies of Bartimaeus, Nathaniel, and Kitty are thrown together once more. For the first time, we will learn the secrets of Bartimaeus’s past, and get a glimpse into the Other Place -- the world of spirits -- as together, the threesome must face treacherous magicians, unravel a masterfully complex conspiracy, and defeat a formidable faction of spirits. Nouda, a creature almost as powerful as Ramuthra in the first book, along with a host of others are released, without masters, without limits, into the streets of London. And now there are several chapters which show why Ptolemy was so important to Bartimaeus that he wears his guise.

[edit] Plot summary

Ptolemy's Gate is the final novel in the Bartimaeus Trilogy. Major plot elements in the story include:

• The commoners' rebellion against the British magicians.
• The final unveiling of why spirits and humans are in an endless cycle: humans rebelling against their government, the building of a new government on the backs of enslaved spirits, the eventual corruption of the new government, and its overthrow by the people.
• The end of John Mandrake and the reappearance and redemption of Nathaniel.

Explication of major plot strands:

• The British Empire of Ptolemy's Gate is falling apart. Many commoners are unhappy with the current government, though none of the commoners claim responsibility for the status quo. (All of the magicians in the government were originally commoners whose parents sold them to the government at a young age, so it is not hard to understand why they are such a heartless lot, concerned only with power and wealth.) Some commoners advocate slow reform, while others advocate open revolt, while still others say the commoners should learn how to summon spirits of their own to combat those spirits belonging to the magicians. Ptolemy's Gate concludes with a council of surviving magicians and important commoners trying to work out a government that is beneficial to everyone.

• Kitty Jones eventually unearths the reason why humans and spirits are locked into the endless cycle mentioned above: humans do not understand the nature of djinni and summon them only as powerful, but dangerous, slaves, not equals. This theory is confirmed by Bartimaeus who states that his greatest master, Ptolemy, was the only human who treated his servants as equals and tried to build a bridge between djinni and humans. However, Ptolemy misguidedly believed many others would follow in his footsteps; the only other person to ever successfully cross into the Other Place was Kitty.
• England's domestic turmoil has taken its toll on John Mandrake. Mandrake is friendless and constantly watched by his numerous enemies. In the three years since The Golem's Eye there have been several attempts on Mandrake's life. His years as a high ranking government official have made Mandrake merciless, and he treats all of his servants cruelly, especially Bartimaeus. However, events in Ptolemy's Gate shatter Mandrake's confidence in what he has become. The transformation from Mandrake to Nathaniel is much more rapid that from Nathaniel to Mandrake. Nathaniel drops the name John Mandrake all together, as well as the fear of others knowing his true name, humbly telling it to Kitty and boldly proclaiming it to the spirit Nouda. With the end of Mandrake, Nathaniel becomes all that Ptolemy hoped to be. Nathaniel willingly allows Bartimaeus to share his body to combat Nouda and his army of hybrids, a fusion that forever bridges the gap between humans and djinn.

Nathaniel is capable of great love, which he proves by dying to save Bartimaeus and Kitty, and mirroring the death of Ptolemy centuries before. While the conclusion disappointed many fans, the majority still consider it to be a brilliant ending to a beloved trilogy. Note that the fate of Nathaniel is uncertain—a large and probably fatal explosion occurs but Nathaniel's body isn't found, nor is his death directly mentioned in the book. However, this could be merely because the enormous amount of magic contained within Gladstone's Staff simply vaporized him leaving no trace whatsoever.

v • d • e Bartimaeus Trilogy
Books	The Amulet of Samarkand | The Golem's Eye | Ptolemy's Gate
Main characters	Nathaniel | Bartimaeus | Kitty Jones
Other topics	Magic in the Bartimaeus trilogy | Characters of the Bartimaeus trilogy