The Magicians: The Magicians, Book 1

When I first finished this book, I put it down in disappointment and barely fettered rage. I felt like the whole thing had been an exercise in frustration. If the purpose of a novel is to entertain, it did that; I could barely stop reading. If the purpose of a novel is to make you think, it did that too; the world is intriguing and the story was tightly paced, if unusually plotted (put in to very distinct parts which could honestly each be books in their own right, although I think you'd be missing out to view them as anything but pieces of a whole.)But had I written this review then, I would have given it three stars: good effort, beautifully written, ruined by obnoxious characters and disjointed settings. But over the following months I found my mind wandering, and Quentin's 'adventure' had a prominent place in my imagination for a while. Just where exactly did things go so wrong for him? Why? Whose fault was it? Why did the main character have to be such a dick (although he gets better)?And so I reread it. And I loved it. Funny how things which bugged you before make the novel special on a second time through, isn't it? Now I saw Quentin's apathetic whining for what it was, a criticism of such a tiring trait rather than merely just another part of his character. This sounds like a strange thing to miss, but I believe I became so immersed in Quentin's headspace on my first read that I simply didn't factor in that he's an unreliable narrator. His snide commentary came across as what we were meant to agree with, while on a reread the frustration of those around him shone through. And as much as I rage about how annoying he can be, the reason Quentin frustrated me so much was because there was a lot to like about him, but he's just so obtuse in the way that young men are that I saw my own mistakes being played out to me in a much more exciting way then they ever occurred in my own life.What drives this novel is the notion of longing, the deep seated knowledge in your gut that you were meant for something better and it passed you by. This novel takes this idea and smashes it to pieces, and so it's no wonder that it has become so divisive. I implore you, however, to give it a chance, because if you're one of those that sat and desperately prayed for Hagrid to burst through your door and whisk you away, you will be given an interesting story which might make you reconsider. Magic would be beautiful, but it could never make us happy, and Grossman tackles this subject deftly.So, while it's definitely not for everyone, I can definitely say that it's for me. The Magician King, the more experimental sequel, was even better. Give it a shot and see if you really want to step through the wardrobe.

I've hovered between 3 and 4 stars for this one, and I think I still am, so lets say I think 3.5/5. I'd also put off reading this one for some time because I read Grossman's "Codex" a number of years back and was left distinctly underwhelmed (nothing wrong with it, just another bog standard Dan Brownish thriller, and I wasn't keen on Brown's DVC either).The story is as others have stated. It's a sort of Harry Potter for adults in that a young man discovers he has certain abilities, and is recruited to Brakebills academy for magicians. It's adult because it contains bed language and some sexual content (though nothing hugely explicit).It's a take-off of C.S. Lewis because Fillory - the land that Quentin dreams of from the books he loved as a kid - is basically Narnia. The difference is that unlike Narnia, Fillory is just as screwed up as our world.I'll try and write this without any spoilers, though I guess a couple of minor ones are included, although it's pretty obvious that, for example, Quentin is going to actually go to Fillory at some point. There would be a lot of disappointed readers if he hadn't!The first half or so is taken up with Quentin's training. This is the Harry Potter bit. It's good. We meet all the main characters and the groundwork is laid for later. I have some quibbles - there are some inconsistencies. For example, all the kids are presented as geniuses with SATS scores so high that most people don't realise it's possible to have a score that high (that's a paraphrased quote, since I can't remember it exactly). Then every so often he doesn't know something basic, like what palladium is (pretty sure a genius would know the periodic table!) There's a few other bits like this too, but fortunately it's nothing key to the plot - just the author forgetting his characters for a moment.The next section takes place in Fillory. It's here that I think there are more flaws. I get that Grossman is deconstructing Narnia and showing us that falling into a fantasy world doesn't solve all of lifes problems. It's just that I think he goes a bit overboard with some of the characters, to the extent that they come across as a bit trite and slightly cardboard. Perhaps that was intentional too. It gets better towards the end of this section.The final section focuses on the aftermath of the main quest (about which I will say nothing - that would be a spoiler), and is Quentin-centric. This is well enough written but is basically just setting things up for the next book as far as I can tell. Nothing wrong with that and it's done well enough.I've just bought the second book in the series, which is a pretty good sign, and the reason I upped 3.5 to 4 rather than giving it 3 ....

Great book, though I'm not really sure I liked it. It is hugely rich in detail, description, and language. The magic is so well thought-out that it is like he took it from real life. I'm not sure I've read anything like it. The effects of magic on its users are, I think, quite believable though the angst, ennui, and depression bored me.Grossman 's turns of phrase are often delicious. That said, there are some (and some odd words) that are clunkily repetitive. It's a pet peeve of mine but you may not care.The book comes together in the end, don't worry; but not until 90% of the way through. For most of the book, I was wondering if it was just an elaborate world-building set up for the next books.I recommend reading it, now that I've made it through.

Ich habe mir die Kindel-Version runtergeladen und bin sehr zufrieden. Das Buch ist super spannend. Ich habe vorher bereits die Serie geschaut. Freue mich jedes Mal aufs Weiterlesen. :)

Comecei a acompanhar a história através da série e decidi comprar os livros, que por sinal, são melhores ainda do que a série!

Parte come una versione adulta di Harry Potter poi prende una sua dignità fatta di ironia, citazioni e una riflessione sulla magia in un mondo realistico bevendo a più non posso = ) se avete visto la serie tv gli eventi principali e i personaggi ci sono tutti anche se mescolati in modo originale e quindi non vi stancherà la lettura non.

Sometimes got the feeling I was reading Harry Potter, but it was not disturbing. Looking forward to reading part 2