The Bartimaeus Sequence
#1724.14 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 4 books Status Complete 2003–2010 Reading commitment Medium Jonathan Stroud Last reviewed 2026-08-07
Overview
Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus Sequence (Doubleday/Miramax, 2003-2010) is narrated substantially by Bartimaeus, a wry, 5,000-year-old djinni bound into service by successive magicians across an alternate-history London ruled by magic-wielding government officials rather than an ordinary monarchy. The original trilogy -- The Amulet of Samarkand (2003), The Golem's Eye (2004), and Ptolemy's Gate (2005) -- follows Nathaniel, an ambitious boy magician who summons Bartimaeus for a act of revenge that draws them both into escalating government intrigue and rebellion, told partly through Bartimaeus's own sardonic footnoted first-person chapters alongside conventional third-person narration. A full prequel novel, The Ring of Solomon (2010), later returned to Bartimaeus's service under King Solomon nearly three millennia earlier, exploring the djinni's history and the biblical-adjacent court politics of Solomon's Jerusalem. Stroud's alternate-history conceit, in which magicians rather than politicians hold real power, and his sympathetic, morally complex portrayal of a bound and resentful supernatural servant, distinguish the sequence within children's and YA fantasy of its era.
Urban fantasy, Comic fantasy · For YA
Core Canon: Reading Order (4 works) counts toward ranking
The Bartimaeus Sequence Jonathan Stroud
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Amulet of Samarkand | 2003 | 4 | core | 4.04 (136,632 ratings) |
 | The Golem's Eye | 2004 | 5 | core | 4.12 (97,866 ratings) |
 | Ptolemy's Gate | 2005 | 6 | core | 4.28 (90,993 ratings) |
 | The Ring of Solomon | 2010 | 1 | core | 4.21 (32,526 ratings) |
Core = the original trilogy (The Amulet of Samarkand 2003, The Golem's Eye 2004, Ptolemy's Gate 2005) plus The Ring of Solomon (2010), a full prequel novel set ~2,900 years earlier during King Solomon's reign and marketed as part of the same Sequence -- treated as Core by the same prequel-is-still-Core logic as The Chronicles of Damar's Hero and the Crown, not as separately-tiered companion material. internal chronology values reflect in-story order (Ring of Solomon first), not publication order. Registered as a quartet (4 books, closed set, no further Bartimaeus novels published or announced since 2010).
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Bartimaeus Sequence? The Bartimaeus Sequence's Core Canon is 4 books.
- What is the reading order for The Bartimaeus Sequence? Publication order, starting with The Amulet of Samarkand. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is The Bartimaeus Sequence finished? Complete (2003–2010).
- How much reading does The Bartimaeus Sequence take? Medium reading commitment (estimated from 4 Core Canon books · ~1,934 pages).
- How is The Bartimaeus Sequence ranked? #172 in this site's official ranking, based on 358,017 reader ratings across 4 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #172?
Ranked #172 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.14 across 4 core books.
- Backed by 358k reader ratings.
- Less than 0.01 behind #171, The Paksenarrion Universe (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Highly rated · 4 books · Complete · 358k ratings · Ranks #172 overall
Good choice if you want a moderate-length urban fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (4 Core Canon books)
- The Amulet of Samarkand (2003)
- The Golem's Eye (2004)
- Ptolemy's Gate (2005)
- The Ring of Solomon (2010)
Documented internal/story order
- The Ring of Solomon (2010)
- The Amulet of Samarkand (2003)
- The Golem's Eye (2004)
- Ptolemy's Gate (2005)
Awards (verified)
- No award recognition independently confirmed for this universe as of admission (2026-08-07); a Locus YA Book check against sfadb.com could not be completed.
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.14 across 358,017 ratings on 4 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: The Bartimaeus Sequence admitted; Core Canon = trilogy + prequel novel accepted 2026-08-07
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
Last reviewed: 2026-08-07
Rule: Core = the original trilogy (The Amulet of Samarkand 2003, The Golem's Eye 2004, Ptolemy's Gate 2005) plus the prequel novel The Ring of Solomon (2010), registered as a quartet. internal chronology reflects story order (Ring of Solomon first), not publication order.