Quotes from Jonathan Stroud

your dress. Too tight.' 'You think so? It looks all right to me.' 'You're only looking at the front, love.

However, try as he might, nothing Nathaniel summoned had the combination of initiative, power, and obedience that he required. More than once, in fact, he was surprised to find himself thinking almost wistfully of his first servant. But he had resolved not to summon Bartimeaus again.

Two measly human years to get over the trauma of meeting you. Sure, I knew some idiot with a pointy hat would one day call me up again, but I hardly thought it would be the same idiot as last time.

Be sure of one thing, I can help you with your vengeance.

Did it talk about the afterlife?' George said eagerly. His eyes shone bright behind his spectacles. 'That's the big one. That's what everyone wants. What happens after death. Immortality... The fate of the human soul...' I took a deep breath. 'It said you were fat.

He'd been many things to me, Nathaniel had, most of them indescribable. But he never looked so much of a puppet as he did now. And already it had all gone wrong.

I had a fluttery feeling in my tummy and my legs felt weak. It was probably the late night catching up with me.

The boy tutted. 'Let me give you a friendly tip,' he said, 'Now you wouldn't want to be called female mud-spawn, would you? Well, in a similar way, when addressing a spirit such as me, the word Demon is in all honesty a little demeaning to us both. The correct term is Djin though you may add adjectives such as noble or asplendent if you choose. Just a question of manners. It keeps things friendly between us.

Well, if it's so easy, Kitty demanded hotly, "how come the magicians haven't stopped it?" The Djin gave a cold smile, "Because it would require personal bravery. They never do anything themselves. They rely on us the whole time. Mandrake gives me an order and I obey. He sits at home and I go out and suffer. That's the way it works.

Who knows? Maybe it's my natural style he envies, maybe my boyish charm. Perhaps it's my setup here—having my own agency, no one to answer to, with fine companions at my side." He caught my eye and smiled.

Charming as she was, it never pays a Djin to get close to people. Never. Take it from one who knows.

She was no demon — no magician — she was better than they were.

The fact that a humble commoner was more honourable than you'll ever be is hardly my affair. You do what you like.

Also because throughout the winter there'd been a sort of Holly-shaped hole in my brain, into which I used to throw dark thoughts. I probably spent too much time there, like a moody Inuk fishing at an ice hole, sitting on the edge, staring in.

Lockwood… Through half-closed eyes I watched him now, trapping him tight between my lashes.

Patience is the prime virtue. If you hurry, you will fail. And failure is painful. You must always relax and concentrate on the task in hand.

The truth was that an odd, fatalistic exhilaration had begun to seize hold of me. The sheer magnitude, the sheer dumb audacity of what I was now attempting was beginning to exert its own appeal. Okay, the certain-death part wasn't so hot, but given that I had no choice in the matter, I found I rather relished the challenge of my night's work.

This emptiness you talk about," I said, "I think you're getting too worked up about it.

Bartimaeus: By-name of the demon Sakhr al-Jinni, mentioned in Procopius and Michelot. A middle-ranking djinni of ancient standing, great ingenuity, and no little power. First recorded in Uruk; later in Jerusalem. Fought at the battle of al-Arish against the Assyrians. Known masters have included: Gilgamesh, Solomon, Zarbustibal, Heraclius, Hauser.

Can you define 'plan' as a loose sequence of manifestly inadequate observations and conjectures held together by panic, indecision, and ignorance? If so, then it was a very good plan.

It's a common misconception that places that have suffered psychic trauma must look sinister, too, with gaping windows, creaking doors, and walls twisted subtly out of shape. As with people, so with houses—a smiling, innocuous exterior can conceal the blackest heart, and

In principle, there's nothing shameful about struggling when a building falls upon you. I've had such problems before. It's part of the job description.

Nothing that she had known about demons had quite prepared her for Bartimeaus' personality. Their conversations, framed against a backdrop of fear and danger, remained fresh in her mind. Full of vitality, insight, and above all, an unexpected rapport.

The slime looked about for Mandrake. If things were bad for me, they weren't too sunny for him either. To my astonishment, I saw him standing at a table with Kitty Jones. It was the Kitty Jones bit that was astonishing, not the table. Though it was very nicely polished.