Paul
asked
Jonathan Stroud:
One aspect of the "Lockwood" and "Bartimaeus" books that I enjoy is that the underlying magical premise has been allowed to affect the entire universe in which the story occurs. (Unlike many other books, where magic is secret or underground, and life for the unmagical proceeds in a way that indistinguishable from "real life".) Why do you choose to do that? What challenges and opportunities does it create?
Jonathan Stroud
Great question: yes, you're right, one of the things I enjoy most about writing these books is that it starts from a fairly simple premise (ghosts exist, magicians use djinn) and then works outwards developing the consequences of that premise. I really like making three-dimensional worlds which are internally consistent in this way. It's quite hard, but somehow very satisfying when it begins to mesh together. And it gets easier as it goes along, too...
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Rachel Jackson
asked
Jonathan Stroud:
Hello Mr Stroud! I absolutely love your books :D You've created very interesting settings in your books, having a modern yet antique feel to it. In Bartimaeus there is very interesting relationship between the magicians, the commoners and the spirits. Is such kind of a society and government present all over the world or just England in that universe during that time? Please do write more Bartimaeus stories :)
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