The Magicians, Lev Grossman
209 Rating(s)
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The Magicians

Author: Lev Grossman

Narrator: Mark Bramhall

Unabridged: 17 hr 24 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 08/11/2009


Synopsis

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.

Reviews

AudiobooksNow review by Manda on 2011-09-30 08:14:40

If you enjoyed Harry Potter you will not enjoy Magicians. Imagine the existential version Harry Potter and you have Magicians. The main character spends the entire book feeling like happiness eludes him. Wonderful things keep happening to him, he discovers magic, he finds a very special girlfriend, he becomes a master magician...yet, he just keeps whining about how pointless life is. The book has no overlying plot, we just follow this character around through what should be extremely interesting magical worlds, but all we really hear about is his depression. I would only recommend this book to those interested in existentialism. Otherwise, stay away.