Jonathan Stroud
A British author who crafts witty, subversive fantasy where clever djinn and ghost hunters expose the flaws in power and society.
Born 1970 (age 56)·British author·Birthday: October 27·Generation X
Biography
Jonathan Stroud spent his early years in Bedford, cultivating a love for stories that mixed history with the supernatural. After a stint as an editor at a London publishing house, he broke through with the Bartimaeus Sequence, a series that upended young adult fantasy tropes with its sharp satire and a narcissistic, footnoting djinn. Stroud's worlds are meticulously built, but their magic is less about wonder and more a tool for examining class, bureaucracy, and ambition. His success continued with the chilling and humorous Lockwood & Co. series, which captured the anxieties of youth operating in a world where adults are useless against spectral threats. His work consistently grants intelligence to its young protagonists, treating them as capable agents in broken systems, a quality that has earned him a devoted global readership.
Generation X
1965–1980
The latchkey kids. Raised during divorce, recession, and the end of the Cold War. Skeptical, self-reliant, media-literate. They invented indie culture, grunge, and the early internet — then watched the Boomers take credit.
Jonathan was born in 1970, placing them squarely in the Generation X. The events that shaped this generation — economic uncertainty, the end of the Cold War, and the rise of personal computing — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Jonathan Was Born
The biggest hits of 1970
#1 Movie
Love Story
Best Picture
Patton
#1 TV Show
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Jonathan's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1970Born
First Earth Day; The Beatles break up
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $17,000Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Bridge over Troubled Water" — Simon & GarfunkelBest Picture: Patton
1975Started school
Fall of Saigon ends the Vietnam War
Gas: $0.57/galHome: $27,600Min wage: $2.10/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Love Will Keep Us Together" — Captain & TennilleBest Picture: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1983Became a teenager
Internet adopts TCP/IP, creating the modern internet
Gas: $1.16/galHome: $57,700Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Every Breath You Take" — The PoliceBest Picture: Terms of Endearment
1986Could drive
Challenger disaster; Chernobyl nuclear meltdown
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $66,600Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"That's What Friends Are For" — Dionne & FriendsBest Picture: Platoon
1988Could vote
Pan Am Flight 103 bombed over Lockerbie
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $74,800Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Faith" — George MichaelBest Picture: Rain Man
1991Turned 21
Soviet Union dissolves; World Wide Web goes public
Gas: $1.14/galHome: $82,400Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" — Bryan AdamsBest Picture: The Silence of the Lambs
2000Turned 30
Y2K passes without incident; contested Bush-Gore election
Gas: $1.51/galHome: $119,600Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Breathe" — Faith HillBest Picture: Gladiator
2010Turned 40
Deepwater Horizon oil spill; iPad launched
Gas: $2.79/galHome: $147,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Tik Tok" — KeshaBest Picture: The King's Speech
2020Turned 50
COVID-19 pandemic shuts down the world
Gas: $2.17/galHome: $248,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"Blinding Lights" — The WeekndBest Picture: Nomadland
2026Age 56 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Authored the Bartimaeus Sequence, which won the Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire and a Mythopoeic Fantasy Award.
- Created the Lockwood & Co. series, which was adapted into a television series by Netflix.
- His books have been selected multiple times for the American Library Association's notable books lists for young people.
Did You Know?
He named the character Bartimaeus after a blind beggar healed by Jesus in the Gospel of Mark.
Stroud worked as a children's book editor for Walker Books before becoming a full-time writer.
He keeps a detailed notebook for each project, filled with maps, timelines, and plot diagrams.
“The trick is to remember that the most powerful magic is not in the spells you cast, but in the lies you make people believe.”
