Book Review: The Ring of Solomon

Title: The Ring of Solomon

Author: Jonathan Stroud

Publisher: Hyperion Books

Genre: Fantasy/Adventure/Humor

Page Count: 398

Rating: 5 out of 5

Cover Rating: 4.5 out of 5. I love this cover! The only thing that prevented me from giving it a 5 was the fact it is a teensy bit spoilery, if you take it literally. Which I tend to do. (THIS COVER is also cool, but the gargoyle is rather grotesque.)

Inside flap:

It is 950 B.C.E., and King Solomon rules Jerusalem with a steely hand; a hand on which gleams a magic ring of immense and unforgiving power. Solomon has just begun to work on his marvelous temple, charging Khaba, a formidable magician in his royal court, to oversee its construction. The workforce is an ill-behaved bunch of demons, a particularly unruly djinni names Bartimaeus among them. True to form, Bartimaeus promptly gets kicked off the temple project and assigned the even more miserable task of hunting bandits in the desert. There he crosses paths with Asmira, a highly skilled and loyal captain of the Queen of Sheba's guard, on a suicidal mission to save her country from Solomon's imminent attack. Of course, Bartimaeus has no intention of helping her. That is, until Asmira makes him an offer he cannot refuse . . .

My expectations: High. I LOVE The Bartimaeus Trilogy, and I expected a lot from this prequel.

My expectations were met, and even exceeded in some ways.

About the book: I love Bartimaeus. He is one of the funniest, most endearing characters in the Fantasy books I've read, and definitely the best dijinni. I found the historical setting in this book quite interesting, along with the portrayal of both the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon and the whole culture across that area.

The writing style is great--Jonathan Stroud writes well, and as with all Bartimaeus books, the little footnotes that serve as wisecracks are definitely a bonus, even if the reader has to keep glancing down at the bottom of the page. For some authors that would be a drawback, but for Stroud it certainly isn't.

• Plot:

Fast, and there are several unexpected twists--it never lagged, and the ending wound up everything well.

• Characters:

Bartimaeus, as I have mentioned, is quite funny. You get a lot of his character in this book, from the dancing hippo (I cracked up at that part) to the banter with his fellow djinni.

Asmira was a determined, and strong girl. She does what she has to do to accomplish her mission. I didn't really like her at the start, but by the end of the book I did. She changes throughout the story, even though it doesn't span that much time.


Khaba is an excellent antagonist. Evil, cunning, and power-driven, he has all the right stuff. Or, rather, wrong stuff. He knows what he wants and he'll do anything from torture to killing to get it, and is a formidable enemy.

• Setting/Elements:

The setting--historical figures, warriors, demons, magic--is fascinating, and something unique; it's nice to be able to read something that's put in a setting different from a lot of other books.

Other: Violence, (bandits, assassins, etc.), but that's really about it.

Do I recommend this book? Absolutely!

-----The Golden Eagle

Book Review: Heroes of the Valley (Also, Happy Kwanzaa!)

Cover of Heroes of the Valley

Title: Heroes of the Valley

Author: Jonathan Stroud

Publisher: Hyperion Books

Genre: Fantasy

Page Count: 483

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Cover Rating: 3.8 out of 5. Not bad, but not terrific, either; I like the drawing style, and it does depict a scene from the book without being spoiler-y.

Inside flap:

Halli Sveinsson has grown up in the House of Svein, hearing the legends of the heroes as all his forefathers did. Theirs is a peaceful society, where the violence of the past has been outlawed and disputes are settled by the Council.

   But young Halli has never quite seemed to fit in with the others. For starters, he is neither handsome nor tall, like his siblings. He's stumpy and swarthy, with a quick mind and an aptitude for getting into trouble. Bored with everyday chores and sheepherding, he can't help playing practical jokes on everyone, from Eyjolf, the old servant, to his brother and sister. But when he plays a trick on Ragnar of the House of Hakon, he goes too far, setting in motion a chain of events that will forever alter his destiny. Because of it, Halli will have to go on a hero's quest. Along the way, he will encounter highway robbers, terrifying monsters, and a girl who may be as fearless as he is. in the end he will discover the truth about the legends, his family, and himself.

My expectations: High. I enjoyed reading The Bartimaeus Trilogy, and I loved Jonathan Stroud's writing style.


My expectations were met.

About the book: This is a good Fantasy novel. The characters were strong, the setting was excellent, and it was well-written.


Jonathan Stroud's writing style wasn't as funny as The Bartimaeus Trilogy, due to the story being more serious overall, but it was still good.

• Plot:

There were unexpected twists and turns in the plot, which I enjoyed (I love a good plot twist). The ending was very surprising as well, which is another plus for the plot--the events throughout were exciting and it didn't lag much at any point.

• Characters:

Halli Sveinsson was an amusing character, at the beginning, always playing jokes and goofing off. He was great for the story, filled-out and 3-dimensional.

Aud is now one of my favorite female characters. She's strong, determined, and stubborn, and likes having her own way with things. She doesn't let tradition and custom get in her way, which stands out more in a society where people are expected to live by certain rules.

Hord was a good villain. He has the right motives, and the drive to make the villain part of him work for the  story and make it seem realistic.

• Setting/Elements:

I love the world-building in this book. I could picture the land that Halli lives in well, with its traditions, customs, myths, stories, legends, and all the cultural differences that you'd expect in a real society.

I like the way that stories were incorporated into the book before chapters, the stories from Halli's world that he grew up learning. It gave the book another element, and while I was sometimes frustrated that they broke up scenes where I just wanted to know what happened next, they were interesting.

Other: Violence, such as murder and fighting.

Do I recommend this book? Yes!

-----The Golden Eagle

Teaser Tuesday (16)

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.

The rules for participating:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This week, my teaser is from Heroes of the Valley by Jonathan Stroud, who is one of my favorite authors--I love the Bartimaeus Trilogy (have you ever read it?).

For Halli in his early youth, bedtime was the most intimate moment of the day, when he could mull on events and what he had learned. He lay beneath his woolen blanket, staring up at the window at the end of the cot, through which the stars shone cold over the dark slabs of the mountains, and the listened to the hum of voices from the hall, where his parents conducted the evening arbitrations.

-p.25


Do you have a teaser today? If so, feel free to leave it in the comments! :)


-----The Golden Eagle