The Magicians
(Book 1)
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3.9 • 89 Ratings
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- £2.99
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- £2.99
Publisher Description
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'The Magicians is to Harry Potter as a shot of Irish whiskey is to a glass of weak tea . . . dark and dangerous and full of twists' – GEORGE R. R. MARTIN
THE BESTSELLING BOOK BEHIND THE HIT SYFY SHOW
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In a secret world of forbidden knowledge, power comes at a terrible price...
Quentin Coldwater's life is changed forever by an apparently chance encounter: when he turns up for his entrance interview to Princeton University, he finds his interviewer dead – but a strange envelope bearing Quentin's name leads him down a very different path. Instead of Princeton, he finds himself invited to study at Brakebills – a secret college of modern-day sorcerers.
Quentin plunges deep into a secret world of obsession and privilege, a world of freedom and power; and for a while, it seems to answer all Quentin's desires. But the idyll cannot last. There are others powers than sorcery, powers that are as seductive as they are dangerous – and when the illusion of safety shatters, Quentin is drawn into a world far darker than he ever imagined.
After all, power corrupts. No exceptions.
THE FIRST BOOK IN LEV GROSSMAN'S CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED MAGICIAN TRILOGY
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Praise for the Magician Trilogy:
'Stirring, complex, adventurous . . . superb' – JUNOT DIAZ, author of DROWN and THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO
'A sophisticated, subtle novel that is also magical fun' – THE TIMES
‘Lev Grossman has conjured a rare creature: a trilogy that simply gets better and better as it goes along . . . Literary perfection.’ – ERIN MORGENSTERN, author of THE NIGHT CIRCUS
'The Magicians ought to be required reading . . . Lev Grossman has written a terrific, at times almost painfully perceptive novel of the fantastic' – KELLY LINK
'The best fantasy trilogy of the decade' – CHARLES STROSS
'The Magicians is angst-ridden, bleak, occasionally joyous and gloriously readable. Forget Hogwarts: this is where the magic really is.' – SFX
'The Magicians is fantastic, in all senses of the word. It's strange, fanciful, extravagant, eccentric, and truly remarkable – a great story, masterfully told.' – SCOTT SMITH, author of THE RUINS
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Harry Potter discovers Narnia is real in this derivative fantasy thriller from Time book critic Grossman (Codex). Quentin Coldwater, a Brooklyn high school student devoted to a children's series set in the Narnia-like world of Fillory, is leading an aimless existence until he's tapped to enter a mysterious portal that leads to Brakebills College, an exclusive academy where he's taught magic. Coldwater, whose special gifts enable him to skip grades, finds his family's world "mundane and domestic" when he returns home for vacation. He loses his innocence after a prank unintentionally allows a powerful evil force known only as the Beast to enter the college and wreak havoc. Eventually, Coldwater's powers are put to the test when he learns that Fillory is a real place and how he can journey there. Genre fans will easily pick up the many nods to J.K. Rowling and C.S. Lewis, not to mention J.R.R. Tolkien in the climactic battle between the bad guy and a magician. 5-city author tour.
Customer Reviews
Editors: The first word in this book is a typo.
Editing aside, good book.
Great Magic Realism Book!!
I love magic realism and really enjoyed this book. I've always been a big fan of Harry Potter and The Chronicles of Narnia so this was a great combination for the older years. The characters weren't particularly likeable...especially Quentin, however Grossman made it easy to understand and relate to him. I'm just about to buy the next one :)
Derivative misogynist pap
The derivative premise aside, it was an intriguing concept.
However I found the Quentin Coldwater shallow and uninspiring.
I found the thinly sketched characters difficult to read, and when I realised how disposable the female love interests were in the pursuit of Quentin's "next-thing, next-thing..." for lack of a better word "plot-arc" were I did not read the next book.