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This is where, from time to time, I'll write up a short review on a book I've read. Reason I'm doing this is because I hope it will improve my writing a little. Learning how to write a good desciption and review I think are good ways to do this. You can also check out my profile at GoodReads by clicking the widget on the left.

NOTE: The desciption will not contain spoilers since it serves the purpose of trying to get you to read the book. The review on the other hand may contain spoilers. So please keep this in mind before reading!

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The Magicians by Lev Grossman

Info

Desciption

Quentin Coldwater is at first your average Brooklyn high school student. He's in his senior year and is at the top of his class. A class which consists of the best and brightest teenagers who learned calculus II in grade 8. As the story begins Quentin is on his way to an interview for admission to Princeton University. What Quentin doesn't know is that this interview will set off a chain of events that will change his life forever.

He soon finds himself thrust into a completely different world filled with magic. Although Quentin has money, friends, and an IQ that is higher than you can imagine he still feels he is missing something in his life. He is miserable and his only escape is a magical world called Fillory. Fillory is the setting of a series of novels called, Fillory and Further by Christopher Plover. The novels are about 5 Chatwin children who have wild and exciting adventures in the land of Fillory. Quentin is not just a fan of the novels but is obsessed with them. Although the books are for children, he continues to read them over and over and secretly imagines himself in the land of Fillory having adventures of his own. So, when he's offered a chance of admission to Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy, a secret and exclusive magical college, he jumps at it.

It is here at Brakebills he learns that being a magician is not as easy and as fun as he initially imagined. Throughout his years at college Quentin learns not only magic but also discovers friendship, love, sex, drugs and alcohol. Upon graduation, his world is turned upside down yet again when he learns that Fillory, the place of his dreams, is actually real.

Review

I was initially uninterested in starting the book mainly because I was expecting a complete Harry Potter clone, but since it was recommended to me I decided to give it a try anyways and I'm glad I did. After the first few pages I found I could not put it down. One thing to note is that this book is definitely not meant for children. Although it may initially read or appear like a children's fantasy novel it really is quite the opposite since there is quite a lot of profanity, sexuality, graphic violence, and substance abuse.

Upon reading the description of The Magicians, thoughts of Harry Potter and The Chronicles of Narnia may come up. In fact, the author does take some elements from both series and weaves them into the story. Lev Grossman doesn't hide this fact either and is rather frank about it. For example, the fictional series, Fillory and Further, is nearly identical to The Chronicles of Narnia. A few kids find a secret entrance via wardrobe to a magical land where they embark on many different adventures. Both worlds, Fillory and Narnia, are nearly identical complete with talking animals and an evil witch. The Harry Potter element comes in when Quentin Coldwater, the protagonist, finds himself enrolled in a secret school of magic, Brakebills, modelled around Hogwarts. It is here he meets some of the major characters of the novel and some of them can be associated with ones from Harry Potter. For example, there is Alice the brains of the group much like Hermione and Penny who is a punk and is the equivalent of Malfoy in some ways. The students at Brakebills are also sorted into houses. Quentin finds himself in the Physical Kids house much like the Gryffindor house. Although there are many ideas and concepts taken from other novels I find Lev Grossman did an excellent job in mixing them together to form an amazing story.

One of the main differences which sets this novel apart from others is that there really is no antagonist until the very end of the novel. In The Magicians, there is no constant threat of a person out to get Quentin or anything of that nature. This isn't a good vs. evil novel. Rather, the majority of the book is about Quentin's journey through college and all his experiences whilst in school. It is about him changing from a nerdy teenager into an adult magician. Another difference I found was that while most fantasy novels are in essence an escape from the real world, The Magicians world may not be considered an escape. Lev Grossman doesn't make the prospect of becoming a magician a solution to all life's problems, but rather a bleak and grim one. This is demonstrated through Quentin. In the beginning, he is unhappy and feels he is missing something in life. Even after becoming a magician and things are looking up after graduation things fall apart leaving him in a more worse off state then before. By the end of the novel you'll be thinking that having everything you could imagine may not be as great as you intially thought.

Overall, The Magicians is a fun read and a wild ride. If you like Harry Potter and The Chronicles of Narnia and would like to see what a mixture of the two would be like, The Magicians is for you.


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