Buried Fire

Heroes of the Valley site up and running!

Jonathan’s new novel is Heroes of the ValleyClick here to visit its special site, complete with exclusive mini-excerpt.

Edinburgh Festival 2008
 
Jonathan will be appearing at the Edinburgh International Book Festival at 5.00pm on Sunday 24th August 2008. Check out the festival website: www.edbookfest.co.uk nearer the time for full details.

The Leap publishing in Germany!
 
Jonathan's second novel, The Leap, will be published in German under the title Die Spur ins Schattenland in January. For information on this edition, which has a beautiful black and white cover, click here.

Web Journal Launched

Jonathan Stroud now publishes a Web Journal on this website. Click here to take a look!

Austrian Book Prize for Bartimaeus

The Bartimaeus Trilogy has won the Children's Book Award 2007 of the Jury of Young Readers, an award given by 11-13 year olds in Vienna for the best book for young people. Jonathan visited Vienna in November to meet the jury and accept the prize personally. More about this in the November 7th entry of Jonathan's journal.
 
Short Story Published

Jonathan has contributed a new short story to Midnight Feast (HarperCollins UK), an anthology of children's stories in aid of the charities War Child and No Strings. 'The Girl in the Tower' is a fairy story about writing, in which nothing is quite what it seems. The anthology is on sale from 2nd July. For details on Midnight Feast, click here. For more on War Child, click here. For more on No Strings, visit click here.

A New Arrival!
 
Jonathan and Gina are proud to announce the arrival of their son Arthur, born on 26th April 2007. Despite his father's best efforts, Arthur has so far showed little interest in literary matters, prefering to concentrate on accumulating milk and sleep - as much of each as possible, often at the same time.  
 
The Word Festival
 
Jonathan will be talking about the Bartimaeus Trilogy at the Polka Theatre, 240 The Broadway, Wimbledon, London, at 2pm on Sunday 24th June. Tickets cost £5 (£3 concessions). For more information, visit www.polkatheatre.com, and for tickets ring 0208 543 4888.

Cybil Award 2006 for Ptolemy's Gate

Ptolemy's Gate has won the Cybil Award 2006 in the FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION section. This is a new award given by child and Young Adult bloggers. Their citation reads:

Ptolemy's Gate receives the first Cybil for Fantasy and Science Fiction for its richly imagined fantasy world, strongly realized and unique characters, delightful language and well-honed plot. As a concluding volume of a trilogy, it delivers everything a final volume should do, taking the story arc to its peak with a climax that is both action-packed and emotionally charged. At the same time, Ptolemy’s Gate stands alone as a story and will inspire readers, children and adults alike, to seek out the previous instalments and revisit the world of Bartimaeus over and over again.

For more information on the Cybils, click here.

Buried Fire success in Germany
 
Buried Fire (published as Drachenglut) has become a bestseller in Germany, following hot on the success of the Bartimaeus Trilogy there. It has reached # 2 in the Children's Book chart and # 16 in the Adult Book chart. A German-language recording of the book, made by actor Rufus Beck, will soon be issued, and a preview of this can be heard by visiting www.drachenglut-dasbuch.de.

Grand Prix Success!

The Bartimaeus Trilogy has won the "Grand Prix de l'imaginaire", an important French prize for fantasy and Science Fiction. It shared the "roman jeunesse" (youth book) category with La Vie Suspendue by Timothée de Fombelle. The prize was awarded on November 4th 2006 at the Utopiales, Nantes, France. There's more information about the award winners at the Quarante-Deux website.

CORINE Award for Ptolemy’s Gate

Ptolemy’s Gate has won the 2006 CORINE International Book Award, Youth Book category. This prize is organised by the Bavarian section of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association. It was awarded on September 24th, 2006 at a ceremony in the Prinzregententheater, Munich, Germany. For more information on the CORINE Award, visit www.corine.de

Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Bartimaeus books

The Bartimaeus Trilogy has won the 2006 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature. This is awarded by the Mythopoeic Society, which promotes fantastic and mythic literature. This year’s awards were announced at Mythcon 37, August 4-7, 2006 at the University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA.

For more information on the Mythopoeic Society and the Awards, visit www.mythsoc.org

Ptolemy’s Gate shortlisted for Quill Award

Ptolemy’s Gate was shortlisted for the 2006 Quill Award, in the Chapter Book category. The Quill Book Awards are nominated by booksellers and librarians across the USA, with final voting by readers.

Ptolemy Podcast

Jonathan Stroud recently recorded a short interview and a reading of the first two chapters of Ptolemy's Gate with The Guardian Online. Click here to access it (12.4MB), or here for a direct download (same size).