• The Magicians

  • A Novel
  • By: Lev Grossman
  • Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
  • Length: 17 hrs and 24 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (20,914 ratings)

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The Magicians  By  cover art

The Magicians

By: Lev Grossman
Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
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Editorial reviews

Intellectually gifted but emotionally unfulfilled, Quentin Coldwater is as much at sea as any high school senior. He still takes refuge in the fantasy novel series he read as a kid, waiting for happiness to fall in his lap. Surprisingly, it does indeed seem to when an elite and secret college of magic recruits him. Mark Brahmall wonderfully inflects the gaggle of fallible little geniuses Quentin grows up with there: Elliott the flaming drunkard, Janet the flashy attention hog, Alice the wallflower, Josh the bumbling frat boy, and Penny the punk rocker. This is not the nice and polite world of Hogwarts. These 17-year-olds spend five years drinking, screwing, cursing, and occasionally buckling down to work with spells that sound more like chemistry labs than fantastic miracles.

Magic is hard, and growing up proves even harder. Brahmall ages this group of would-be adventurers, gradually inserting the pessimistic uncertainty that creeps in as their graduation approaches, and then the slovenly vulgarity that accompanies their post-grad malaise in New York. But their voices find fresh purpose and energy when Penny discovers that Fillory, the magical land of those books from their youth, is real. Fraught with the tensions sprouting between them, each member of Quentin's posse has reasons to escape into Fillory. Brahmall gives voice to everything from a birch tree to an ancient ram, as the group's quest for a brighter future turns ever more ugly and alarming. Quentin's once idyllic dream now corrupted, he struggles to regain a sense of self and return to the more banal hostilities of the real world.

This is a story narrated with all the wonderment and gravitas inherent in the great tradition of magical coming-of-age tales, to be sure, but it rests firmly on the rocky foundations of a realistic human volatility and longing that may want to keep the characters snatching defeat from the jaws of victory to their bitter end. This world is nothing like Narnia or Middle Earth, and listeners with knowledge of those places will find plenty of insider references here to keep them laughing through the disasters. Grossman has captured a shamefully universal set of psychological quandaries, and Brahmall has expressed them in tones that are terrifyingly recognizable. Megan Volpert

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)

Featured Article: The top 100 fantasy listens of all time


When compiling our list of the best fantasy listening out there, we immediately came up against the age-old question: Is this fantasy or science fiction? The distinction is not as clear as you may think. Dragons, elves, and wizards are definitely fantasy, but what about wizards that also fly space ships? (Looking at you, Star Wars.) For the sake of fantasy purity, the top 100 fantasy listens include the best audio works in all manner of fantasy subgenres.

What listeners say about The Magicians

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  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

the characters need book 2

Utilizing old stories to weave a new story is fine,storytellers have been doing this forever, and for this book it worked great, but Q was hard to relate to. He is one of these guys that wins the lottery and then ruins his life with the money. Still if Grossman writes a part 2 I'll listen, because you want Q to succeed.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Adult Harry Potter fans should READ this series

Lev Grossman writes a good story, with a mature view of the world and a tart view of magical tales. If you're an adult who enjoyed Harry Potter, you'll find a witty twist in the series, well worth your time.
That said, I wish I'd read these books instead of listening.
Only after I finished all three books, and starting another narrated by Mark Bramhall, did I realize why I have a faint distaste for this series:
Every character in The Magicians et al sounds snotty, supercilious, or whiny. I thought that was Lev Grossman, but having sampled another author's works read by this narrator, I now know, it's Bramhall.
If you have a choice, and can read -- I have eye sight problems, so rarely do -- buy this series in written form, and supply your own voice.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great supplement to the TV Series

I am a huge fan of the Magicians TV series. Although a lot of details are very very different than that of the TV series, I still thoroughly enjoyed it.

If you enjoy this book, check out the SciFi original TV series on Netflix. I don't want to spoil it, but it follows Julia's timeline after she fails the Brakebills exam.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

nice, but too pc

disproportionately more homosexuals than in real society. looks like pandering to a minority group to appease confused millennials.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Entertaining and complex

complex enough to keep my attention. Watching TV show based on books. Similar to show, but an altogether different read. Characters are not your typical fast food formula to appeal to the masses. If you are a intellectual nerd you will be more likely to relate rather than be annoyed by them.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The Evny

This book has shown me the darkness of a thing I sought after. But after all the hardships that have accorded in the timeline of the novel, my lust for magic has only doubled.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Dope audio to a 21st century classic

Mark does a capturing all the angst that oozes from the first entry in the series.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

fun read or listen.

I enjoyed the book. I am excited to see what comes next for these four magicians.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Didn't love the protagonist

Everything moved along well, but the third act revealed a protagonist that I just couldn't get behind. Some fun ideas, but ultimately not fulfilling as a story.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic Fiction

If you're looking for a high quality modern fantasy novel, then you've come to the right place. The world of Fillery, while being an overt allusion to C.S. Lewis' Narnia, is rich, dark, and unique in its own ways. Lev Grossman creates vivid, relatable characters that make the listener root for them one minute, then hate them in the next.

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