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A review by vorpalblad
The Ring of Solomon by Jonathan Stroud
4.0
If you read the original Bartimaeus trilogy and need more of the smart aleck djinn in your life, here's your book. Far lighter fare than the trilogy, The Ring of Solomon takes us back three thousand years or so to the reign of Solomon, King of the Israelites, as he works on his famous temple. Bartimaeus starts us off with a a magician amuse-bouche before the humor kicks into high gear.
Stroud doesn't leave us all light and laughs. Asmira, the captain of the guard to the Queen of Sheba, is sent to Solomon's court to find some way of preventing his imminent invasion. Stroud uses the setup to discuss the cost of power, physical slavery versus the slavery into which we sell ourselves, and some other Deep Thoughts. In the end however, the story is really high adventure with lots of laughs that should keep any fan of Bartimaeus happy.
Stroud doesn't leave us all light and laughs. Asmira, the captain of the guard to the Queen of Sheba, is sent to Solomon's court to find some way of preventing his imminent invasion. Stroud uses the setup to discuss the cost of power, physical slavery versus the slavery into which we sell ourselves, and some other Deep Thoughts. In the end however, the story is really high adventure with lots of laughs that should keep any fan of Bartimaeus happy.