[Werthead]

The brilliant but unambitious Quentin Coldwater is uncertain what to do with his life when he is offered a highly unusual opportunity: to study real, honest-to-gosh magic at Brakebills, a college devoted to the magical arts. He seizes the opportunity with both hands, and finds himself thrust into a strange new life that is by turns rewarding and terrifying...

The Magicians has picked up a fair amount of applause from various bloggers, reviewers and authors this year, and has been cited as an 'antidote' to Harry Potter. The comparison is apt, since it features a young man going to a magical school, but at the same time also misleading. Quentin is 17 when the story begins, so the story is more adult-oriented and features more late-teenage angst than the Potter books (which may be saying something, considering the last couple of books in the series). In addition, although Grossman tips his hat with a direct reference to Potter at one point, he seems to much more be influenced by C.S. Lewis and the Narnia series. A large chunk of the storyline focuses on Quentin's boyhood love of a fictional series of novels called the 'Fillory and Further' books, which are clearly derived from the Narnia books.

It's an interesting novel which packs quite a lot into its length. In fact, Quentin's four-and-a-half years at Brakebills pass in a brisk 220 pages, although with plenty of pauses for character development and some good writing, and he still has time for a big storyline after that as well involving interdimensional travel and a traditional climatic battle.

Grossman's constant challenging of the comfort-reading status of crossover fantasies such as Narnia or Harry Potter is intriguing, although in some cases sends out a mixed message. Looking at some other reviews, a lot of readers came away from the book with the impression that Quentin's problems stem from reading a lot of fantasy fiction, which I'm pretty sure was not what Grossman was aiming for. There is also a problem in that Quentin is someone who has decent (if distant) parents, an okay upbringing, a fantastic schooling opportunity and a rich and interesting future, but spends the whole time moping about how crap his life is. True to life for a teenage character? Maybe. But it gets pretty old, especially later on in the book when Quentin is in his early twenties and should really be getting a grip by that point. Sympathising with such an arrogant character is difficult and as we are on Quentin's shoulder for the whole book (it's written in limited-perspective third-person, bizarrely except for one single sentence where we swap to another character for a few seconds), this is a constant issue.

Grossman employs a straightforward prose style with some nice flourishes, but he has an issue with getting information across clearly. Sometimes characters vanish from scenes for paragraphs at a time until you think they're not there any more (or indeed, in one case a major character's presence at an event is not mentioned at all, despite them referencing it later) only for them to suddenly start talking. This is welded to a number of what appear to be 'orphaned' storylines. At least twice events take place that seem to be hooks into further plot developments (Quentin discovers a new form of magic shooting out of his fingers and later has a problem with a childhood friend who discovers the real nature of his school) but in both cases they are simply dropped and never referred to again, making their original inclusion apparently pointless. Very strange.

The Magicians also has a problem that by its very nature it is going to be compared to Harry Potter, which by virtue of its immense length is able to explore its storylines in much greater depth than Grossman can manage here, and to Patrick Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind, which is simply more coherent and better-written (although Kvothe and Quentin share some weaknesses as protagonists). This isn't to say The Magicians is not a worthwhile read, but it is one that is treading in some very familiar ground.

The Magicians (***½) is broadly well-written and interesting, with some good ideas. However, it feels like it needed a couple more editing passes and the unrelenting grimness of the second half is wearying after a while. The book is available now in the UK and USA.

[Brujah]

I watch the TV series. It's by far one of my favorite TV series of all time. It is to TV what Dresden is to books, for me.

I want to read the book, but I've just now finished with the 3rd season on Netflix.

[HoosierDaddy]

Slow burn read, IIRC. Quentin's a dickhole.

Picks up and I enjoyed all.

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

Brujah, on 21 April 2019 - 02:05 PM, said:

I watch the TV series. It's by far one of my favorite TV series of all time. It is to TV what Dresden is to books, for me.

I want to read the book, but I've just now finished with the 3rd season on Netflix.

The TV series is very different — and much better — than the books.

This post has been edited by Whisperzzzzzzz: 21 April 2019 - 04:42 PM

[worry]

I love the show, but wouldn't knock the books! HD is right, especially once you ease into the unlikability of Quentin, and Grossman gets past the Harry Potter-via-Bret Easton Ellis phase more into the antiNarnia stuff, it gets pretty darn good. Plus the story on the show diverges from the books so much that reading the trilogy won't feel redundant.

[Abyss]

Whisperzzzzzzz, on 21 April 2019 - 04:42 PM, said:

Brujah, on 21 April 2019 - 02:05 PM, said:

I watch the TV series. It's by far one of my favorite TV series of all time. It is to TV what Dresden is to books, for me.

I want to read the book, but I've just now finished with the 3rd season on Netflix.

The TV series is very different — and much better — than the books.

Counterpoint: the books are less trite, tired, trope-ladden than the tv series, and while the characters are often more dislikeable, that makes the books even better.

[Brujah]

The actor portraying Elliot in the series is the first man to make me rethink my heterosexuality. His character is amazing.

I'm by no means homophobic, but The Magicians TV series helped some of the guys I know that were get over it.

Plus my wife loves it. We love Dresden, Marvel, Spartacus, Anerican Gods and quite a few other things,(oddly she doesn't like Star Wars or Malazan) so whenever something comes out that we both enjoy, it's one of the most important bonding aspects of our relationship. The Magicians TV series was another in which we both fell quite in love.

OH, and we haven't even watched season 4, except two and a half episodes we managed to catch on the sci-fi network as they came out.

We did catch

Spoiler

the episode where Margo goes to the desert and trips on Licking the Lizard while looking for the weapons to help Elliot. That episode in itself is A A A Amazing, and it reminds me of my second favorite singing episode where they all do the Bowie song to help Josh.

The actress playing Margo can make those..... faces like no other. Ì hope the series jump starts their careers.

[Blend]

Brujah, on 04 May 2019 - 06:58 PM, said:

The actress playing Margo can make those..... faces like no other. Ì hope the series jump starts their careers.

Margo is the best character in anything, ever. NUTSACK UP COLDWATER!

[Brujah]

I cried when the series ended!


Edit: Rather when season 4 ended.

This post has been edited by Brujah: 22 June 2019 - 10:30 AM

[Brujah]

Blend, on 12 June 2019 - 09:20 PM, said:

Brujah, on 04 May 2019 - 06:58 PM, said:

The actress playing Margo can make those..... faces like no other. Ì hope the series jump starts their careers.

Margo is the best character in anything, ever. NUTSACK UP COLDWATER!

‘Okay, here’s the plan, we’re going to fix this bullshit. Are you gonna sit back and just let this shit happen to you? Huh? This ain’t prom night. And the only thing I know for sure is you’re not going to fix anything if you nutsack out on me.

[amphibian]

I'm very curious as to where they take the show after the big event ending the previous season. This is a departure from the books and I've thought that this show has done very well when it went off book.

[Brujah]

After reading the thread, I'm not so sure I want to read the book.

But I probably will.

In my experience, movies derived from books are usually not as good as the book(s). One exception I IMO is Game of Thrones.

I didn't even make it to the end of the first book before setting it down. I just couldn't find it interesting enough. I found it slow going, and tedious at times, but the TV series blew me away, as it did half the world. I had to see it on screen to realize the story for what it was, and could be. Plus Dany getting naked in the first episode and slinking into that hot bath wasn't too bad either.

The biggest book disappointment for me(for something that I'd seen on the screen first) was The Count of Monte Cristo. The movie is one of my all time favorites, but the book bored me, and was a literal let down AFTER having seen the movie first.

[amphibian]

The books do not tell all the stories that the show does - and the books do not tell them at the same time.

For example: Julia is a character that Grossman really brought to full realization in the second book. She's barely in the first, which is very Quentin focused.