The New York Times bestselling novel about a young man practicing magic in the real world, now an original series on SYFY“The Magicians is to Harry Potter as a shot of Irish whiskey is to a glass of weak tea. . . . Hogwarts was never like this.” —George R.R. Martin “Sad, hilarious, beautiful, and essential to anyone who cares about modern fantasy.” —Joe Hill “A very knowing and wonderful take … fantasy.”
—Joe Hill
“A very knowing and wonderful take on the wizard school genre.”
—John Green
“The Magicians may just be the most subversive, gripping and enchanting fantasy novel I’ve read this century.”
—Cory Doctorow
“This gripping novel draws on the conventions of contemporary and classic fantasy novels in order to upend them . . . an unexpectedly moving coming-of-age story.”
—The New Yorker
“The best urban fantasy in years.”
—A.V. Club
Quentin Coldwater is brilliant but miserable. A high school math genius, he’s secretly fascinated with a series of children’s fantasy novels set in a magical land called Fillory, and real life is disappointing by comparison. When Quentin is unexpectedly admitted to an elite, secret college of magic, it looks like his wildest dreams have come true. But his newfound powers lead him down a rabbit hole of hedonism and disillusionment, and ultimately to the dark secret behind the story of Fillory. The land of his childhood fantasies turns out to be much darker and more dangerous than he ever could have imagined. . . .
The prequel to the New York Times bestselling book The Magician King and the #1 bestseller The Magician’s Land, The Magicians is one of the most daring and inventive works of literary fantasy in years. No one who has escaped into the worlds of Narnia and Harry Potter should miss this breathtaking return to the landscape of the imagination.
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This book is the start of a very good series. The writer exhibits a great deal of originality. For those of you who have played role playing games, the storytelling reminds me of having a great game master.
The author had a great idea but a limited vocabulary! The F word was used 7 times on one page to describe breakfast & the need for coffee or a cocktail!!! Come on!!!
I found the characters to be tedious and unlikeable. All of them. Couldn’t have cared if the selfish gits died. Of course they didn’t. Sort of Mary Sue.
If you really want to read this author’s stuff, check out his essays in the New Yorker instead of this series. They’re great!
I had to read this book for a literature class or I never would have gotten trhough it. I hated every character and never quite got the point.
The start of my favorite fantasy trilogy ever. Not my favorite of the trilogy, but still a wonderful set up to a new magical world.
4.5 actually. Character driven initially with plot/ action becoming more important as you read.
TV series did fairl good at adapting to screen.
Great book read it over & over
I did not make it more than 25% of the way through the book; maybe it got better in the long run. However I found the main character too whiny to keep reading about him.
Do not miss this one!
The characters really come alive. It’s a wonderful story of inner struggles, magical lands, and realizing that getting everything you ever wanted doesn’t solve all your problems or make you happy.
Good read but I enjoyed the Netflix series more
A former colleague of mind recommended this book, saying “It was better than Harry Potter.” Nothing could be farther from the truth. While the Potter books grabbed me almost from page 1, I had to force myself to continue to read The Magicians. The writing is good, but I found the story to be plodding. I recommend it with reservation.
I found this book tries too hard to be the anti-Narnia/Harry Potter. I get the conceit that this is supposed to be Harry Potter goes to college, and it is realistic that way. College social scenes are just not that interesting. I found myself not caring what the heck happened to any of them. The characters and the action dawdled and dithered, like …
Couldn’t get through it
An interesting take on magic graduate school. Think, Harry Potter with booze, sex and drugs meets The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
absolutely loved it one of the best i have ever read
I watched the first two seasons of the SyFy series before I realized there was a book set. I got the book set for Christmas and dug in.
The books are really different from the show, although I love them both.
The characters are ALL different than in the show – in looks, in name and other characteristics.
Many of the scenes are the same in the book …
Quentin is my favorite character to hate. An irredeemable twerp that somehow gets access to worlds of magic and mystery, making everyone around him miserable at the same time. I love this series, and it makes me so mad.
The TV series is better than the book.
People love or hate this book. I’m in the later group.