Jonathan Stroud
Encyclopedia
Jonathan Anthony Stroud is an author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 of fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...

 books, mainly for children and young adults.

Biography

Born in 1970 in Bedford, England, Stroud began to write stories at a very young age. He grew up in St Albans where he enjoyed reading books, drawing pictures, and writing stories. Between the ages seven and nine he was often ill, so he spent most of his days in the hospital or in his bed at home. To escape boredom, he would occupy himself with books and stories. After he completed his studies of English literature
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....

 at the University of York
University of York
The University of York , is an academic institution located in the city of York, England. Established in 1963, the campus university has expanded to more than thirty departments and centres, covering a wide range of subjects...

, he worked in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 as an editor for the Walker Books store. During the 1990s, he started publishing his own works and quickly gained success.

Among his most prominent works are the best-selling Bartimaeus Trilogy
Bartimaeus Trilogy
Bartimaeus is a fantasy series by Jonathan Stroud consisting of a trilogy published from 2003 to 2005 and a prequel novel published in 2010. The titular character, Bartimaeus, is a five-thousand-year-old djinni, a spirit of approximately mid-level power...

. A special feature of these novels compared to others of their genre
Genre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...

 is that Stroud examines the stereotypes and ethics of the magician class and the enslaved demons. This is done by telling the story from the perspective of the sarcastic and slightly egomaniacal djinni Bartimaeus. The books in this series are The Amulet of Samarkand
The Amulet of Samarkand
The Amulet of Samarkand is the first book in the Bartimaeus Trilogy written by Jonathan Stroud. It is well known for its liberal use of footnotes to voice the title character's sarcastic comments, as well as story background.-Plot introduction:...

, The Golem's Eye
The Golem's Eye
The Golem's Eye is the second book in the Bartimaeus Trilogy written by Jonathan Stroud.- Plot :The book begins two years after the events of The Amulet of Samarkand. Nathaniel is apprenticed to the Minister of Security, Jessica Whitwell; and is working as an understudy to the Minister of Internal...

, Ptolemy's Gate
Ptolemy's Gate
Ptolemy's Gate is the third book in the Bartimaeus Trilogy, written by Jonathan Stroud. It was released in the UK in September 2005, and in the US in December of the same year.- Plot introduction :...

, and The Ring of Solomon
The Ring of Solomon
The Ring of Solomon is a fantasy novel, a prequel to the Bartimaeus Trilogy, written by Jonathan Stroud. It was first published in 2010 and is set in a fantasy version of ancient Jerusalem.-Plot introduction:It is the year 950 B.C.E...

(although this not part of the official trilogy), his first books to be published in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Stroud lives in St Albans
St Albans
St Albans is a city in southern Hertfordshire, England, around north of central London, which forms the main urban area of the City and District of St Albans. It is a historic market town, and is now a sought-after dormitory town within the London commuter belt...

, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...

, with his two children, Isabelle and Arthur, and his wife Gina, an illustrator of children's books.

One of his more recent novels is Heroes of the Valley, released in paperback in April 2010. A fourth book from the Bartimaeus series, The Ring of Solomon, was released in October 2010.

External links

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