In a secret world of forbidden knowledge, power comes at a terrible price…
Intelligent, awkward Quentin Coldwater’s life is changed forever when he turns up for his entrance interview to Princeton and finds his interviewer dead. Then he makes a second discovery: in the interviewer’s house is a strange envelope bearing his name.
The envelope, and the mysterious manuscript it contains, leads to an entirely different entrance exam, and to a very different path to any Quentin has ever imagined following. Quentin’s immediate future now lies within the walls of Brakebills, the long established but secret institution of excellence.
Brakebills in turn is the gateway to a secret world of obsession and privilige, a world of freedom and power. For a while, it’s a world that seems to answer all Quentin’s desires. But the idyll cannot last – and when it’s finally shattered, Quentin is drawn into something darker and far more dangerous that anything he could ever have expected…
Fantasy Book Review says: “The Magicians is a book that will likely divide opinions leaving very few sitting on the fence. The majority will love it but there will be some that will detest it (ardent Potter and Narnia fans possibly). The fantasy genre always needs an author to come along a show it in a different light and this is exactly what has Grossman has done. He has injected sexual tension and questionable morals into a school for wizards and the result is a rousing, perceptive and multifaceted coming of age story that is both bright and beguiling. The Magicians is a perfect fantasy book for older teens that will find that the author understands them, and their feelings, possibly better than they do themselves.”
Read the full review of The Magicians
Lev Grossman was born in 1969, the son of two English professors, and grew up in a suburb of Boston. He graduated from Harvard with a degree in literature and went on to the Ph.D. program in comparative literature at Yale, although he left after three years without finishing a dissertation.
Unfortunately, though I really wanted to enjoy the book, it was very bleak. The plot was very plain and a little too ‘real’. Yes, this book is obviously one that encompasses Narnia and Harry Potter into it except Narnia is portrayed as “Fillory”. Harry Potter is quoted actually as the main characters have read the books. I had a hard time finishing it, desperately hoping that there was some redemption for the main character and even the rest of the characters. In the end, I was left without satisfaction. The book is a bit of a downer. Striking too close to home since people (college students in general) are aimlessly searching for their place in the world and how to manage, and so is the main character. Sometimes it’s best NOT to relate to a character in a book or else you just realize that the world is so dismal that you just want to go and drown kittens.
The good part of the book IS Grossman’s writing. His way of writing is impressive, but the plot is what hurt this story. I prefer a narrative style in my books and Grossman can build a very vivid image of the world around his characters. The characters themselves are interesting in description (i.e. Penny or the Suited Man in the classroom) but some of them are hard to remember beyond the physical.
I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone who is too used to the popular fantasy genre, but someone who has a more analytical approach to things might enjoy it. I can’t say that I enjoyed it on a whole, but I did read it quickly and look forward to reaching the end of the story.