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The Magicians: A Novel (Magicians Trilogy) Paperback – May 25, 2010

by Lev Grossman (Author)

2,307 customer reviews

Book 1 of 3 in the Magicians, Series

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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 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.

The Magicians: A Novel (Magicians Trilogy)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Amazon Best of the Month, August 2009: Mixing the magic of beloved children's fantasy classics (from Narnia and Oz to Harry Potter and Earthsea) with the sex, excess, angst, and anticlimax of life in college and beyond, Lev Grossman's Magicians reimagines modern-day fantasy for grownups. Quentin Coldwater lives in a state of perpetual melancholy, privately obsessed with his childhood books about the enchanted land of Fillory. When he’s admitted to the surreptitious Brakebills Academy for an education in magic, Quentin finds mastering spells is tedious (and love is even more fraught). He also discovers his power has thrilling potential--though it's unclear what he should do with it once he's moved with his new magician cohorts to New York City. Then they discover the magical land of Fillory is real and launch an expedition to use their powers to set things right in the kingdom--which, naturally, turns out to be a much murkier proposition than expected. The Magicians breathes life into a cast of characters you want to know--if the people you want to know are charismatic, brilliant, complex, flawed magicians--and does what Quentin claims books never really manage to do: "get you out, really out, of where you were and into somewhere better. " Or if not better, at least a heck of a lot more interesting. --Mari Malcolm --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Grossman's novel is a postadolescent Harry Potter, following apprentices in the art of magic through their time as students at an upstate New York college to their postcollegiate Manhattan misdeeds, with jaded ennui tempering the magical aura. Mark Bramhall, a smooth baritone with a supple speaking voice, reads carefully, with a slight air of heaviness and sorrow. He pauses frequently and freights the silences with a tenderness well befitting a coming-of-age novel. A Viking hardcover (Reviews, June 1). (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product details

Series: Magicians Trilogy (Book 1)
Paperback: 432 pages
Publisher: Penguin Books (May 25, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0452296293
ISBN-13: 978-0452296299
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.9 x 8.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 2,307 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,130 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #131 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > New Adult & College
- #568 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Epic
- #911 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Paranormal & Urban

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No Apologies, I Enjoyed Reading The Magicians

ByP. Kingon August 18, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I had not heard of this book series until the SyFy Channel made it into a TV show. I loved the show, so I began to read the books. This book is very probably for high school/college as the story centers around a group of students who made it into Brakebills a school of magic, and not the saw a lady in half type, but one where you could learn a spell to saw a lady in half without a saw. The personal issues that this age group has is woven into the story but does not distract from the trials and tribulations of them learning magic.
Quinton, the story's main character is miserable in Brooklyn and in high school. Parents are parents. He goes for an interview for an ivy league college, finds the interviewer dead, is given a note by an EMT at the scene. He reads the note, wind blows it down an alley, he chases it and finds himself in a cloaked part of the city and Brakebills. He under goes a magic entrance exam which he passes and without graduating from high school finds himself studying college. He is so happy. Of course, it's not all rainbows and unicorns there are some dark happenings at Brakebills, secrets and lies. Sex, drugs and drinking just like college.
His journey from beginner to graduate and the students he hooks up with and the learning of magic is very compelling.
This is a good read if you've seen the TV series or not. Helped explain some things to me about the show. It's always nice to have a book.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

Not your typical book about a magical world

ByYondaime-donoon March 26, 2015

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This is a surprisingly adult take on a world like Harry Potter or Narnia. Most books you read about magical worlds follow children, but the characters in "The Magicians" are far past the age of innocent wonder. That tweak results in much deeper, darker themes and conclusions; our main character--the introverted Quentin Coldwater--frequently questions his own motivations and searches for a greater sense of purpose that seems to be evading him throughout his life. Through his struggles, we're asked many of the same questions. Is there more to life than seeking to have success? What do you do when you have it?

I don't want to spoil the story for those who might read it, but this book isn't about high-flying emotion and unflinching heroes conquering the great enemy of their era. It's about real-life people dealing with real-life problems that are inescapable, no matter how much magical power you have. The characters are very real, flawed people, and their depression and disillusionment is both refreshingly uncommon and a bit unnerving in books like this. If you are expecting your typical fantasy tale, you may be sorely disappointed. The fantasy elements are there, but they run secondary to the characters and their thoughts as they deal with life. I thoroughly enjoyed it, even if it was a bit of a downer.

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

A magician story for adults

ByBrian Deckeron January 28, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

The Magicians is the addicting tale following Quentin Coldwater, a depressed teenager that is constantly in search of something to make him happy. He discovers Brakebills, a magic university, and is admitted to study magic. Realizing that magic is real, Quentin is temporarily happy until the luster wears off and his studies become just another normal thing for him. He finally finds out that his childhood dreams are a reality when he discovers the land of Fillory is real, but he also discovers that not everything is as it seems.

Some may describe the book as Harry Potter for adults, and while I could see the comparison, it's got a completely different feel. The focus is more about the characters, especially on how each of them has been damaged in some way, than about the wondrous discovery of magic. There's also less focus on schooling. It's still a very well-crafted story, if depressing at points, and worth reading.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

Even magic can't fix everything

ByDelusionalAngelVINE VOICEon June 30, 2010

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

So I saw the product description and the reviews... Harry Potter but for adults. Maybe a little pretentious. Maybe not. Maybe a bit too much sex. Maybe not. Maybe brilliant. Maybe not. Maybe fantasy. Maybe seeing it as a fantasy book was all wrong. Okay, I had to check this one out for myself.

Yes there is a school for magicians here. The school, it basically chooses you when the time is right - which appears to be about the time you'd be considering colleges. If you notice it is attempting to contact you and bother to answer, you'll be given a test. Few will pass and be admitted into the school. Quentin was one of the ones who did. He was sure it'd change his life. Make him happy. After all, he'd been waiting to find that magic was real all of his life, having read and re-read books about Fillory a magical world all its own - he'd always wished he could find the kind of joy the kids in those books had found.

It quickly becomes obvious that Quentin is so broken that nothing, not even magical worlds will ever be enough to make him happy. Not alcohol, drugs, women, sex, love, nothing. He's rather self-absorbed, never seems to grow, to learn anything from all he goes through - even though we see him age several years in this book and he does go through a few major events he could have learned from.

It's not until the end of the book that you start to think he might be changing and then it's set up for a sequel which makes you wonder...

Still despite how incredibly frustrating Quentin can be, the story itself is pretty decent. Well written. It's fun. There's the "real world", the Brakebills school world where the magicians get their training, the Fillory world where the humans are mostly seen as oddities but oddities who are the only ones allowed to become queens and kings of this world.

I liked it enough that if I notice the sequel I'll get it, but I'm not so obsessed that I'd be stalking the author's pages waiting to pre-prder it.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

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Most recent customer reviews

Great read

Surprisingly different than the tv series but with more story than two season and different endings. I enjoyed it muchly.

Published 2 days ago by jade Adler

Amazing book

Amazing book. Beginning is kinda slow at times but the ending is great

Published 5 days ago by isaac dunn

If Salinger wrote about Narnia

Beautifully written and thought provoking. This is not a fluffy, fast-paced fantasy. The characters are warty and human, their flaws, failures, and moments of brilliance in line...Read more

Published 6 days ago by M. Loughin

Five Stars

Soooooo much better than the TV series a

Published 7 days ago by Christopher Smith

So much whining

I get that the point of the book was probably to demonstrate the lead characters inability to be content with his life, however the constant whining was grating.Read more

Published 8 days ago by Kindle Customer

Nice adult story about magic.

Nice to see it is not all rainbows or unicorns in a magic world. Good departure from Harry Potter magic world.

Published 10 days ago by brownsa

Sad!! Story jumps around so much without detail ...

Well C S Lewis he's not! Also not anywhere near JK Rowling! All the sex references and F words are probably for young readers that don't know how to speak without using them.Read more

Published 11 days ago by Pamela Sinclair

Three Stars

I enjoyed the read but a little out there for me.

Published 12 days ago by Patricia E. Bertocci

Good idea, bad execution

I liked the concept of this book but the characters themselves really ruined the book for me. I found them both unrelatable and irritating.

Published 13 days ago by Kara G. Mcmahon

Well written

I found the book became inundated with boring details in certain spots. I mostly just skimmed over those.Read more

Published 13 days ago by Aaron

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