Independent+Novel+Study

=The Ring of Solomon= =Jonathan Stroud= Pgs 1-27 12/3/10

Why did you select this novel?  What information did you need to know before reading the novel?  What has happened before the novel began?

The novel "The Ring of Solomon" is written in first person by a Djinni named Bartimeaus. Bartimeaus, a 2000 year old slave of magicians finds himself in the hands of a self serving one eyed man named Ezekiel. This man happens to be one of the seventeen chief magicians of a dreadful king named Solomon, master of a deadly ring. This ring, containing the power of a massive entity, is how Solomon keeps control of his subjects, courtiers and top magicians. All fear the ring, and the massive power that it holds, and, therefore, all fear Solomon. Through all of this power, the high courtiers of Solomon each have interests and agendas of their own, and all wish the others ill. Ezekiel, Bartimeaus's master, wishes to gift the great king Solomon with a powerful magical item, and so gain his favor. Bartimeaus, summoned because of a past misdeed, is sent off to a dangerous grave of a long dead king, with orders to loot it. The device that he picks up is a protection device against grave robbers and enemies to the king. Upon taking it back, his master notices that the ornate gold snake has hinges, on each of its claws. Upon inspecting this, the man realizes that it must be a protection device, and believes that Bartimeaus wishes to kill him. Telling Bartimeaus to lift each hinge individually, he causes the protection to go off. The first of these protections are noxious gasses, that do no harm to Bartimeaus, the last, however is a spout of water that blasts the magician out of his protective circle, allowing Bartimeaus to kill him.

This novel, being a prequel to a series of other books which I already have read, prompted me to read it. It gave a new dimension to the depth of the enslavement of the Djinni Bartimeaus. The other novels were set in modern day England.

This novel being a prequel to the others, a few facts were stated in those that needed telling. First off, the power of magicians is only there because of Djinn. These Djinn are sommoned from another world, and are forced into the service of magicians in power. All of the Djinn feel pain when they are bound on earth, and therefore wish to kill their masters, and so the binding enforced on them. When the masters are killed, they are free to return to the pit from where they came.

The Djinni Bartimeaus is witty and funny, and makes the story worth reading.

8/10 =The Ring of Solomon= =Jonathan Stroud= Entry 2 12/8/10 pgs 28-168 Describe any new characters that are introduced? What is their purpose?  Who is telling the story? How does this person’s perspective effect the way the story is told?  What is the setting of the novel? Is the setting important or could the novel be happening anywhere? Why?

Solomon, upon figuring out that Bartimeaus, the Djinni slave murdered his last master, assigns him to work with a Man named Khaba the Cruel. Khaba had a long reputation of mutilating and torturing his past slaves, and forcing them into his will. Upon summoning Bartimeaus, Khaba gives him various menial and demeaning tasks, such as chipping ice off the tip of a mountain, and gathering half a ton of artichokes. After being humiliated in front his fellow slaves, Bartimeaus is sent off along with fellow wrong-doing Djinni to complete Solomons personal temple by hand, without magic. Bartimeaus and co. soon get bored with their task, and decide to speed up the process slightly by using magic. One day, unannounced, Solomon decides to come visit his temple and check on the work progress. Catching Bartimeaus off guard, Solomon spots him in the guise of a hippopotamus in a skirt, loudly singing lewd songs about Solomon and his several wives. On top of this, Bartimeaus is tossing a large cubic block of stone hundreds of feet into the air. Solomon, who recognizes the subtle magic with a trained eye ships off Bartimeaus and his fellow offending Djinni to the middle of a desert to look for, and destroy bandits.

Meanwhile, in the country of Sheba, Solomon has requested to marry the queen and been rebuffed three times. This time, it appears that he sends a djinni of great power for a final request of marriage. When the queen refuses again, the great Djinni burns a major tower to the ground. He tells the queen that she must give 40 sacks of frankinsense to Solomon, or face having Israel as an enemy. The queen, infuriated by this demand, tells the Chief Guard Asmira to kill Solomon, and steal his ring. The decision is to travel by camel caravan to Israel. Along the way, Asmira is captured by bandits.

Bartimeaus, ordered to kill the bandits, comes across the same bandits that capture Asmira. Killing all of the bandits, Bartimeaus and his rival Faquarl debate whether or not to kill Asmira and eat her or to let her live as witness of their courageous actions. Upon deciding to let her live, Farquarl returns to their master, to tell him that the bandits were taken care of. Bartimeaus, however is left to guard Asmira. Asmira, when she hears that Bartimeaus is close to Solomon, believes that she can use him to come near enough to kill the king. In the end of this section, Bartimeaus warns Asmira that his master is possible one of the worst magicians out there, and tells her to be careful in regards to him.

The story is interchangeably told by Bartimeaus (in the first person) and Asmira (from an outsider focusing on her). Since the story switches in and out of first person, there are several conflicting views on each object. For example, when Bartimeaus makes what he explicitly says is a wise and mildly boastful comment, Asmira, when it is her narration, thinks that the djinni is stupid, and full of himself. The different perspectives of the story add to the depth of the reading

The novel is set in ancient Israel (950 BC) in and around the palace of king Solomon. The story is an adaptation of some of the original stories of Solomon, specifically Solomon's ring. The actual story about this is that Solomon owned a ring embossed with a six pointed star, the name of god, and four great jewels. This ring gave him power to summon djinn, and talk to animals. As this story has a basis in the original myths, it is impossible that it could be set anywhere but ancient Israel.

10/10

= **The Ring of Solomon** = = **Jonathan Stroud** = Entry 3 12/10/10 pgs 169-239

What plot twists or unexpected events happen as the novel goes on?  Comment on the style of the novel. Is it easy or hard to follow the events?  Is the language in the novel difficult or easy? GIve examples and explain.

After warning Asmira about the evil magician Khaba, Bartimeaus stands and waits by her side. When Khaba finally arrives, she implores him (at Bartimeaus's request) to free the two djinni that saved her life. Khaba, at first is unwilling to let his slaves go back to the "Other Place" (home of the spirits), but, after insistent pleading, agrees to release Bartimeaus and Faquarl from his command. The two djinn, happy with their lot, go down into the depths of Khaba's tower, where they are to be released. The chambers beneath the tower are filled with tortured spirits in " Essense Cages", and various other dead or dying paraphernalia. The magician says that he will release Faquarl from his command first. After Faquarl's release, Bartimeaus happily tells the magician to let him, too ho back to the Other Place. The magician, who correctly believed that it was Bartimeaus's fault that he was sent to the desert to look for bandits, and removed from the comforts of his tower, decides to punish him. Khaba instructs his own personal marid (high subclass of djinni) to bind Bartimeaus into a small crystal bottle, thus imprisoning him, while also releasing him from Khaba's service. The marid, whose power Bartimeaus cannot contest, stuffs him into the bottle and binds him with indefinite confinement. Khaba then takes this bottle to the kings palace as a gift.

Meanwhile, Asmira is in the palace trying to find a way to murder the king. She runs into Khaba, who lets slip that the bottle contains the djinni Bartimeaus. Asmira steals the bottle, releases the djinni, and binds him to her service. When Bartimeaus asks what he must do in her service, she tells him to kill the king and steal his ring.

Though known to the reader that Asmira is murderous in intent, Bartimeaus thinks that Asmira is on a diplomatic mission to beseech king Solomon's help. This is an unexpected twist in the story to //him,// not the reader.

The novel is very easy flowing, and has a fluidity about it. All the events have something to do with each other, and nothing can be thought of as a complete coincidence. These two things together make for a very easy and entertaining read.

Thought the language of the novel can get a little complicated at times, such as when Bartimeaus goes into tirades of old Babylonian insults, the reader manages to piece together most of what he is saying, and get the gist of the insult. This particular novel is also notorious for footnotes. These footnotes give the reader extra depth to the life of the djinni, as well as managing to distract the reader from the actual plot. For instance, when Bartimeaus is contemplating whether he should hide in a clay jar or a brass bottle, the footnote talks about an Old Priestess of Ur who is entombed alive in a lead lined box. Distracting and amusing at the same time.

10/10

= The Ring of Solomon = = Jonathan Stroud = Entry 4 pgs 240-310

To what age group is the novel aimed? Support your answer with evidence. How does the author get you to read on or hold your interest? Is the novel believable?

After Asmira has found the bottle containing Bartimeaus and subsequently stolen it, she releases him from the bottle and puts him in her service. Bartimeaus then takes her to the rooms of the king, bypassing several sentry creatures. When the two of the reach the quarters of the king, Asmira throws a deadly silver star at his heart, thinking it will kill him immediately. Instead, what appeared to be the king dissolved into thin air, and Asmira is faced with what appears to be the largest entity in existence at the time. The hideous mass of flesh that rises from the ground causes Asmira to be paralyzed with fear, and make herself more easily captured by the guards of Solomon.

Bartimeaus, upon seeing the entity, does and "Evasive Cartwheel" and disappears from the scene. While looking for a way out, Bartimeaus comes upon a hopefully useful place to hide from the massive guard entity. The pot that he stumbles across brings new surprises. It holds the remains of a long lost marid (high djinn), that has just enough compressed consciousness to tell Bartimeaus of his crime. The marid, it turned out had attempted to kill Solomon himself, and had then been compressed into the small jar. The marid, though beyond help, tells Bartimeaus the way in which Solomon's ring may be stolen, and Solomon may be subsequently killed. Apparently, the ring gives Solomon great pain to wear, and must be taken off before he rests each night. Bartimeaus, who also learns that the entity he just escaped from was an illusion made to scare away any intruder, goes back to the quarters of Solomon and, it being night, plans to steal the ring from his bedside.

Solomon, it turns out, was, at the time interrogating Asmira and find out where she came from, and who sent her to kill him. The figure that Asmira attacked turned out to be an illusion that Solomon put there to capture any intruder. Bartimeaus, sneaking into the room as the two are talking, replaces the ring with one of calamari and sneaks away with it. When Solomon notices the fault, he crumples and lets Asmira and Bartimeaus go. Asmira, feeling pity for the old king, decides not to kill him, but to take the ring back to Sheba as a prize. On the way out, she is captured by Khaba, the evil magician and has the ring stolen from her.

This novel is aimed at the 14 to 16 year old age group, as the language might be too complex for younger children. Footnotes are also a distraction from most books read at a 12 year old's level. Bartimeaus uses complicated language to explain his points, as well as switching abruptly from the current time in the story, to reminiscing on the "old days" in Ur, or allowing his mind to wander to the future (present day). All these confusing elements would turn off the average 12 year old.

Bartimeaus's witty personality and humor make the story worth reading, as well as interesting. There is really nothing like reading about an intense near death scene, and all the while simultaneously reading about the four other completely random things drifting through Bartimeaus's head at the same time. The style of humor makes the novel instantly hooking.

Though this is undoubtedly a fantasy novel, being about djinni, magical rings, and magicians, the novel is obviously completely fictional and unbelievable, unless you are inclined to believing that winged pig-bull-snakes and pheonixses traipse about the walls of large cities.

=**The Ring of Solomon ** = =**Jonathan Stroud ** = Entry 5

What is the climax of the novel? Why would you (or why wouldn't you) recommend this novel to a friend? Why did (or didn't) the novel meet your expectations?

310-407 (end)

After the RIng is caught up in the possession of Khaba, and Bartimeaus and Asmira are both captured, Asmira manages to escape the clutches of the marid (high djinn) that is holding her, and cut the ring from Khaba's finger. She then tells Bartimeaus to to take the ring and throw it into the sea. Khaba, on the other hand, sends his marid after Bartimeaus with orders to stop him and take the ring. Bartimeaus, flying as fast as he could from the marid, ends up spearing him under a tree, and making his merry way towards the sea. The marid, after escaping his tree, flies with renewed vigor towards Bartimeaus. Bartimeaus seeing that he is trapped, decides as a last ditch attempt for survival to put the ring on, and use its power. In doing so, he summons the great spirit from the ring and imprisons the marid in a wine amphora.

Meanwhile, in the palace, Khaba is attempting to destroy Jerusalem. By using the spirits summoned from the ring, he systematically destroys a great deal of the splendor of Jerusalem. Asmira, realizing that her own power is worthless against Khaba's, goes to Solomon and beseeches him for help in saving his own city. Asmira and Solomon look around for weapons that may be used in a fight. Khaba sends 6 djinn after Asmira to finish her off. Solomon and Asmira use some stockpiled weapons that they improvisationally use to kill off the djinn.

After this victory, Bartimeaus shows up with the ring and gives it to Solomon. Solomon puts on the ring and kills Khaba, effectively stopping the destructively minded spirits from further maiming Jerusalem. Asmira then dismisses Bartimeaus and quits her job as palace guard for Sheba. She decides that she should wander the world instead, and experience what nature had to offer.

The climax of this novel is the death of eh evil magician Khaba, and the dismissal of the rogue spirits. After this point, no major events occurred or were foreshadowed to occur.

I would recommend this book to my peers, or people my own age. It is probably not suitable for kids younger than 8th or 9th grade, due to complicated language. It is entertaining and informative for anyone interested in history. Jonathan Stroud manages to provide a great depth of detail to his descriptions of the ancient city of Jerusalem, and that of Sheba. Before reading the novel, I did not know any of the myths and stories about Solomon and Jerusalem. This novel opened my eyes to these stories in an interesting, interpretive manner.

The novel fully met what I had expected of it. As a prequel to the Bartimeaus Trilogy, it gave a good deal of background knowledge to the rest of the books and Bartimeaus's fabled "chats with Solomon". Definitely a good read.