BooksmART: Jonathan Stroud

Jonathan Stroud is the author of the worldwide best-selling fantasy series The Bartimaeus Trilogy— a fast-paced saga set in a London ruled by a magical government. In a review of the trilogy, Horn Book Magazine raves, “Stroud is a masterful storyteller, balancing touching sentiment with humor, explosive action scenes with philosophical musings on human nature.” In the first book in the trilogy, The Amulet of Samarkand, the wisecracking, shape-shifting djinni Bartimaeus is summoned by a young magician, Nathaniel, and sent off to steal the Amulet of Samarkand from the sinister Simon Lovelace. It was the winner of the Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor and the Lancashire Children’s Book Award. The remaining books in the trilogy, The Golem’s Eye and Ptolemy’s Gate, continue the saga and blend thrills, magic, wit, and wisdom. All three books have been New York Times best sellers. While in Dallas, Stroud will discuss The Bartimaeus Trilogy as well as his forthcoming book, Heroes of the Valley (which will be released in January 2009). An epic fantasy thriller featuring murder, revenge, and a slightly diminutive protagonist, Heroes of the Valley combines Norse mythology and Stroudian genius in a thrilling and original adventure! Jonathan Stroud was born in Bedford, England. Between the ages of seven and nine, he was very ill and spent long periods of time in the hospital and at home in bed. During this time, he fought boredom and frustration by reading furiously. He discovered that he enjoyed stories of magical adventure because they provided him with a complete escape, and around this time he fell in love with fantasy. He attended York University, where he studied English literature. Stroud worked as an editor of children’s books until 2001, when he devoted himself exclusively to writing. He lives in England with his wife and two daughters.

“Not since Gulliver’s Travels has a children’s writer managed to combine a thrilling tale of magic and adventure with such deliciously pointed comedy. . . . Stroud’s sinister world is imagined in baroque and energetic detail.”—Amanda Craig, The London Times

Selected Works by the Author Heroes of the Valley (2009), Ptolemy’s Gate (2006), The Golem’s Eye (2004), The Amulet of Samarkand (2003), The Last Siege (2003), The Leap (2001), Buried Fire (1999)