Piercing, highly imaginative and profoundly moving, The Magician King appears to be an atypical fantasy novel. Grossman was able to craft a book that while you know is a middle book in a trilogy, still can stand on its own. He managed to stretch his invented universe into a wide array of odd, sometimes funny but mostly astonishing, realms. And the interlaced stories of the present (Quentin's) and the past (Julia's) was a nice touch.
I didn't understand it before, why I loved Alice more than Quentin. But now I do. He is unlikable, or was. But in The Magician King, Grossman let Quentin grow. From being the privileged, bored, unaffectionate young magician, he turned out to be the real protagonist here――someone you'd actually care about, love even. He set out to know the meaning of being a hero but in the process he became more than one――or maybe he became one but not the way we normally see heroes, glorious and triumphant――and he became more sensitive of the people around him.
On the other hand, Julia's story line is poignant and disturbing. She emerges at the beginning as a mysterious character for me, not that she's a new character, but it was roughly told in the first book what really happened to her. In The Magicians, you'd think you know why she became miserable. But in The Magician King, you'd truly understand all that she went through――she's not just miserable, she's ruined. At first though I wasn't grabbed that much. But as her narrative unfolded, strong emotions suddenly went rushing through. She's angry, she's furious, she's apathetic at some degree (view spoiler)[(but that was later revealed to be the effect of her transformation) (hide spoiler)], but at the same time she longs for love, for a family. Unlike Quentin, Julia worked really hard for magic, for power. She gave up everything――her family, her education, everything that Julia was――for magic. I felt deeply sorry for her, magic consumed her.
Meanwhile, I liked how the new characters added colours in the picture. Poppy, who sees that there is more to life, seemed to me like a tool Grossman used to criticize escapism. While the Murs magicians, a mix of equally complex and brilliant beings, and their desire for higher power struck me as a reflection of our deeper yearning for magic. And this jumping off from one world to another(view spoiler)[――from Fillory to Earth to the Neitherlands to the Underworld then back to Fillory―― (hide spoiler)] is exhilarating. Not to mention the captivating scenes from Venice, Cornwall and Provence.
I think The Magician King disheartens its readers in a more fundamental level. BUT take note, the novel isn't all about depression. And the denouement was just sick, sure to suggest a third book.
I'm still trying to figure out though whether Grossman satirizes our deep desire for fantasy and magic or celebrates it.