Reviewer
Emily Decobert: Emily graduated from Kentucky Wesleyan
College with degrees in History and Psychology and a
Masters in Library Media from Western Kentucky University. She
spent a few years being a teacher and librarian until she left to
help run her husband's business and work on her novels. Emily
reads about five books a week and loves reviewing. She is
a book reviewer for bookpleasures.com and
other publishers. Click here to access Emily's blog.
Author: Lev Grossman
Publisher:Viking Books
ISBN: 978-0-670-02055-3
Author: Lev Grossman
Publisher:Viking Books
ISBN: 978-0-670-02055-3
Click Here To Purchase The Magicians: A Novel
The last Harry Potter book came out two years ago, we can only hope the Twilight series is finished, and the generation who became adults with Harry, Ron, Hermione need something else. That book has arrived in Lev Grossman’s The Magicians. This book is very advanced magic, but if you have passed from muggle to Hogwarts grad, read on.
Quinton Coldwater is the normal, brilliant kid who is totally disillusioned at the vast age of seventeen. Life is dull and the only bright spots come from doing slight of hand magic tricks and pretending that the imaginary world of Fillory that exists in his favorite books is real. One day, he receives a mysterious envelope and by following the fly away contents finds Brakesbills College for Magic Pedagogy.
This is a university not a middle/high school and the work is not entertaining but grueling and at times dangerous. However, Quinton not only survives but makes friends and falls in love with a young girl as gifted as himself.
As many of us can confirm, transition from college to life is tough and Quinton and his crew are wasting away with sex and booze. It is then they learn that Fillory is real and they decided to go. Once there they find a dark, dangerous world where they will face pain and sacrifice.
Grossman is a student of all the childhood stories of magic and he includes both hilarious and dark references to such greats as Harry Potter and The Chronicles of Narnia. It is not necessary to have read these children’s books to love The Magicians, but casual remarks about Quiddich and prefects are not as funny without reading those others first. Also, the turning of dark to light is not as profound without the innocent reference. These childhood greats teach the ideals of nobility of character and the triumph of good over evil. The Magicians is written for us adults who know the pain of the real world and like our literature to contain the bite of reality. It is a through the looking glass experience where the tale we expect to be light and pure is warped. We lose ourselves in a plot that takes magic and merges it with darkness
The Magicians is funny, solemn, and at times heart-wrenching, but never dull. It starts its magic early and, with the reader hooked, takes him on a thrill ride.
Click Here To Purchase The Magicians: A Novel