The Magicians

I'm going to try really hard not to over-hype this book, so I have to be brief here. Read this novel.

I haven't blogged about books much lately for some reason–I have about a dozen drafts about various books started, tho. But I'm going to see this one through to the end (yet another reason to keep it short).

This is one of my Top 5 of the year. No question about it. A gripping mixture of “real world” and “fantasy”–without being an “urban fantasy.” This is Harry Potter + C. S. Lewis tossed in a blender operated by Michael Chabon or Jonathan Lethem. I think knowing too much about the plot beforehand would hurt the experience, so in brief, it's about a high schooler named Quentin who's accepted into a small private college version of Hogwarts in New York and then follows Quentin and his friends/classmates through school and into adulthood.

The world created here is fully formed, and fully capable of being the setting for a series of novels. The characters are well-drawn, brilliant and tragic–most of whom could carry a novel by themselves. In real life, I don't think I'd want to call any of them friends, but am sure I'd love knowing them. The plot isn't perfect, and there are many, many places in which I wished things had gone differently, but I can't say that Grossman erred in going where he did with his creation (I just would have preferred it–I feel like Fred Savage's character at the end of The Princess Bride complaining about the ending).

The Magicians is an interesting book - a postmodern take on Harry Potter and the Narnia books. The main character is highly intelligent, but depressed and lonely. Even when his dreams come true, and he gets to attend a magical school for potential wizards, he discovers that it isn't what he would hope it would be. The main theme of the book seems to be that contentment won't be handed to you, and you should make your own happiness. Or perhaps the theme is ‘wherever you go, there you are'.
Several reviews I've seen complain that despite the book telling us how academically clever Quentin (the protagonist) is, he doesn't seem especially intelligent. However I think Q is very much like some of the super-intelligent people I've met, brilliant at learning, lousy at reading people, social interaction and understanding subtext, and therefore is quite a unusual character in this kind of book.
I liked this book a lot, although occasionally I felt like it was giving me a kicking. Some of it is a bit predictable, but it was an enjoyable read that posed some fascinating questions and successfully brought a level of adult sophistication to an area that seemed to not mesh with that kind of Chabon-esque literature.
8/10

With the new SyFy Magicians series airing, and a number of people recommending this series, I decided to give it a shot. While expecting a more campy Harry Potter adaptation, what I got was a present day magical tale – a combination of HP, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Apocalypse Now. In a book that could've gone very campy, it managed to stay serious. I'm looking forward to seeing where the story goes next.

Oh man. How can I NOT be disappointed that my rating is so low? This book is touted (by people other than the author) as a grown-up Harry Potter. Any millenial's fever dream, right? Certainly was mine.

Let it be known that this is in no way, shape, or form similar to Harry Potter. They are nothing alike. This is because The Magicians is severely lacking in the warmth and heart that JK Rowling wove into her tales, hence making them tender and unforgettable. The only reason anyone could say this is like Harry Potter is because it takes place at a magical school.

None of the characters are fleshed-out enough to be interesting or even memorable. I wasn't invested in anything they were doing. The magic goings-on aren't interesting either, oddly enough. The whole setting is pretty bleak and uncomfortable, rather than awe-inspiring and intricate.

I had to stop reading at the part with the geese. WTF was that about?! Silly.

It hurts my heart that I didn't like this book, because it was one that I was saving for a special occasion. Just wasn't my thing. It could be so easily saved, too–add some characters that are vivid and inspired! Ah well.

Let's see: ultimately, nothing happens, except maybe the author attempting to answer the questions of meaning and the purpose of life. I think maybe this novel took itself too seriously and ended up suffocating an okay plot with a lot of philosophical pondering best pondered somewhere else. I'm not sure if I'll attempt the rest of the series if this is what I'm to expect.

Aggressively man written. “Huge bosoms” mentioned, no joke, about 5 times in the first 100 pages. I stopped counting after that
NO PLOT whatsoever.  I dnf around page 200 when there still wasn't any plot and more strange sexism against the women characters. I started skimming the book and came across a line that said “the thick plottens” so I guess this book was a really shitty comedy? I dont know. Hot garbage. Wouldn't recommend.

When I started this book I didn't know what to expect: an “adult” Harry Potter? a mash-up of Narnia and Middle-Earth with a smattering of role-playing adventure gaming thrown in for good measure? And, now, after finishing, it's hard to fully explain how I feel about it, or what I even think about it. For there is a lot of feeling present, and my head is full to bursting with thoughts. This tale is so amazingly dense with both magic and human frailty that it seems like ages since I first began reading, and yet the time has flown by so very swiftly. I feel as I have lived years in a mere handful of days. I am left with this: the most real book about magic that I have ever read. Exciting and depressing, adventurous and mundane, human emotions by the bucket-load, successes and failures, all wrapped together. The next book in the series awaits...

This was my second attempt at reading this book. The premise is so good, and I've wanted to read it for so long that I decided to give it another go. A magic college? Yes, please! However, the characters were kind of miserable to follow around (and I can deal with an unlikeable character), but none more so than the MC. Everything exciting happened either off the page or was told at such a distance that it felt more like a lecture. Even the magic and the magic school felt mundane and were almost painfully tedious. It's as though the author tried to write a grown-up Harry Potter (which is more or less what this book is billed as) and in the process sucked all the joy and magic out of it. It actually makes me a little sad, because this could have been so amazing if done well. 

Reviews of this book seem to me to be penalized by the comparison made to an “Harry Potter” for adults, which is not applicable at all.
This is a fantasy book, which happens to have a University of magic, and that's where the similarities end.
I found it interesting that the characters have flaws, fears and insecurities, which should be normal but rarely happens in this literary genre.
I enjoyed the story and would have enjoyed it even more if I were a fan of “The Chronicles of Narnia”.

Есть некая школа, куда собирают волшебников. У волшебников этих по идее никаких задач глобальных нет - ну, получают ребята высшее образование, только в сфере магии. Потом заканчивают этот “ВУЗ” и живут себе дальше тихонько - та же рутина, но можно колдовать себе тихонечко. ВУЗ отличается тем, что студенты его постоянно выпивают и постоянно, что ожидаемо, с похмелья. В общем, половина книги - это как раз про школу. Дальше ребята выпускаются и пытаются устроиться в жизни. Но как тут устроишься, когда познал вкус магии? Поэтому они всей своей компанией переезжают в Нью-Йорк и продолжают ежедневно бухать. Но им, конечно, очень, очень скучно, потому что магией пользоваться их научили, а мозгов не выдали, вот там все и депрессуют - один то ли гей, то ли просто дурак, вторая то ли шлюха, то ли просто внимания не достойна. Но у этих деток-волшебников есть нечто вроде библии, некая серия книга-сказок (ну, скажем, тот же Гарри Поттер на минималках), которую они читают и перечитывают несмотря на возраст. Как оказывается, книги эти описывают реальный мир, и, конечно, герои стремятся туда попасть, чтобы совсем не свихнуться со скуки.

Дальше могут быть спойлеры!
Все смешалось в доме Физиков... Я под впечталением от градуса бредовости этой книги. Под каким-то странным ожиданием, я прочитала 60% книги. Все ждала и ждала, что произойдет что-то эдакое. Причем первая половина книги была вполне сносной, как очень долгая завязка. Но когда наконец-то началось действие.... Но лучше по-порядку. Аналогия с Гарри Поттером не случайна, только Гарри Поттер всплакнул бы от такого волшебного мира. Персонажи настолько деревянные, что даже раскрашены непотребно - ни одного яркого характера, крайне мало логичных поступков. Целая куча бессмысленных сюжетных аппендиксов, которые вообще-то могли бы и привести куда-то, но что-то пошло не так, или автор про них забыл. Первая часть книги претендует на почетное звание “Гарри Поттер” для взрослых, но от взрослых там только алкоголь и секс, а остальное - абсолютная аналогия с детьми, которые очень хотят показаться взрослыми: неглубокое мышление, абсурдность поступков и другие нескладушки. Главный герой вызывает раздражение и составляет впечатление самовлюбленного идиота. Он то бросает своих лучших друзей (потому что а чего они встречаться начали), то грустит что его никто не понимает (сам он тоже не стремится никого понять), то хочет в свою волшебную школу, то ему там надоело, то он переживает за экзамены, а на следующей странице уже бахвалится собственным интеллектом и как ему все легко дается, то избегает разговора с девушкой, то отказывает ей - и вот уже ужасно, невыносимо любит, и вот тут же - изменяет ей! Больше того, изменив, он ждет что она будет ему вечно верна, и оскорбляет ее, когда она вступает в половое сношение (иначе не назовешь) с другим. Это само по себе выглядит абсолютно, беспросветно бредово и вызывает натуральный испанский стыд. В общем, с 60% книги я читала через абзац, не уставая удивляться глупости действия. Конец выше всяких похвал. Как будто на конец хвоста коту, например, приставили рыбий хвост - нелогично, топорно бредово, абсолютно не вяжется с повествованием. Не, ни за что не буду читать эту чушь и никому не советую.

I don't have much to say about this other than that I really enjoyed it. At times Grossman's style of writing and especially the way he discusses magic, its effects, and the various denizens of the magical world reminded me of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, which is (in my eyes) a very positive comparison.

It was a lot of fun to read, but also... I'm not an expert on books or literature, but it wasn't beach reading. It wasn't a challenge to get through like so much esteemed “literature,” but it is all the same very well-written and thought-provoking. I'm pretty excited to pick up The Magician King.

Short Review: I didn't hate this book. In fact, I think that it was very well written and I enjoyed parts of it. But in the end I felt worse off for having read it. The main characters get everything they could possibly want, their dreams literally can come true if they want and still they are not happy. Life if meaningless and then you die would be accurate summary of the book. But it is well written and I understand why people like the book. I just would not recommend it.

My full review with some spoiler ideas (only enough to talk about the book) is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/magicians/

Fucking shit right here.

I loved to read it and then I hated to read it, then I loved it again, then I wanted to just stop reading it all together, then it got really good and at the end stumbled over its own feet and crash face on to the ground.

This book is like Harry Potter got really emo, goes on a everlasting binge drinking contest. It has a really good background idea, great story, but for fucks sake those characters in there are just horrible. Horrible because they are good written, horrible because so much bullshit is written.

No idea if I should love or hate it it. And really not sure if I want to read any other books from this series.

I really enjoyed this one! It sort of reminded me of Harry Potter meets Narnia for the adult crowd. I will say that the first 3/4 th of the novel was outstanding and it would have probably have earned a 5 star rating had the whole book just been about his time at the magic college. The last fourth of the book dragged a bit for me, but still overall a really good read!

I am finding it difficult to wade through my feelings on this book. At the beginning I felt very relatable to Quentin as a character, his story had so many parallels to my own. I've dealt with depression and know how even in a privileged life you can feel like you are drowning in misery and waiting for the next bad thing to happen. I know how you can feel great at the beginning of something new only to have it sour and all the old weight of unhappiness slowly creeps into it. Above all I understood the want to exist somewhere else and if that would just happen, then I would be happy. What life and perhaps this book is a cautionary tale of, is that if you don't make an effort to be happy in the here and now, then no matter where you go from there - from new school, new job or magical realm - you'll never be happy. Although this is a very true statement, it is also a tough pill to swallow and can make for a very downtrodden and depressing story. As the book progresses our lead character Quentin's unhappiness follows him everywhere and leads to some destructive behaviour that is neither healthy nor wise and turns him into a very unlikable character. Perhaps this was the point, but I found myself getting frustrated with him and losing interest and an emotional connection to his story, leaving me a bit cold in the end. To top that off, the magical side to the story has some interesting things, but it's told in such an off hand way, that I felt it lost a lot of the wonder that you'd expect from a story about a magical school and magical realm. Overall I think there were some really good ideas at play, I'm just not sure if I cared for the execution. I'm hoping the next two books will improve on it, but that remains to be seen. I like that Grossmen is trying to address some issues - like depression - that is not often seen in much of the fantasy genre, but I guess I was hoping for a bit more of a positive spin on it, alongside the hard truths he's trying to express. That may be my personal take on it, so you'll have to read it to find out for yourself, I don't think it was a wasted read by any means, just be prepared for a very bleak story without much to offset it.