Run, Don't Walk, to a Library or Bookstore

I just finished Ptolemy's Gate, the last book in the Bartimaeus trilogy, and I think this may best His Dark Materials as my favorite fantasy book ever. Children's or otherwise. I know some of you have already read the books, but for those of you who haven't, the books deal with an alternate universe where the British Empire still rules the world, and magicians rule the Empire. But their rule is anything but benevolent; if anything, their goverment is overtly facist. The protagonist, Nathaniel, is one of the most fascinating characters, and his development over the three books is so well done - and in the last book it is utterly heartbreaking. Kitty Jones, the young Resistance leader, is stunning in the last book, and the eponymous Bartimaeus of the books - while he usually provides most of the humor in the books in the form of the funniest footnotes outside of a freshman English course, has some wonderful backstory in the last volume.

I stayed up the entire night to read it, and decided not to watch an episode or two of MI-5 just to stay up and read. Even now, my eyes are filled with tears - the last volume was just *that* good. A book hasn't affected me this much in quite a while.