The Magicians (The Magicians, #1) in Building a SciFi/Fantasy Library

Jun 10, 2012 Mir added it

Shelves: unfinished

Abandoned at page 211.

~~Money can't buy~~ Magic can't abracadabra happiness. I get your point. Shut up already. ...more

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Sep 16, 2012 Harold Ogle rated it liked it

Shelves: magic, contemporary, fantasy, pop-culture, dimension-travel, alternate-universe

"The Lost Boys" meets A Separate Peace, with a lot of winks to other pop culture. The book is split into five parts, each one covering a separate period in the protagonist Quentin's post-high-school life. Quentin is a narcissistic addict and hyper-scholar, who, at 17, is offered a chance to apply for an exclusive boarding school, which happens to be the only school for magicians in the United States. The first two parts have to do with his education at this school on each of two campuses, the th "The Lost Boys" meets A Separate Peace, with a lot of winks to other pop culture. The book is split into five parts, each one covering a separate period in the protagonist Quentin's post-high-school life. Quentin is a narcissistic addict and hyper-scholar, who, at 17, is offered a chance to apply for an exclusive boarding school, which happens to be the only school for magicians in the United States. The first two parts have to do with his education at this school on each of two campuses, the third part with the first few months of his life after graduation, the fourth part with a journey he and his companions take to another place, and the last part with how he doesn't deal with what happens in that other place.

I found the book to be entertaining and yet frustrating at the same time. First of all, I can't really relate to the whole boarding school experience. I was born and raised in California, where such things are either absent or very, very secret....this is why it resonates so strongly as A Separate Peace, for me. Similarly alien setting, similarly creepy self-absorbed young adults, and a similarly bleak existential view of the world. Quentin never met an addiction he didn't like, and throughout the book he indulges in many of them: sex, lust, drinking, narcotics, resentment, self-pity, pride...he's like a personification of the id, running around with no brakes or controls. As such I could relate to Quentin - I recognize his agonized search for oblivion - but I found it hard reading at times nonetheless. I think part of it is that he hits bottom several times, but never gets any recovery, or makes any different choices with his life. He just gets up after wallowing in misery for a time, dusts himself off, and jumps right back into the behavior that made him so miserable in the first place (and second place. And third place. And fourth place. And so on).
That's "The Lost Boys" for you: terribly powerful beings with pretty much zero maturity.

There's some cool stuff about the book. For one thing, it is occasionally sesquipedalian, which is cool to see in a bestseller. A bestseller that requires one to think is a rare thing! For another, there is actually a character reason for the book to have an advanced vocabulary, as opposed to anything written by Jack Vance (who employs a much more complicated vocabulary but always just on the assumption that everyone in a SF setting would be quite learned): Quentin is an elite, nearly professional academic, after all.

Ostensibly, the book is about learning magic, then using magic in an Adventure of a Lifetime, and that's (I think) what most people really enjoy about the book. It's cool to see him learn to sense, control, and eventually master magic, and it's cool to see him use it in a Quest in a land with fantastical creatures. But really, that's all window-dressing for the core of the story, which is the tragic tale of Quentin never being satisfied with what he has. He repeatedly finds contentment and sometimes even happiness, but it's never satisfying to him (he is an addict, after all). So he always screws it up. The book is much like a Greek tragedy. Though we don't have a Chorus telling us that it won't end well for him, it's pretty clear very early on in the book that Quentin will never succeed, the failures will always be his fault, and he will never be able to admit that. So the ending of the book is very bittersweet, as it offers hope of a new beginning, even though we know that nothing has actually changed with Quentin and thus it's a false hope.

It's a well-written, very interesting book that can be emotionally frustrating and wrenching to the extent that you have empathy or even sympathy for Quentin.

Now, some minor niggles/unanswered questions of mine which are effectively spoilers, as they require intimate knowledge of the book:
(view spoiler) ...more

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Jan 27, 2013 Jamie Collins rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy-urban

This is very well written, and it is sort of like Harry Potter for adults. Quentin is older and smarter than Harry and more peevishly dissatisfied with his life. He matriculates at a college like Hogwarts (this covers more than half the book) discovering that magic is very, very difficult to master.

Where this differs from Harry Potter is that there is no villain to fight; indeed that’s Quentin’s problem: after graduation he’s turned loose on the world with a great deal of power, a bottomless ban ...more

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Feb 12, 2012 John rated it liked it

Probably more like 3.5 stars, though I'm not sure how I could possible be lukewarm on this novel, since most everyone who's rated and reviewed it seems to either love it or hate it.

The novel follows Quentin Coldwater, who begins the novel as an academic all-star (but one who's slightly eclipsed by his best friend both in excellence and in practical matters) in his senior year of high school. An avid reader of fantasy--particularly a Narnia-like fantasy about a land called Fillory--in his younge Probably more like 3.5 stars, though I'm not sure how I could possible be lukewarm on this novel, since most everyone who's rated and reviewed it seems to either love it or hate it.

The novel follows Quentin Coldwater, who begins the novel as an academic all-star (but one who's slightly eclipsed by his best friend both in excellence and in practical matters) in his senior year of high school. An avid reader of fantasy--particularly a Narnia-like fantasy about a land called Fillory--in his younger days (and still one, albeit as a guilty pleasure), he is invited to take a test to get into a very exclusive college: one that teaches magic (which turns out to be real, obviously). In a sense, the rest of the novel is an exploration of the Wilde maxim about one of the great tragedies in life being to get your heart's desire. In another sense, you might say it's a character study of the varieties of brilliant, over-achieving nihilists.

It is, no doubt about it, a dark novel. Calling it "Harry Potter for adults" is less accurate than to call it a deconstruction of Harry Potter. There's no Dark Lord to defeat here--well, there sort of is in the end, but not really. The darkness to be fought comes from within one's self as one reacts to a world that can never seem to measure up to the fantasies of childhood, that never seems to have the heroic spirit we imagine for it as children.

Magic, in the end, isn't so magical as Quentin thinks. It's hard work, tedious work. It rarely solves problems of any real importance, and it ultimately has nothing to say about giving a life meaning, fulfillment, or happiness. I had originally understood The Magicians to be a stand-alone novel, even though I knew it was followed by The Magician King. However, given how little real growth Quentin manages, that character arc itself makes the novel feel less than complete, even if the plot elements are fairly well wrapped up. He's been through a lot, he's changed a bit, but has he grown? Not really. But then, perhaps that's all part and parcel of deconstructing the naive fantasies of childhood and of, well, naive fantasies.

It doesn't mean I have to approve it.

But anyway, I did enjoy it well enough on its own terms--well enough that I'll pick up The Magician King. ...more

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Jul 07, 2017 Kati rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-fantasy, in-czech, queer, 2017

Boring book about ugly people who revel in their misery and in making other people miserable. Not planning on getting further books in this series. I'll probably just stick with the TV show. ...more

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Mar 26, 2010 Peggy rated it it was amazing

This review originally appeared at RevolutionSF.com:

Quentin Coldwater is in many ways a typical teen: bright, slightly nerdy, cynical, yet with a secret belief that there's a place where things are perfect, if only you could find it. For Quentin, this perfect place is Fillory, the setting for a series of kids books with Christian overtones (think Narnia). Although slightly ashamed of it, he can't seem to let go of the comfort he's found in the books since he was a child. He wishes for a place li ...more

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Nov 07, 2011 Deborah Joyner rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy

I agree that the comparison with Harry Potter is unfortunate, mostly I think, in that it brings the wrong kind of reader to this book. Q, unlike Harry, is more of an anti-hero, a nerdy misfit looking for the magical thing or person that will make life worth living. A cynical, somewhat self-absorbed, alcoholic Harry Potter was probably too long and depressing a description though to be marketable.... and I imagine all cynics think they're merely being adult.

But, I don't want to give the wrong im ...more

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Sep 16, 2011 Lbd rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy

I read the book because it was given to me. I like the premise, very similar to Harry Potter in the sense of getting started in magic, and then it diverts to something else. I'm not sure I'd qualify this as an adult fantasy read; more like young adult passing thru the vampire stage. Lots of unnecesary swearing and usage of the formidable F word. (Hence feeling this is more of a young adult read added with the gratuituous sex and binge drinking scenes.) ...more

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Jul 14, 2010 Peter added it

Shelves: fantasy, general-fiction, favorites

Such a great book. It's often described as the "adult Harry Potter" which isn't totally off-base, but also misses a lot of what makes the book great. It definitely tips its hat to many classic fantasy series including Harry Potter, Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings, and Wizard of Oz, but its more than that. It explores not only the conventions of fantasy literature (in a very clever way), but the appeal and the psychological motivations that are fulfilled by it--particularly for children w ...more

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