The Magicians

Over the last few years I’ve found myself more and more drawn to reading fantasy novels. The ultimate in escapism, good fantasy writing creates fantastic worlds very different from our own. Great fantasy leaves us wanting more. The Magicians by Lev Grossman left me wanting more.

Quentin Coldwater is an extremely gifted seventeen year old who is also extremely unhappy. He is bored with his home life in Brooklyn and doesn’t quite feel like he belongs in this world. In fact, since he was a little boy, he has been obsessed with a Narnia-like series of fantasy books from the 1930’s . Written by Christopher Plover, the series follows the adventures of the Chatwin siblings as they fight evil in the world of Fillory. Quentin dreams of one day living in a magical type world like Fillory. What he doesn’t know is that the magical world is about to find him.

Quentin soon finds himself quite magically on the grounds of Brakebills, a college for magicians hidden in upstate New York. When asked to perform magic tricks as an entrance exam, Quentin realizes that the slight-of-hand tricks he learned from books as a kid really are magic and soon he is enrolled at Brakebills.

Even though Quentin is learning to cast complex spells at Brakebills, college life is still filled with lots of  typical college experiences. With some new found friends at his side, Quentin begins to develop his magical skills and his college years fly by.       

After Brakebills though, Quentin finds himself stuck in a merry-go-round of drugs and alcohol with his old classmates. After spending his life pining for adventure, he is disappointed with the life he is leading. But when someone from his past turns up with information that the magical land of Fillory is a real place, will Quentin really be prepared?

I’m sure there will be some Harry Potter comparisons to The Magicians, since there are many similarities in circumstances. In both, there are magical people living among the general population and there is a lot of focus on learning magic as specialty schools. Grossman even gives a nod to Harry Potter:

“Hang on,” he said. “Gotta get my quidditch costume. I mean uniform.”

Grossman though wrote The Magicians for an adult audience, with references to alcohol use, sex and drug abuse. His wonderfully descriptive language can be seen throughout. I love how he describes the grounds at Brakebills:

The hedges that made up the Maze were cut in the shape of heavy, slow-thighed beasts – bears and elephants and other less-easily-identifiable creatures. Unlike ordinary topiary they moved: they lumbered along very slowly, almost imperceptibly, wading half submerged in the dark foliage like hippopotami wallowing in an equatorial African river.

Plus, I was intrigued by the sinister character The Beast. Not since the Crooked Man in The Book of Lost Things have I read about such a wonderfully descriptive and scary character. Truly bone chilling stuff.

With the exception of a small slow part in the middle of the book, The Magicians is pure literary magic.

The Magicians will go on sale tomorrow, August 11, 2009. Along with the main website for The Magicians, there are four clever companion websites that are worth exploring: Fillory fan site, Christopher Plover website and even a site for the imaginary Brakebills College!

Thank you to Viking for sending The Magicians to me for review.