The Magicians

A Novel

By: Lev Grossman

Narrated by: Mark Bramhall

Length: 17 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

A thrilling and original coming-of- age novel about a young man practicing magic in the real world.

Quentin Coldwater is brilliant but miserable. A senior in high school, he's still secretly preoccupied with a series of fantasy novels he read as a child, set in a magical land called Fillory. Imagine his surprise when he finds himself unexpectedly admitted to a very secret, very exclusive college of magic in upstate New York, where he receives a thorough and rigorous education in the craft of modern sorcery.

He also discovers all the other things people learn in college: friendship, love, sex, booze, and boredom. Something is missing, though. Magic doesn't bring Quentin the happiness and adventure he dreamed it would. After graduation, he and his friends make a stunning discovery: Fillory is real. But the land of Quentin's fantasies turns out to be much darker and more dangerous than he could have imagined. His childhood dream becomes a nightmare with a shocking truth at its heart.

At once psychologically piercing and magnificently absorbing, The Magicians boldly moves into uncharted literary territory, imagining magic as practiced by real people, with their capricious desires and volatile emotions. Lev Grossman creates an utterly original world in which good and evil aren't black and white, love and sex aren't simple or innocent, and power comes at a terrible price.

©2009 Lev Grossman (P)2009 Penguin

Critic reviews

"This is a book for grown-up fans of children's fantasy and would appeal to those who loved Donna Tartt's The Secret History. Highly recommended." ( Library Journal)
"Provocative, unput-downable....one of the best fantasies I've read in ages." ( Fantasy & Science Fiction)
" The Magicians is to Harry Potter as a shot of Irish whiskey is to a glass of weak tea." (George R.R. Martin)

Excelente

Excelente narración, con una historia mil veces mejor a la que nos presentan en la serie

I wanted to like this more than I did

The Magicians was described to me as 'edgier, more grown up Harry Potter'. And, I suppose, that's kind of accurate. My problem was that I found the main character so whiny and unlikeable that it was hard to get past that. He does grow up over the course of the book, but not enough.

I also wish that there had been more world building. There wasn't quite enough description of the magic and how it fit into the 'real' non-magical world for me -- most of it was explained away with using magic to make sure that non-magic people don't notice things. There's also this whole other magical realm but the descriptions of it felt shallow to me.

I didn't *dislike* the book, but I really wanted to like it more than I did. I haven't decided if I'm interested in the sequel yet.

It takes a while, but then it gets good

Honestly I listened to the first few chapters and cringed through it. I didn't like the narrator and they used the f bomb way too much. I stopped lisrening, the only reason i picked it up again was after i watched season 2. I'm glad did. I still hate the main character and without naming names I was disappointed that a certain characters was not as involved as in the show. But I ended up really enjoying this and I'm going to listen to the next one.

I honestly don't know.

First, totally different from the show in a good way, but I honestly can't say if I liked it or not. I've never hated the main characters of a book so much, but it's because the book is so different. It's not the romantic Harry Potter as the good guy and Voldemort the bad guy. But the story circled itself too. Ugh. I'll read the next one and maybe that'll help. Whatever you do, DON'T read the summary of the next book before reading this!!!!

Fun and fan service to any geek.

This felt like it was either an homage to geeky things or a satire and critique of the fantasy genre. It was hard to tell between when it was too corny or too cool. It was a very enjoyable read.

loved it

better then the TV show by far. will listen more then once that is for sure

So detailed

Goes on 3 minute rants on the best stuff for no reason. Ahhhh so good

adult Harry potter

this story is at times light and fast paced, other times heavier and broody, but it kept my interest until the end. I felt captivated by the world and the story from start to finish.

Of course better than the show!

I’m a huge fan of the show but of course the first book is amazing and I can’t wait to read more!

Absolutely Engrossing

I was first drawn to this series when The New York Times published a list of books to help get us through the wait between G.R.R. Martin's "Game of Thrones" series (for which, 10 years later, we're all still waiting). I have listened to the series in full three times since then, and every time, the experience only gets richer. I love the stories so much I searched out first-edition hardcovers, just to see how they would feel reading them with my eyes instead of my ears (I am saving that reading for my next magic craving).

While "The Magicians" has a vague feel of "Harry Potter goes to college", it feels more like Lev Grossman is tipping his hat to J.K. Rowling than capitalizing on the concept. To me, his hip, snarky, twenty-something NYC-based world feels much more comfortable as a vision of a universe that contains magic than that of Harry et al, and the adventures feel as original as they do magical.

I absolutely loved this series, and because of this, could not have been more disappointed when the television version spun off into wild and convoluted tangents. I can now admit that I enjoy both as completely separate concepts, but the books are the ones I always return to when I need to feel the magic again.