Mystery Author Interviews

Murder By The Book employees McKenna Jordan and David Thompson interview New York Times best-selling young adult novelist Jonathan Stroud, author of The Amulet of Samarkand (Hyperion; $7.99) and The Golem's Eye (Hyperion; $17.95).


McKenna/David: Why did you choose children's literature as your genre, and what was the inspiration for the The Bartimaeus Trilogy?

Stroud: I've always been keen on children's books, and my first job after university (where I read Eng Lit) was as an editor at Walker Books in London, who specialise in picture books. (They're the mother company of Candlewick Press in Boston). It was the days when Walker's Where's Waldo was big, and I worked on lots of gamebooks to begin with: puzzles/mazes etc. As well as editing, I wrote a few puzzle books for Walker, and they were my first books to get in print. In my spare time, I then began writing a fantasy novel for children, Buried Fire, which was published in the UK in 1999. I've always enjoyed fantasy as a genre, and I gravitated to it naturally when trying longer writing. I published another fantasy, The Leap, before I had the idea for Bart. Unlike the others, my inspiration here was quite specific: I was trudging along on a wet British October Saturday, getting a trifle damp, and wondering whether it would be possible to get a new angle on "high" fantasy. During the course of my 20 minute walk, I hit upon the idea of reversing the normal scheme: all human magicians would be bad guys, while the "demons" would be more sympathetic. I'd have a child magician, but he wouldn't be the hero (or not in a simple fashion). I'd have a djinni narrating, with a very world-weary, sarcastic take on humans in general. When I began writing, Bart's voice came out fully formed - the first few chapters kind of materialised spontaneously like the djinni does in the course of 2 days - and even though I didn't know what the plot was going to be, I knew I had something worth pursuing.

McKenna/David: Why is the trilogy named after the djinni, Bartimaeus, not the 12-year-old magician's apprentice, Nathaniel, who summons him? Is it just Bartimaeus's arrogance coming through?

Stroud: Right from the start, Bart has always been the central character - it's his voice that makes the book distinctive, I think. Having said that, I soon found that I had to give Nathaniel almost equal billing - otherwise Bart's footnote-heavy, rich verbal style would become too much. But for me, he's the key figure. It's his energy and lightness of touch that acts against the ponderousness that you sometimes get in high fantasies. Having said all that, Nat is central to the progress of the trilogy too.

McKenna/David: Can we have any clues as too why those normal teenagers have mysterious abilities and are immune to Bartimaeus's powers?

Stroud: Well, all will be revealed in book 2. After being on the sidelines in book 1, the Resistance come centre-stage here. Their abilities are very different from those of the magicians, who in fact don't have any 'magical' abilities at all: Nat's talents are intelligence/memory/languages/high work rate etc. For the magicians, magic is a craft - if you're bright and hard-working enough, you can become one. The commoners in the Resistance are different. None of them had any education, and their abilities are innate. It's what comes of living in a magical environment, and Bart's seen it all before...

McKenna/David: What's in store for Bartimaeus and Nathaniel in Golem's Eye, due out this fall?

Stroud: Book 2 delves deeper into the recent past, with factors from Prague (the most recent fallen magical empire) coming back to haunt the magicians of London. Nat is seeking to build a career in government, hunting for the Resistance, but a series of odd attacks puts this career and life on the line. He is forced to turn to Bart once more, which Bart does not appreciate. At one point in their quest for answers, they pay an eventful -visit to Prague. Meanwhile, the Resistance is planning their most audacious attack yet...

McKenna/David: Girls seem to like The Amulet of Samarkand as much as boys do. Do you see a major female character emerging in the next two books?

Stroud: Yes - the key figure of book 2 is really Kitty, who appears twice, briefly, in book 1. She's a leading figure in the Resistance, and we learn her back story here. She's just as feisty as Bart and Nat, and more than a match for either of them, as they are soon to discover.