Closer to 4.5 stars, but I'm so enamored of Bartimaeus that I'm happy to round the score up. I read this aloud to my 12 year old son, who gives it 4 stars (he also is a fan of Bartimaeus). 
 This prequel to the Bartimaeus trilogy follows a similar style as those books; the chapters alternate between the viewpoint of everyone's favorite djinni, and someone else, in this case, Asmira. 
 In Bartimaeus, Stroud has crafted one of my most favorite characters. He's intelligent, arrogant, powerful, snarky, and oh so very witty. Sometimes the Bartimaeus books can drag on too long, and overflow with details about the surroundings. In this title, Stroud perfectly walked the line of providing vivid details without making the reader wish that something would just HAPPEN, already. 
 Bartimaeus' new foil is Asmira, a hereditary guard (as in, her mother and grandmother did the same thing) to the Queen of Sheba. King Solomon has demanded an extreme payment from this Queen, and so Asmira is sent to see about correcting the problem. 
 I found everything about the book enjoyable, from the set-up of Bartimaeus and Asmira meeting, to their adventure together, to the conclusion. While both my son and I guessed (and correctly, I might add) certain aspects of the ending, it took away none of the delight and surprise. Heck, the whole thing made me want to revisit the second Bartimaeus book, which I gave up on, and finish the trilogy. 
 I'll have to see about that. For now, I'm happy to savor the joy that is having seen Bartimaeus through another rollicking adventure.