The third part of The Bartimaeus Trilogy, “Ptolemy’s Gate” finishes the story began in “The Amulet of Samarkand” and “The Golem’s Eye”. Like the first two instalments, the majority of the action is set in a mostly recognisable London – admittedly, with a few noticeable changes. The Empire (which still exists), having already defeated the Czech Republic, is now bogged down in a difficult war with the North American colonies. However, French and Czech spies are apparently operating in England, and there is trouble throughout mainland Europe. Magicians have been the ruling class since Gladstone’s time, holding all positions of power. Rather than wands and potions, these magicians derive their power from their ability to summon and control a variety of demons – for example, afrits, djinn and imps. Meanwhile the non-magical human masses are referred to as commoners. Despite the fact that the Resistance formed by some ‘militant’ commoners) was defeated a few years previously, an increasing number of commoners in England are becoming restless.

Three years have passed since the events of “The Golem’s Eye”. Nathaniel (more widely known as John Mandrake) is now the Information Minister – although he still, unofficially, keeps an eye on things at Internal Affairs. His old rival Jane Farrar, the Deputy Police Chief, is the closest thing he has to a friend on the Council – both are favourites of Rupert Devereaux, the Prime Minister. On Devereaux’s instructions, the pair have been working closely together. Following the actions of Lovelace and Duvall – two high ranking, treacherous magicians – Nathaniel and Farrar the pair have been monitoring other magicians. Their surveillance catches a very interesting conversation between two minor Civil Servants – the main point if interest being the mention of a ‘Mr Hopkins’. This appears to be the same Hopkins who not only taught the treacherous Duvall how to control his Golem, but also worked with the commoners’ Resistance. Nathaniel had searched for Hopkins following the incident with the Golem, but with no success. He also has suspicions there is a traitor within the government. Now, he believes he has found a path to his prey.

Bartimaeus, Nathaniel’s favourite fourth-level djinini, is caustic, irreverent and hopelessly vain – he boasts about the walls he built at Uruk and Karnak, but never mentions his work at Jericho. While he was never too fond of Nathaniel, things have now gone too far. Two years have passed since Bartimaeus was allowed to go ‘home’ and, without a rest, he will die. As it is, he is much slower, weaker and is easily distracted from his duties – a mere fraction of the impressively talented djinn he once was. However, he has lost none of his wisecracking abilities. While he once favoured taking the form of a former master, Ptolemy, he has recently been appearing as Kitty Jones. Kitty, a commoner and former member of the Resistance, saved Nathaniel from Duvall’s Golem. Although she escaped, Nathaniel believes she died – largely because Bartimaeus bent the truth beyond all recognition. Seeing Bartimaeus appear as Kitty always makes Nathaniel uncomfortable; as a result, it’s one of the few pleasures Bartimaeus has.

Kitty, meanwhile, is still living in London – although she is operating under a number of false identities. (Luckily, she has the papers to support those identities thanks to a friend’s father who runs a printing business). While she works some evenings in a pub, she has also started working for a magician called Button. Her new boss is a retired librarian who is interested in research, reading and writing. Unusually, for a magician, he has no interest in playing the political game. Kitty, despite her past in the Resistance, is determined to learn as much from him as possible; she is particularly interested in learning more about Bartimaeus.

Stroud has produced another very enjoyable book, though I am sorry it’s the end of the trilogy. As with the previous books, the focus from one chapter to another switches between the characters. Stroud writes Nathaniel’s and Kitty’s stories (“Nathaniel grasped Kitty by the arm, drew her to one side.”), while the djinni tells his own (“I delicately rearranged the fragments of cloth”). It also – finally – becomes clear why Bartimaeus remains so devoted to Ptolemy, his former master, as some of his chapters deal with his time in Egypt.