Jonathan "Snarky BAMF" Stroud
"We grow up being told about great figures in our society, and as you get older you have to question the stories you've been told and decide if these great figures are indeed as great as you've been told."
— Jonathan Stroud
Jonathan Stroud (b. 1970) is a children's fantasy fiction author. He is best known for the highly acclaimed The Bartimaeus Trilogy, Lockwood & Co., and most recently a new series, Scarlett and Browne, which began in October 2021.
Stroud's other notable works are short stand-alone YA novels. His bibliography includes:
- Buried Fire
- The Leap
- The Last Siege
- Heroes of the Valley
Tropes that Jonathan Stroud is known for:
- Alternate History: Lockwood & Co. takes place in alternate world where London is overrun by ghosts. Similarly, in The Bartimaeus Trilogy, the government is made up of magicians. The Outlaws Scarlett and Browne is set in England in a world that has suffered some kind of terrible disaster, probably nuclear, with London apparently destroyed and those towns that still stand under the threat of the "Tainted" living in the forests.
- Coming of Age Story: In The Last Siege and Heroes of the Valley, the characters mature and learn more about themselves through the novel's events. They emerge as stronger people.
- Deadpan Snarker: Bartimaeus, Lucy and to a lesser extent, George are this.
- Functional Magic: The main characters in several of Stroud's later works have access to talismans and have limited control over the supernatural elements around them.
