#15YearsBartimaeus: The Ring of Solomon Discussion

December 28, 2019

 

As part of #15YearsBartimaeus read-along hosted by Annemieke @ A Dance with Books, she has offered up discussion questions and encouraging participants to engage in a dialogue about each book in the series. There are many ways to participate, but I’ve chosen to write responses to all her discussion questions. It’s like having my own book club!

Questions below for The Ring of Solomon come from Annemieke’s discussion post.


 

The Ring of Solomon is a prequel story and set in Jerusalem 950 BCE. Solomon and the ring were briefly referenced in the trilogy. Do you remember that? Did this prequel live up to your expectations due to that?

Yes! I definitely recall the mention of Solomon and the ring from Bartimaeus’ reflections and footnotes from the trilogy. I don’t recall when it was mentioned, but I remember being very excited. Solomon is one of my favorite biblical figures. The idea of Bartimaeus matching wits with Solomon sounds totally up my alley.

Unfortunately, in many ways, The Ring of Solomon didn’t live up to my expectations. First, I was hoping that Bartimaeus would be a djinn in the employ of Solomon. Alas, he was not. Instead, he was summoned by a magician of Solomon’s and later Asmira. I was really hoping that Bartimaeus would spar wits with Solomon. That never came to be. Secondly, overall the story didn’t quite live up to the quality and engagement of the original trilogy. Stroud’s story was interesting but too rambling to capture me as a reader throughout. 

 

Do you think people can read this prequel before the main trilogy?

Definitely. In fact, I think people should read The Ring of Solomon before picking up the original trilogy. This tale does a good job of introducing the reader to Bartimaeus and his sense of self-indulgent mischief. But there is nothing from the main trilogy critical to appreciating this book.

If a reader enjoys The Ring of Solomon, they will completely adore the trilogy which follows. After all, the main trilogy is a much stronger series of books.

 

How do you find that the plot compares to the main trilogy? How did you find the plot in general?

It’s unfair to compare a standalone novel’s plot to a trilogy. The Ring of Solomon is 398 pages. The Bartimaeus trilogy is 1,525 pages. The trilogy has almost 4 times the number of pages to explore plot and characters. Comparing the two, The Ring of Solomon lacks depth and nuance.

As its own tale, The Ring of Solomon doesn’t stand as strong alone as any of the other Bartimaeus books do on their own. Honestly, I feel like the plot dragged often and Stroud could have benefitted from a stronger editor. There were many extraneous details that did little if anything to move the plot forward. For a lover of Bartimaeus, this could be seen as a boon. For me, if 50-100 pages had been trimmed out, this would have been a much stronger book.

 

How do you think the cast from the main trilogy and this prequel differ from each other? Or are there overlaps?

The only returning characters from the main trilogy are Bartimaeus and Farqual. This is completely logical, as humans don’t live nearly as long as the djinni. I greatly enjoyed exploring their “friendship” even more deeply.

As far as cast parallels are concerned, Asmira has a similar role to Nathaniel. Both of them believe that Bartimaeus exists solely to help them achieve their goals, at least, for most of their books. I like that both characters followed a similar arc, in the end. For me, Asmira is a more interesting character overall. She is complex and nuanced in a way Nathaniel never was. But she never quite reached her full potential, making her less memorable than Nathaniel in the end.

 

Did you see in Asmira what Bartimaeus did? What was that? Do you agree with Bartimaeus’ assessment that Asmira was also a slave as he was?

Asmira’s situation is a complex thing to unpack. Stroud uses her character to explore the difference between slavery and loyalty and the strength one needs to understand the difference. Loyalty is to be commended. Asmira’s loyalty to the Queen of Sheba is intense and passionate. When Bartimaeus first calls Asmira a slave, rather than loyal, I disagreed. But as the story progresses, we learn that Asmira is blind to the actions and intentions of her Queen. She allows the Queen to continually take advantage of Asmira and her family.

In the end, I agree with Bartimaeus that Asmira was a slave as he was. But Stroud’s revelations and hints towards this epiphany were often clumsy and forced. I felt like Bartimaeus “knew” things he shouldn’t have, or Asmira’s character was opaque to me when she was transparent to Bartimaeus. I just wish this revelation had been more subtle in its exposure.

 


#15YearsBartimaeus, or, well, #16YearsBartimaeus, was a lot of fun. I’m calling it after finally reading the prequel and responding to the discussion questions. I‘m glad I took the time to participate because it challenged me to think differently about these books. Plus now I’ve read a favorite series of Annemieke!

My #15YearsBeartimaeus Posts:

The Amulet of Samarkand — Discussion
The Golem’s Eye — Discussion
Ptolemy’s Gate — Discussion
The Ring of Solomon — Discussion


What do you think?

  • Did you participate in #15YearBartimaeus? Have you posted about any of these books before? Share your links below!
  • Do you enjoy this format of a blog post? Would you read more posts like this in the future?
  • What questions would you add to Annemieke’s list above?
  • Is it okay to continue participating in an event long after it ended? Why or why not?

7 Comments

  • Laila@BigReadingLife December 28, 2019 at 1:31 pm

    I definitely think it’s okay to participate in an event even when it’s finished. I’m sure the hosting blogger would welcome additional thoughts/comments/discussion. Better late than never, right?

    • Jackie B January 7, 2020 at 7:35 am

      Better late than never, for sure! Though, that statement gives me a bit of anxiety. I have done things which are much more urgent MUCH later than this before in my life… Hahaha.

  • Annemieke January 3, 2020 at 4:55 am

    You know I’m a 100% okay with people participating in this long after it ended. I think when you have questions set out than people who end up not having the time during the event can still go back to them when they do have time for the book. I think it is why I preferred doing it like this. It keeps it all open.

    I agree that this one dragged a bit and it certainly could have used some tightening up.

    • Jackie B January 7, 2020 at 7:38 am

      Yay! I’m so glad. 🙂 That’s what I love about your discussion questions, too. I save them all in draft posts when you created #15YEarsBartimaeus originally, believe it or not. They’ve just been waiting for me.

      Which is your favorite Bartimaeus book?

      • Annemieke January 8, 2020 at 3:03 am

        The Golem’s Eye. It was the first one I read in this series (ha and now I am such a stickler for reading things in order) and I’ve loved it ever since.

        • Jackie B January 8, 2020 at 10:04 pm

          Did you know when you started The Golem’s Eye you were reading it out of order? I get so frustrated when I didn’t realize a book was part of a series. At least Stroud does a good job setting things up so you might not have noticed missing the first book…

          • Annemieke January 9, 2020 at 5:51 am

            I think I realized midway. But it’s been since 2009 or so haha.

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