Jonathan Stroud

Jonathan Anthony Stroud
Jonathan Stroud, 2016.
Born	27 October 1970 Bedford, England
Occupation	Writer
Nationality	British
Period	1999–present
Genre	Children's fantasy

Jonathan Anthony Stroud (born 27 October 1970) is a British writer of fantasy fiction, 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.^[1] After he completed his studies of English literature at the University of York, he worked in London as an editor for the Walker Books store. During the 1990s, he started publishing his own works and quickly gained success.^[1]

Among his most prominent works are the best-selling^[2] Bartimaeus Trilogy. A special feature of these novels compared to others of their genre 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, his first to be published in the United States, are The Amulet of Samarkand, The Golem's Eye, Ptolemy's Gate, and prequel The Ring of Solomon.

Stroud lives in St Albans, Hertfordshire, with his two children, Isabelle and Arthur, and his wife Gina, an illustrator of children's books.^[1]

On March 21, 2012, Jonathan announced a new project via his blog – Lockwood & Co..^[3]

In 2013, Lockwood & Co.: The Screaming Staircase was released, and quickly achieved high critical acclaim, with Rick Riordan calling Stroud a "genius". The sequel, The Whispering Skull, was released in September 2014.

A third novel, titled The Hollow Boy, was announced through a competition orchestrated by Stroud, asking readers to send in an idea for a Ghost to feature in the third story.^[4]

Bibliography

• Justin Credible’s Word Play World (1994)
• The Viking Saga of Harri Bristlebeard (1997)
• The Hare and the Tortoise (1998)
• Walking through the Jungle (1998)
• The Little Red Car (1999)
• Alfie’s Big Adventure (1999)
• Buried Fire (1999)
• Little Spike and Long Tail (2000)
• Goldilocks and the Three Bears (2000)
• The Leap (2001)
• The Last Siege (2003)
• The Lost Treasure of Captain Blood (2006)
• Heroes of the Valley (2009)

Novella

• The Ghost of Shadow Vale (2009)

Series

Bartimaeus Sequence

• The Ring of Solomon (2010)
• The Amulet of Samarkand (2003)
• The Golem's Eye (2004)
• Ptolemy's Gate (2005)

Lockwood & Co.

• The Screaming Staircase (2013)
• The Whispering Skull^[5] (2014)
• The Hollow Boy (2015)
• The Dagger in the Desk (2015)
• The Creeping Shadow (2016)

Non-Fiction

• Ancient Rome: A Guide to the Glory of Imperial Rome (2000)
• Life and Times in Ancient Rome (2008)

References

1. "About Jonathan Stroud". jonathanstroud.com. Retrieved 2010-03-07.
2. "New York Times Best Sellers (Children's) February 12, 2006". nytimes.com. 12 February 2006. Retrieved 2011-02-19.
3. http://jonathanstroud.tumblr.com/post/19674479513. Retrieved 2012-04-11.
4. http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2014/oct/31/ghost-competition-jonathan-strouds-lockwood-and-co
5. Stroud, Jonathan (11 August 2013). "Ask the Author". Random House. Retrieved 23 August 2013.

External links

• Official website
• Jonathan Stroud at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Jonathan Stroud's Tumblr blog
• Jonathan Stroud at Library of Congress Authorities, with 13 catalog records