Review: The Magicians by Lev Grossman
November 10, 2009 in Fantasy, General
There’s an elephant in this room, and it is one that it is impossible for this book to get away from. Teenagers. Going to a magical boarding school. Complete with quirky teachers. And a weird game involving magic…
I don’t know if it’s in the writing, or the reading, but for a while there’s something that in the book can’t decide whether to embrace the similarities or pretend they don’t exist by having slightly older characters, or overly conspicuous differences, such as sex and drunken antics, but for this reader at least, I was more able to relax into the world when at last, one of the characters makes a quip about Quidditch uniforms.
Everyone is then able to go ‘yeah, okay’, we’re all aware of what each other is thinking…’
It’s sorta unfair, because Hogwart’s wasn’t the first magical school, or later in the story Narnia the first magical world, but everything that comes after is always going to be compared to them, so really all the book can do is accept it and tell it’s own story and try not to worry about it.
Only I’m not sure it does.
Whilst there are some bits I really enjoyed. Some of Quentin’s lessons (and the related theory and history) are really interesting. The time when they are all transformed in to birds and fly to Antarctica, is really well done and one of my favourite things in the book.
But, when the book leaves Brakebills and they head to Fillory, I really just couldn’t see the point, I never really liked most of the characters enough anyway, but once they leave the school, they lose some of their more likable characteristics.
Which means, I didn’t really care what happened to most of them on their trip into Fillory.
I’d like to just say it just wasn’t quite the sum of it’s parts… But some of those parts weren’t all that fantastic either. A real shame, because I wanted to love this one.
Rating: 
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Interesting review. I have this one in my TBR pile (okay, okay, mountain) for reading once it surfaces and had heard some of the same things you mentioned listed in other reviews of the book as well. I’m not certain myself whether or not the similarities will get in the way of enjoying it for what it is…but I’m certainly willing to give it a go. Thanks for sharing!
I’d say it was probably worth trying, because it is one of those books that you’ll either love or be meh about, but you probably wouldn’t hate it.
You know, I started this one and couldn’t really get into it from the beginning :/ I’m going to try it again eventually because it may have been bad timing, but we’ll see. If I can’t get into it a second time, I may just lay it aside for good…
I can understand that, luckily it grabbed me enough to continue with it, but only just…
Yep – pretty much exactly how I felt. I agree with you – the section where they are birds is by far the best part of the book. I HATED the Fillory section – couldn’t wait for it to end. And when it comes down to it – none of the characters are people I would find remotely interesting or worth my time in real life, I just didn’t care what happened to them.
It’s a real shame, the Fillory section should have been brilliant as it was what the book was leading up to, but…
This is completely a feeling I share with you. I just wrote my review last week and I was very lukewarm on this book, especially the characters. They didn’t appeal to me in any way.
Not sure what it was about them, I did like Alice though.
I thought the Fillory section could have been brilliant, and didn’t quite make it. It’s the climax of the book, but it doesn’t feel like it is. The world wasn’t vivid or interesting, and Quentin hadn’t really said enough about Fillory as a place in the books, for it to be scary to find it so bleak.
I agree with you – definitely didn’t quite come together.
Your exactly right about the Fillory section.
I’ve been really wanting to read this book but now read so many mixed reviews on it I’m ready to be disappointed when I do.
Probably the best way to go into it, you’re likely to enjoy it more that way!
This just seems pretty disappointing. At first it seemed like something I would like to read.. but now it seems like they are just jealous and are almost mocking the well-known fantasy books and that is a complete turn-off.
I don’t think he was trying to mock, really. Just struggled to do his own thing.
I really wanted to love it too, but didn’t.
So, did I.
I’m sorry you didn’t like it more. I’m not sure if i want to read it or not; lots of mixed feedback out there. thanks for your great review.
i found out after i read it that the author is a reviewer for Time currently, and also wrote for NYT, Salon.com, and a bunch of others. I think hearing that crystallized why i didn’t like it much either: it seems extremely calculated to sell. like he went “let’s mix Harry Potter with some sex from Gossip Girl, throw in some magic land adventure like Narnia, then end it with some existential angst from any of a dozen books. I”ll make millions!” exactly, not the sum of it’s pieces.
I hated this book. I agree with Bart and Melanie. I also just “loved” the way Grossman killed off his most likable character. I feel bad for Grossman if he really believes that “growing up” means learning to give up any hope for happiness. I think he needs to get out of NYC.