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The Magicians (The Magicians, #1)

Lev Grossman

Start date: July 21, 2016

Finish date: August 13, 2016

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What Members Thought

May 26, 2014 Jim rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 1audio, fantasy, 2fiction, 3series

Think Harry Potter written by a modern day S.E. Hinton, set in Narnia, & stuffed into one book. Kind of a wild mix & very well done. There's frank discussion of sex, drugs/drinking, & an unhealthy dose of ennui all leading to some hard, practical life experience. It's more 'real', for lack of a better term, than a normal YA fantasy yet is a coming of age story that certainly fit me (if I had magical powers) better than the popular pristine series.

Wow!

The characters are typical outsider teens, ge ...more

23 likes · Like · see review

Aug 29, 2015 Carrie rated it liked it

Shelves: magic-school, urban-fantasy, fantasy, magic, witches, wizards, magicians, library

I strongly hoped I would fall in love with this book, as I had heard it was like Harry Potter only more adult. I will give it a hat tilt, it did have some comparisons. We have a magical school, a school sport (no flying brooms mind you.) It even had different "houses", so to speak. These being the groups you wind up in after your discipline is figured out.

What I hadn't heard about The Magicians was the Narnia aspect of it. Because Fillroy = Narnia.

So like I was saying, my hopes were high. But s I strongly hoped I would fall in love with this book, as I had heard it was like Harry Potter only more adult. I will give it a hat tilt, it did have some comparisons. We have a magical school, a school sport (no flying brooms mind you.) It even had different "houses", so to speak. These being the groups you wind up in after your discipline is figured out.

What I hadn't heard about The Magicians was the Narnia aspect of it. Because Fillroy = Narnia.

So like I was saying, my hopes were high. But sadly love did not come to me. That feeling of warmth and tingles failed to make an appearance. I did however like and enjoy aspects of the book.

I was turned off at times, one of these times was all the swearing. I can't say all but some of it. Don't get me wrong I've read many a tale with cursing, heck I can swear like a sailor myself at times. My point is that it didn't feel right. The flow, it felt fake at times.

Another turn off was Quinton, our main dude. He at first I found likable but then as the story continued on he just got on my nerves. I kept on thinking okay he'll redeem himself now....pages after pages later, I was still holding on to that hope. There's always book 2? Right??

While I'm on a roll, let's continue. For sure I thought there was going to be storyline and characters just forgotten about, and to some degree they were. They were bloody well just left simmering in the back, meanwhile I was thinking, gah did the author forget? Apparently he never, but I'm still in the dark. Book 2 will light my way? Right??

Now don't get me wrong I did say I liked and enjoyed aspects. I'm a sucker for magic schools, I love the magical world, I'm drawn to the mage class. So of course I would at least like the book. The storyline was able to hold my attention disbite any of the negatives I have pointed out. So for the better part of it I was happy. I will read book 2, I have to, unanswered questions and the what not.

3 star rating:
-.5 stars for the fake feel of the swearing.
-1 star for the my unhappiness with Q
-.5 for almost letting things simmer away to nothing. ...more

6 likes · Like · see review

Aug 30, 2009 Jeffrey rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy, read-in-2009

Quentin Coldwater is a disaffected youth who hates his life when he visits a professor with two friends to have a special exam to get into a school, but the man there is dead. A paramedic at the scene gives him an envelope which contains a sixth book in a series of novels by an author named Plover about a fantastical world called Fillory, modeled in some ways after Narnia, and while following a piece of paper from the envelope that has blown away in the wind, Quentin bumps into Eliot a student a Quentin Coldwater is a disaffected youth who hates his life when he visits a professor with two friends to have a special exam to get into a school, but the man there is dead. A paramedic at the scene gives him an envelope which contains a sixth book in a series of novels by an author named Plover about a fantastical world called Fillory, modeled in some ways after Narnia, and while following a piece of paper from the envelope that has blown away in the wind, Quentin bumps into Eliot a student at a magical school called Brakebill, who takes Quentin inside where he takes and exam to see if he is qualified to attend. The exam is one of the best parts of the novel.

After his acceptance into the school, the novel tracks his five years at school where he takes various courses, meets other young magicians who are studying magic and eventually meets Alice, a girl he falls in love with. Alice, is a super magician who found her own way to Brakebill even though her brother mysteriously died there. She loves Quentin. Eliot, Janet, Josh, and ALice are physical magicians, who have the power over physical aspects of the world. Quentin, cannot find his discipline but is assigned to the Physical Kids anyway.

During one particular class with Professor March, Quentin inadvertently disrupts a spell by March which opens a spell portal and a monster that the teachers later call the Beast enters the classroom. The Beast plays an important part in the novel, but we are not shown what until the end.

After graduation, Penny, one of the other young Magician's actually finds a button that can only be a means to travel to the world of Fillory. What had seemed to be some fantastical story land in the background of the story was actually a real place. The Physical Kids, Penny and Richard, a previous graduate travel to Fillory using the button. There Quentin, Alice, the Physical Kids and Penny ultimately confront the Beast, who turns out to be a character from the Plover books.

Although I liked the novel, I never loved it, and it seems to end at a place with a new beginning in the offering. Although billed as a coming of age novel, I thought Quentin never really succeeds in meeting his destiny and take charge. He is never the crucial player but maybe the story does pivot on him. The ultimate denouement is kind of cruel and painful so I am not sure if the author is trying to say that in order for Quentin to grow up he has to lose something.

Grossman, however, does show a creative flair in his magical system.

Try it. ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Jan 21, 2010 Michael rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, re-read, read-in-2010, read-in-2017

For most of his life, Quentin Coldwater has used the Fillory (think Narnia) books to escape the doldrums of his everyday life. Now at the age of seventeen, Quentin has been given a chance he never dreamed he had -- magic is real and he can become a magician.

Instead of heading to a mundane, normal college, he enlists at Brakebills, a university of magic and begins training. The one thing the books never included was that becoming a Magician is difficult, tedious work and nowhere nearly as excitin For most of his life, Quentin Coldwater has used the Fillory (think Narnia) books to escape the doldrums of his everyday life. Now at the age of seventeen, Quentin has been given a chance he never dreamed he had -- magic is real and he can become a magician.

Instead of heading to a mundane, normal college, he enlists at Brakebills, a university of magic and begins training. The one thing the books never included was that becoming a Magician is difficult, tedious work and nowhere nearly as exciting as depicted in the novels.

Lev Grossman's The Magicians follows Quentin and a group of students during the course of their studies at Brakebill's. Rather than having one book equal one year of Quentin's life, we're treated to the highlights of his magical training -- from the semester spent in Antartica to the rather odd magical game played among his school and others. The episodic nature of Grossman's novel ensures that Quentin and the reader never get entirely comfortable with how things are going, including when Quentin and his love interest Alice test out of some of the first year and are moved up to second year early.

The Magicians is an homage to the epic fantasy novels, shows and movies of the past all while throwing in a bit of subversion along the way. I've seen the series described as Harry Potter for adults and, I suppose, that's true. But only at the most superficial level. Grossman clearly knows and has respect for her predecessors, even as he's subverting our expectations at every turn and taking the mickey out of multiple fantasy series and tropes all at once. (I'd love to see him take a swing at Robert Jordan or George R.R. Martin).

The world of The Magicians is easy to get lost in, though I can't necessarily say that I have much desire to enter the pages of the book like Quentin would love to jump into his beloved Fillory novels. And if you're looking for a book where you'll adore all the characters, you'd better keep on looking. Most of our heroes aren't exactly likeable -- they're flawed, warped and utterly human. And maybe that's what sets this book (and hopefully series) apart from other entries in the fantasy world. ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Apr 06, 2017 Tani rated it really liked it

Shelves: male-author, 2017-novels, urban-fantasy

I feel like this is a book that defied my expectations at every turn. Going in, I had heard the 'Harry Potter for adults' hype, and so I was expecting something like a more detailed Hogwarts with adult characters. I kind of got that, but I also ended up getting a lot more. The first half of the book pretty much fit in with that expectation, but also hit some other stereotypes that I wasn't quite expecting.

First, to address the obvious. I really really enjoyed the descriptions of Brakebills, the I feel like this is a book that defied my expectations at every turn. Going in, I had heard the 'Harry Potter for adults' hype, and so I was expecting something like a more detailed Hogwarts with adult characters. I kind of got that, but I also ended up getting a lot more. The first half of the book pretty much fit in with that expectation, but also hit some other stereotypes that I wasn't quite expecting.

First, to address the obvious. I really really enjoyed the descriptions of Brakebills, the magical school. It has that wonderful magical school feel that draws me to the trope, and I gobbled it up. It's a quirky place with strange tests and lessons, and it just has that magical feel that I look for in a magical school. That part of the book is absolutely wish fulfillment for me because I would go to that school in a heartbeat, despite the descriptions of the hardness of the work and the frustrations therein.

I also really enjoyed Quentin as a character during this part, despite some minor quibbles. One is quite specific: (view spoiler). The other is more a personal ambivalence for the amount of alcohol that's consumed during this time period; alcohol doesn't treat me very well physically, so it's hard for me to imagine wanting to imbibe so much. (Yup, I know it's a college trope. I just didn't love it.) But other than, I really liked Quentin during this era. He's a character with some serious issues with depression, and I feel like I wasn't terribly dissimilar at that age, so I connected really strongly with him at first. I didn't really connect with most of the other characters during this stage, but since it's so strongly in Quentin's head, that was pretty OK.

Once I got through the first half of the book, though, I really struggled with the next 70-80 pages. I had really expected Brakebills to be at least the entirety of the first book, and it's not, which derailed my expectations pretty neatly. My recovery was not aided by the phase that Quentin then proceeds to go through. I felt like it was a very realistic phase, but it was one that was hard for me to read about. And some of Quentin's actions during this time are just completely not OK with me, so I got very frustrated and angry with him. The book definitely lost some of its enchantment here for me. It felt like I'd suddenly been booted into a pretty straight literary fiction book, and it was not a happy transition for me.

And then things picked right back up! I had not expected the turn that things took at this point, but it featured one of my favorite tropes, so I was quite happy with it. The emotional hangover from the transition between Brakebills and this section lingered, though. I lost a lot of my affection for Quentin during this section, although I'm not sure if I have the same reasons as everyone else. Quentin's depression, aimlessness, and disenchantment with the world are feelings that I know very well, and I felt like they were extremely important and valid feelings. I don't dislike him for those. I do dislike the actions that he takes as a response to those feelings, and the way that he mentally defends his own actions, even when he knows that he was wrong. I am hoping that I will be able to like Quentin a little more in the second book, but I definitely left this book feeling disgruntled with him.

I was very happy with the action that happens during this latter part of the book, though. There were a lot of pieces of information from throughout the book that are taken and fit together in brand new ways in this part, and it was very exciting. I gasped aloud several times during this section, as revelation after revelation completely blindsided me. I was completely satisfied with this aspect of the book.

Over all, although I had a few issues with Quentin, I still really enjoyed the book, and after the set-up that ends the book, I am very much looking forward to reading the next installment in the series! ...more

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Jul 18, 2010 Erin rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy

I'm changing my rating to 4.5 stars for this book. My initial enthusiasm was tempered by Grossman's blatant plagarism of the fantasy of Harry Potter, The Hobbit, and Narnia. However, I've changed my mind and decided this works for Grossman. What is wrong with incorporating important literary works into the plot line as long as the final product is admirable? ... Other authors do this with non-fantasy based works all the time.

I'm surprised by my childlike glee with Grossman's fantasy land of tal ...more

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Apr 02, 2011 Michelle rated it liked it · review of another edition

Beautiful prose, but the lack of growth of the main character was depressing (as he was depressed). And I lost a lot of trust int he author over some details that didn't make sense geographically partway through the book - if he was so wrong about something I know, how can I trust that I wasn't (purposely or accidentaly) mislead elsewhere? ...more

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