| Ptolemy's Gate |
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=From the publisher Three years have passed since the magician Nathaniel (otherwise known as John Mandrake) helped prevent a cataclysmic attack on London(and it's magicians). 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, spirits, and Bartimaeus’s 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 thrilling 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. And worst of all, they must somehow cope with one another! ''Ptolemy's Gate'' is the final novel in the Bartimaeus Trilogy. Major plots in the story include: # The English commoners' rebellion against the magicians. # The final unveiling of why spirits and humans are in an endless cycle of human rebellion against the current 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. Explanation of major plots: # The English 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 for a very large sum of money, 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. NOTE: The English Empire fragments overnight in Stroud's world, not gradually as it did in the real world. # 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 falsely believed many others would follow in his footsteps; the only other person to ever successfully cross into the Other Place was Kitty. # England's numerous civil war have taken their 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 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 djinni. Nathaniel is capable of great love, which he proved by dying to save Bartimaeus and Kitty, and mirroring the death of Ptolemy centuries before. |
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