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Review: #338
Title: Ptolemy's Gate
Series: The Bartimaeus Trilogy - 3rd book
Author: Jonathan Stroud
Read Before: yes
My Comments: Simply put, this is one of the BEST books you’ll ever read, and I’ve only read one or two other books that have even come close to this quality. The plot is amazing, elaborate and hugely satisfying. It can be read as a standalone story (without requiring much knowledge from the previous two books), yet it also evolves the characters a lot. You get to see them changing, see their growth, and this presents one of the most impacts the story has to offer. When I first read the book, the sinister plot that was revealed really sends a shiver through your body, yet it seems so elegant and fitting, like the books was leading to this point the whole time. More than once, situations would be so tense that you could not help but be flipping the pages to find out how the characters would have gotten out of that impossible-to-escape predicament. The back story of Ptolemy was told in five parts, which I thought was very effective. These events were crucial in the development of the story. Granted, for the first hundred pages or so, the book doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, but persevere and you will be rewarded. The humour is great, from the sarcastic remarks of Bartimaeus, to just how the author presents some things, it’s brilliant. Perhaps the thing that must be commended most would be the climax of the book. Seriously, it does not disappoint. The ending is heartrending and sparks off many emotions. It has elegance since it mirrors what had happened in the past (in the most impactful of ways), it is stirring and riveting. That one ending makes up for everything and makes the whole process of reading worthwhile (above and beyond). Although it doesn’t explicitly cover anything that happened afterwards, you can just imagine the scenario. You can’t help but think how Bartimaeus feels and what he is thinking about. You can see a huge improvement in the writing from the intricacies and beauty of the plot. This is an amazing piece of work. The only reason that this book didn’t get a 9.5 is because when you reread it, it lessens the enjoyment immensely as all the surprises and twists are gone.
Rating:
9/10