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The Ring of Solomon
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Read The Ring of Solomon
The Bartimaeus Series: Book 4

The Ring of Solomon (2010) (edit title/settings)

by Jonathan Stroud (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

Bartimaeus, everyone's favorite (wise-cracking) djinni, is back in book four of this best-selling series. As alluded to in the footnotes throughout the series, Bartimaeus has served hundreds of magicians during his 5,010 year career. Now, for the first time, fans will go back in time with the... read more

Summary edit see section history

The book begins in 950 BC with the reign of King Solomon in Israel. Bartimaeus is in service of one of Solomon's Seventeen main magicians, which he manages to trick almost instantly. However, Solomon takes offense to this and has Bartimaeus resummoned by the dreaded Khaba the Cruel. Through... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

The book begins in 950 BC with the reign of King Solomon in Israel. Bartimaeus is in service of one of Solomon's Seventeen main magicians, which he manages to trick almost instantly. However, Solomon takes offense to this and has Bartimaeus resummoned by the dreaded Khaba the Cruel. Through Bartimaeus' antics, Khaba and the other Djinni under his control are sent out to try and rid the dessert of bandits. In doing so, Bartimaeus stumbles upon Asmira, who is pretending to be a priestess from Himjar in order to get close to Solomon and assassinate him. Asmira is from Sheba, which is being threatened by Solomon and extorted for goods, and she is sent by the queen on her mission. Asmira ends up dragging Bartimaeus into her plot and the pair makes their best attempt to break into Solomon's palace and steal his famous Ring of power.

Characters edit see section history

  • Bartimaeus: The main djinni and protagonist. Old, powerful, snarky. Also known as Bartimaeus of Uruk, Sakhr al-Jinni, N'Gorso the Mighty and the Serpent of Silver Plumes.
  • Solomon: King of Israel, possesses a ring of enormous power.
  • Asmira: A captain of the hereditary guard of Sheba. Goes by Cyrine the Priestess to get into Jerusalem.
  • Farquarl: A Djinni, 'friend' of Bartimaeus
  • Balkis: Queen of Sheba. Solomon sends her several offers of marriage.
  • Khaba: Known as "Khaba the Cruel." A strong magician from Egypt- in service to King Solomon. One of seventeen magicians in service to King Solomon.
  • Gezeri: A foliot - in service to Khaba The Cruel
  • Xoxen: Djinn - in service to Khaba The Cruel
  • Tivoc: Djinn - in service to Khaba The Cruel
  • Nimshik: Djinn - in service to Khaba The Cruel
  • Hiram: Solomon's vizier
  • Menes: Djinn - in service to Khaba The Cruel
  • Chosroes: Djinn - in service to Khaba The Cruel
  • Beyzer: Djinn - in service to Khaba The Cruel
  • Ezekiel: A magician - in service to King Solomon.
Show all 15 characters
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Quotes edit see section history

  • “...I'd formulated a plan. Can you define a "plan" as 'a loose sequence of manifestly inadequate observations and conjectures, held together by panic, indecision, and ignorance'? If so, it was a very good plan.”
    Bartimaeus
  • “Other forbidden activities in the palace included: fighting, devouring servants, running in the corridors, cursing, drawing rude stick figures on the harem walls, causing unpleasant smells to permeate the kitchens, and spitting on the upholstery. A least these were the ones I'd gotten told off for; there were probably others.”
    Bartimaeus
  • “I've killed kings before. Four, in fact: three of them ultra-cool, deliberate acts of political assassination, and one an unfortunate mishap involving a barking dog, a child's toy chariot, a slippery corridor, a short, steep ramp, and a cauldron of boiling beef-fat.”
    Bartimaeus
  • “Solomon: "Not only that, you have at all times displayed extraordinary insolence towards my royal person. Your hippo guise-" Bart:" No, no, that was perfectly coincidental! It looks nothing like your wife!" Solomon: "-showed appalling disregard for the sanctity of my temple. That was what I was going to say." Bart: "Oh."”
    Solomon, Bartimaeus
  • “"I think he forgives us, Faquarl. Look, he's smiling." "Remember, Bartimaeus--we're upside down"”
    Bartimaeus, Faquarl
  • “Kill Solomon? No. It's suicide. I might as well jump down Khaba's throat or take a bath in molten silver. I might as well eat myself feetfirst, or put my head under the bottom of a squatting elephant. At least those options would be entertaining to watch.”
    Bartimaeus
  • “Ammet clearly subscribed to the Egyptian curse tradition: keep it succinct and keep it scary. As opposed to (say) those long-winded Sumerian curses that waffle on endlessly about boils, sores, and painful bouts of wind, while you, the intended victim, softly slip away.”
    Bartimaeus
  • “When you're in the middle of a fight, you stick to the basics, namely trying to disembowel your enemy while stopping him tearing off your arm and beating you around the head with it. If you've any energy left over, you use it for swearing.”
    Bartimaeus
  • “How do you spend your life-or-death chases? In a state of numb bewilderment? Perhaps in continuous toe-tightening panic, or with occasional outbursts of gibbering fear? Reasonable responses, all. Personally, I use them to think. They're good that way. Everything's quiet, you're on your own, and all your other little problems helpfully fade from view as you ponder the essentials.”
    Bartimaeus

Setting & Locations edit see section history

950 BCE Jerusalem
  • Jerusalem: Location of Solomon's palace and seat of power
  • Uruk: The first place Bartimaeus was summoned to, thus he is known as Bartimaeus of Uruk
  • Israel: The kingdom Solomon rules
  • Himjar: Small country, fairly unknown, used as a cover story by Asmira to get herself into Jerusalem
  • Sheba: Country where Balkis, queen of Sheba, reigns and where Asmira is a hereditary guard

First Sentence edit see section history

Sunset above the olive groves.

Table of Contents edit see section history

There are 38 unnamed chapters in three parts, including an explanatory section at the beginning about the types of spirits.

Glossary edit see section history

  • Magician: a male or female who can summon spirits who have magical abilities. They can use magical objects such as throwing disks, scryingglasses and some spells to attack sprits and other magicians
  • Imp: the lowest type of spirit. They cannot change shape and are easily directed and used for minor household tasks employed as messangers and watchers
  • Foliots: More potent then imps but not as dangerous as Djinn. They can change shape and use magical attacks. They are imployed by magicians as spies.
  • Djinn: The largest class of spirits which excell at shape-shifting and magical attacks. A djinni is the favored slave of most magicians
  • Afrits: Blunt and irascible termpermented spirits summoned as guardians and warriors.
  • Marids: the hardest spirits to summon. They are most confident in their magical abilities. Only the greatest magicians dare summon them.
  • scrying glass: a glass disk with a spirit inside (usually an imp or foliot) who can spy on people and other spirits and show the magician a live video of what ever the magician requires.

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 4 of 4 in The Bartimaeus Series. (standard series)

Preceded by Ptolemy's Gate.

This is book 18 of 159 in Fantasy Book Review Top 100 fantasy books of all time. (community list)
This is book 4 of 4 in Bartimejeva trilogija. (standard series)

Preceded by Ptolemy's Gate.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Jonathan Stroud (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Hyperion Books
Country: United States
Publication Date: November 2, 2010
ISBN: 978-1423123729
Page Count: 416

Awards edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Ages 9-12

There is little outwardly worrisome in this book (little explicit physical violence, no swear words or sex, etc.), so a good 9-12 reader could absolutely read it. Some of the humor, though, might go over their heads.

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • The Amulet of Samarkand
  • The Golem's Eye
  • Ptolemy's Gate
  • Heroes of the Valley

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