Much has been said about Lev Grossman's The Magicians, making it one of the more visible speculative fiction releases of 2009. As a senior writer and book critic for Time magazine, Grossman garnered rave reviews from a panoply of authors, among them George R. R. Martin and Junot Diaz. To all ends and purposes, this was supposed to be a complex coming-of-age fantasy tale, something akin to Harry Potter with balls.
Well, it is Potteresque, no doubt about it. A bit more on the edgy side, what with the drugs and the sex, if you listen to some people. But for all the positive blurbs and glowing reviews, The Magicians was a failure to launch almost from start to finish. It is entertaining, at least early on, but the book never strays from its comfort zone. Overall, I would say that it's a genre fiction novel for non-genre fiction readers. The author borrows heavily from J. K. Rowling and C. S. Lewis, creating an unoriginal yet comfortable and familiar setting in which non-genre readers will immediately feel at ease.
And for about two-thirds of the book, Grossman manages to pull it off relatively well. The Magicians is nothing brilliant, but it's interesting enough to keep you wanting to discover what happens next. It's the kind of book you want to bring with you on the morning commute or your next vacation. Something not thought-provoking, something that doesn't demand too much attention. A straightforward story with a linear plot, a small cast of characters whose traits you've seen before. As I mentioned, nothing remotely original. And yet, Grossman utilizes an amalgam of familiar fantasy elements to create a more or less compelling tale.
Here's the blurb:
Quentin Coldwater is a brilliant but unhappy young man growing up in Brooklyn, NY. At 17, he remains obsessed with the fantasy novels he read as a child, set in the magical land of Fillory. One day, returning home from a college interview gone awry, he finds himself whisked to Brakebills, an exclusive college for wizards hidden in upstate New York. And so begins THE MAGICIANS, the thrilling and original novel of fantasy and disenchantment by Lev Grossman, author of the international bestseller Codex and book critic for TIME magazine.
At Brakebills, Quentin learns to cast spells. He makes friends and falls in love. He transforms into animals and gains powers of which he never dreamed. Still, magic doesn’t bring Quentin the happiness and adventure he thought it would, and four years later, he finds himself back in Manhattan, living an aimless, hedonistic existence born of apathy, boredom and the ability to conjure endless sums of money out of thin air.
One afternoon, hung over and ruing some particularly foolish behavior, Quentin is surprised by the sudden arrival of his Brakebills friend and rival Penny, who announces that Fillory is real. This news promises to finally fulfill Quentin’s yearning, but their journey turns out to be darker and more dangerous than Quentin could have imagined. His childhood dream is a nightmare with a shocking truth at its heart.
At once psychologically piercing and magnificently absorbing, THE MAGICIANS pays intentional homage to the beloved fantasy novels of C. S. Lewis, T.H. White and J.K. Rowling, but does much more than enlarge the boundaries of conventional fantasy writing. By imagining magic as practiced by real people, with their capricious desires and volatile emotions, Grossman creates an utterly original world in which good and evil aren’t black and white, love and sex aren’t simple or innocent, and power comes at a terrible price.
The worldbuilding is pretty basic, comprised of themes and aspects found in various fantasy novels/series throughout the last four decades or so. Magic-users hiding in plain sight among ordinary folks around the world. A secret magic school concealed by spells. Young students forced to turn their backs on their lives and friends and families in order to study there. Magical worlds existing alongside our own. Lev Grossman created an unassuming and familiar universe, perfect for non-genre readers.
The characterization leaves a lot to be desired. For starters, making a narcissic douchebag your principal protagonist can be a bit tricky. Still, even though he's not a likeable fellow, Quetin is nevertheless a well-drawn character. The problem is that you never actually care about him at any point in the story. Alice seemed to be the most fascinating character of the bunch, yet Grossman appeared more interested in mentioning her bra size over and over again instead of focusing on character growth. By the same token, the supporting cast would have benefited from a bit more depth. As it were, for the most part they are totally forgettable except for Penny and Mayakovsky.
For all its faults, The Magicians remained a fun, if simple, read for a while. But everything takes a tragic turn for the worse when the characters, as you knew they would, cross over to the mystical world of Fillory, a lackluster Narnia ripoff. Quality goes downhill at the speed of light from that point on, and the rest of the book is almost laughable. Clumsy storytelling and a decidedly lame ending don't help matters in the least, and the Fillory portion of this novel killed this one for me.
Overall, Lev Grossman's The Magicians is some sort of unoriginal Harry Potter for grown-ups unfamiliar with the fantasy genre. And as such, it's a very disappointing book.
The final verdict: 6.75/10
For more info about this title: Canada, USA, Europe.
Well, it is Potteresque, no doubt about it. A bit more on the edgy side, what with the drugs and the sex, if you listen to some people. But for all the positive blurbs and glowing reviews, The Magicians was a failure to launch almost from start to finish. It is entertaining, at least early on, but the book never strays from its comfort zone. Overall, I would say that it's a genre fiction novel for non-genre fiction readers. The author borrows heavily from J. K. Rowling and C. S. Lewis, creating an unoriginal yet comfortable and familiar setting in which non-genre readers will immediately feel at ease.
And for about two-thirds of the book, Grossman manages to pull it off relatively well. The Magicians is nothing brilliant, but it's interesting enough to keep you wanting to discover what happens next. It's the kind of book you want to bring with you on the morning commute or your next vacation. Something not thought-provoking, something that doesn't demand too much attention. A straightforward story with a linear plot, a small cast of characters whose traits you've seen before. As I mentioned, nothing remotely original. And yet, Grossman utilizes an amalgam of familiar fantasy elements to create a more or less compelling tale.
Here's the blurb:
Quentin Coldwater is a brilliant but unhappy young man growing up in Brooklyn, NY. At 17, he remains obsessed with the fantasy novels he read as a child, set in the magical land of Fillory. One day, returning home from a college interview gone awry, he finds himself whisked to Brakebills, an exclusive college for wizards hidden in upstate New York. And so begins THE MAGICIANS, the thrilling and original novel of fantasy and disenchantment by Lev Grossman, author of the international bestseller Codex and book critic for TIME magazine.
At Brakebills, Quentin learns to cast spells. He makes friends and falls in love. He transforms into animals and gains powers of which he never dreamed. Still, magic doesn’t bring Quentin the happiness and adventure he thought it would, and four years later, he finds himself back in Manhattan, living an aimless, hedonistic existence born of apathy, boredom and the ability to conjure endless sums of money out of thin air.
One afternoon, hung over and ruing some particularly foolish behavior, Quentin is surprised by the sudden arrival of his Brakebills friend and rival Penny, who announces that Fillory is real. This news promises to finally fulfill Quentin’s yearning, but their journey turns out to be darker and more dangerous than Quentin could have imagined. His childhood dream is a nightmare with a shocking truth at its heart.
At once psychologically piercing and magnificently absorbing, THE MAGICIANS pays intentional homage to the beloved fantasy novels of C. S. Lewis, T.H. White and J.K. Rowling, but does much more than enlarge the boundaries of conventional fantasy writing. By imagining magic as practiced by real people, with their capricious desires and volatile emotions, Grossman creates an utterly original world in which good and evil aren’t black and white, love and sex aren’t simple or innocent, and power comes at a terrible price.
The worldbuilding is pretty basic, comprised of themes and aspects found in various fantasy novels/series throughout the last four decades or so. Magic-users hiding in plain sight among ordinary folks around the world. A secret magic school concealed by spells. Young students forced to turn their backs on their lives and friends and families in order to study there. Magical worlds existing alongside our own. Lev Grossman created an unassuming and familiar universe, perfect for non-genre readers.
The characterization leaves a lot to be desired. For starters, making a narcissic douchebag your principal protagonist can be a bit tricky. Still, even though he's not a likeable fellow, Quetin is nevertheless a well-drawn character. The problem is that you never actually care about him at any point in the story. Alice seemed to be the most fascinating character of the bunch, yet Grossman appeared more interested in mentioning her bra size over and over again instead of focusing on character growth. By the same token, the supporting cast would have benefited from a bit more depth. As it were, for the most part they are totally forgettable except for Penny and Mayakovsky.
For all its faults, The Magicians remained a fun, if simple, read for a while. But everything takes a tragic turn for the worse when the characters, as you knew they would, cross over to the mystical world of Fillory, a lackluster Narnia ripoff. Quality goes downhill at the speed of light from that point on, and the rest of the book is almost laughable. Clumsy storytelling and a decidedly lame ending don't help matters in the least, and the Fillory portion of this novel killed this one for me.
Overall, Lev Grossman's The Magicians is some sort of unoriginal Harry Potter for grown-ups unfamiliar with the fantasy genre. And as such, it's a very disappointing book.
The final verdict: 6.75/10
For more info about this title: Canada, USA, Europe.
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