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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I have previously watched the Magicians series on SciFy. When I saw the first book in the series for a very reasonable price on BookBub I jumped at the purchase. It was better than the TV show (not surprised by that) but it wasn’t good enough to get me to buy the 2nd and 3rd books at $13.00 each. Grossman created a very interesting world and …
Lev Grossman is a wonderful writer. Somehow he comes up with the perfect metaphors for his descriptions. It starts out like “Harry Potter goes to college”, but quickly becomes a very adult book. The concepts and subjects are adult and sometimes shocking, but very real. (even though it’s a fantasy)
Not sure if I would enjoy it as much if I hadn’t watched the TV series. This is Harry Potter meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in a good way!
DNF so boring
I read it several years ago. I liked it. I have the next book but haven’t read it yet.
As someone who loved Narnia the way Quentin loves Fillory, I gobbled up these books, and left looking at fantasy in a whole new way. What would it REALLY be like to rule a magical land, to be a magician? It’s dark (not for kids) and fascinating.
Smart, unpredictable, and a brilliant real-life depiction of what magic would actually be like in the real world
Different.
Great and fast read.
I love the series and I liked the insight to the characters I got from the book.
The Magicians is among the best fantasies of the 21st Century.
Very well written. I discovered the book after watching the series on Netflix. As is almost always the case, the book is even better than the series, which I think is excellent. Looking forward to reading the next book in the series. Really imaginative – anything but a Harry Potter ripoff.
I LOVED the first 2/3 of this book. I loved the idea of a magic school and loved learning along with Quentin while he was at Brakebills But after graduation, it got a bit depressing for me and I felt I was in a drunken stupor with Quentin and his friends. Then when they went to Fillory, I felt I had moved into another genre as it had a definite …
Failed to keep my attention. The characters were shallow and self-involved.
Did not like Quentin. The world building was cool
Perfect for those of us that loved Harry Potter, and the Chronicles of Narnia, but with well drawn characters who struggle with sex, drugs and power. Well written and hard to put down.
Long way to go to get to the point
I have enjoyed this book – I am still reading it, so don’t spoil the ending. I have already decided to get the next book in the series.
I think the tone and how the plot is laid out is different. Yes there is a bunch of magic but below that, this is about a teenage boy from Brooklyn with all the current issues and teenage boy problems even if he …
Really slow.
I greatly enjoyed this book and thought it was very original. A school for magic but not remotely like Hogwarts. The lead character discovers his favorite childhood books are about a real world and that magic is real. Instead of going to the college he planned to attend, he attends a college for magicians where he makes friends with other …