The Magicians - Lev Grossman
Synopsis
(from Goodreads)
Like everyone else, precocious high school senior Quentin Coldwater assumes that magic isn't real, until he finds himself admitted to a very secretive and exclusive college of magic in upstate New York. There he indulges in joys of college-friendship, love, sex, and booze- and receives a rigorous education in modern sorcery. But magic doesn't bring the happiness and adventure Quentin thought it would. After graduation, he and his friends stumble upon a secret that sets them on a remarkable journey that may just fulfill Quentin's yearning. But their journey turns out to be darker and more dangerous than they'd imagined.
Review
Promoted as "Harry Potter for adults", I would say that's somewhat accurate. There's a magical college. And it's very adult. As in lots of sex and drinking, etc. The school part is actually only the first half of the book. I felt like there was just a bunch of random events that the narrative talked about that didn't seem to have much connection to any overall plot. In fact, I wasn't really sure what the actual plot was until the last 10% of the book. And that's probably the part I liked the most, since I finally knew what was going on. Too much stuff happens too fast, and Quentin is oblivious to half the stuff going on around him.
Magic in this book is a force that can't be understood. And spells are very complex and require random ingredients and hand motions and words in a variety of languages. Part of me felt like it was almost too complex to enjoy, and it took the wonder out of the magic.
Quentin, the main character, is a whiny brat who is never satisfied and never happy and is a jerk to people he loves. It was only in the last couple chapters that I realized he was severely depressed and had been the entire time. I originally liked and related to his feeling of there being more than this world, and hoping and waiting for magic. I think many of us secretly wish that we'll get swept up on a magical adventure. But when he gets that magic... it's not enough. The only character I liked is Alice, who gets shafted in every way possible. All the other characters just drink all the time and have sad lives (Sidenote: I hate it when books portray teens/college age kids as just always being drunk/doing drugs. I feel like it's lazy and not at all interesting).
It took me awhile to read because I feel like the story draaaggggeeeddd. I almost gave up a couple times but I kept hoping it would get better. As I said, the last part of the book is where it really starts to get interesting, and you start seeing how the threads come together into a bigger narrative. There are two more books in the series, and while the ending finally piqued my interest, I just looked up the plots for the next books on Wikipedia because I don't feel like reading the other two.
I really like the idea of the story, but the execution of it and the writing just weren't for me. I would not recommend this book.
Rating
I give this book 2 stars.
Details
Genre: Fantasy
Language: Very strong language on every page.
Sex: Lots of sex, some a bit graphic.
Violence: Lots of violence, though not as graphic.
Synopsis
(from Goodreads)
Like everyone else, precocious high school senior Quentin Coldwater assumes that magic isn't real, until he finds himself admitted to a very secretive and exclusive college of magic in upstate New York. There he indulges in joys of college-friendship, love, sex, and booze- and receives a rigorous education in modern sorcery. But magic doesn't bring the happiness and adventure Quentin thought it would. After graduation, he and his friends stumble upon a secret that sets them on a remarkable journey that may just fulfill Quentin's yearning. But their journey turns out to be darker and more dangerous than they'd imagined.
Review
Promoted as "Harry Potter for adults", I would say that's somewhat accurate. There's a magical college. And it's very adult. As in lots of sex and drinking, etc. The school part is actually only the first half of the book. I felt like there was just a bunch of random events that the narrative talked about that didn't seem to have much connection to any overall plot. In fact, I wasn't really sure what the actual plot was until the last 10% of the book. And that's probably the part I liked the most, since I finally knew what was going on. Too much stuff happens too fast, and Quentin is oblivious to half the stuff going on around him.
Magic in this book is a force that can't be understood. And spells are very complex and require random ingredients and hand motions and words in a variety of languages. Part of me felt like it was almost too complex to enjoy, and it took the wonder out of the magic.
Quentin, the main character, is a whiny brat who is never satisfied and never happy and is a jerk to people he loves. It was only in the last couple chapters that I realized he was severely depressed and had been the entire time. I originally liked and related to his feeling of there being more than this world, and hoping and waiting for magic. I think many of us secretly wish that we'll get swept up on a magical adventure. But when he gets that magic... it's not enough. The only character I liked is Alice, who gets shafted in every way possible. All the other characters just drink all the time and have sad lives (Sidenote: I hate it when books portray teens/college age kids as just always being drunk/doing drugs. I feel like it's lazy and not at all interesting).
It took me awhile to read because I feel like the story draaaggggeeeddd. I almost gave up a couple times but I kept hoping it would get better. As I said, the last part of the book is where it really starts to get interesting, and you start seeing how the threads come together into a bigger narrative. There are two more books in the series, and while the ending finally piqued my interest, I just looked up the plots for the next books on Wikipedia because I don't feel like reading the other two.
I really like the idea of the story, but the execution of it and the writing just weren't for me. I would not recommend this book.
Rating
I give this book 2 stars.
Details
Genre: Fantasy
Language: Very strong language on every page.
Sex: Lots of sex, some a bit graphic.
Violence: Lots of violence, though not as graphic.
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