The Magicians by Lev Grossman
A Breath Of Fresh Air
Amazon Best of the Month, August 2009: Mixing the magic of beloved
childrens fantasy classics (from Narnia and Oz to Harry Potter and
Earthsea) with the sex, excess, angst, and anticlimax of life in college and
beyond, Lev Grossmans Magicians reimagines modern-day fantasy for
grownups. Quentin Coldwater lives in a state of perpetual melancholy,
privately obsessed with his childhood books about the enchanted land of
Fillory. When he’s admitted to the surreptitious Brakebills Academy for an
education in magic, Quentin finds mastering spells is tedious (and love is
even more fraught). He also discovers his power has thrilling potential--
though its unclear what he should do with it once hes moved with his new
magician cohorts to New York City. Then they discover the magical land of
Fillory is real and launch an expedition to use their powers to set things
right in the kingdom--which, naturally, turns out to be a much murkier
proposition than expected. The Magicians breathes life into a cast of
characters you want to know--if the people you want to know are
charismatic, brilliant, complex, flawed magicians--and does what Quentin
claims books never really manage to do: get you out, really out, of where
you were and into somewhere better. Or if not better, at least a heck of a
lot more interesting. --Mari Malcolm
Personal Review: The Magicians by Lev Grossman
When I first encountered 'The Magicians' in a bookstore, I dismissed it as a
yet another Harry Potter ripoff, albeit a potentially interesting one. I admit it
- I had low expectations.
So, I was very pleasantly surprised to find that in spite of its deri vative
nature this is actually one of the most original, interesting, and unusual
(anti-) fantasy novels I've read. It is also depressing, yes, and unsatisfying,
and sardonic, and brutal. However, I found the novel engrossing, and the
beautifully flawed characters interesting and even likeable. I read it quite
quickly, as it is one of those rare books that I couldn't stop thinking about.
It is extremely well-written, and well-characterized. There is a great deal of
longing and pain, but it is subtly tempered by fleeting moments of
happiness, and a wry, winking humor (I especially like the smoking tree :)).
I would recommend it without reservations, but with a warning that it is not
a fantasy to escape from life's unhappinesses, but to face them
unblinkingly (with a little magic mixed in).
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