The Ring of Solomon by Jonathan Stroud

The Ring of Solomon, by Jonathan Stroud.  Hyperion/Disney, 2010, 398 pages. 

Reading level: Middle grades, 10-12

Recommended for: Ages 12-14

One-line Summary: The witty narrator of Jonathan Stroud’s popular Bartimaeus novels is back for a biblical romp, but the story is problematic and lacks the depth of the original series.

As our story opens, the 4000-year-old djinni Bartimaeus runs afoul of King Solomon and is reassigned to a drudge’s job: overseeing the construction of the King’s temple.  Solomon is as wise as his reputation, but also a bit high-handed, due to his possession of an enchanted ring which gives him unprecedented power.  He’s also rather pushy in his pursuit of the Queen of Sheba who has turned down his marriage offer many times.  Fearing Solomon’s next step might just be to take over her kingdom, she sends a young female assassin to finish him off.  How this lady falls in with Bartimaeus and how the two of them make common cause to discover the secret of Solomon’s power form the plotline.

The Ring of Solomon has little in common with the original Bartimaeus trilogy besides its main character: it could be billed as “a Bartimaeus adventure.”  In the earlier series he brags about having advised Solomon, so here’s the rest of that story.  Though the voice is as inimitable and witty as ever, the biblical background makes it more problematic for me than the other books.  On the first page, a magician swears “By the great Jehovah!” and a couple of references are made to Solomon’s religion.  But that religion (whatever it is) has no apparent relation to his status as a great magician–unless it’s the reason he’s a nobler character than the common run of ancient kings.  Temple-building (mostly by djinn) is a detail of the plot, but folded into an occult context.  Is this a form of blasphemy?  That might be worth a discussion, but I can’t wholeheartedly recommend the novel.

Cautions: Supernatural (demons and the occult)

Overall value: 3.5 (out of 5)

• Worldview/Moral value: 3.5
• Literary value: 4

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