Book recommendation: The Magicians by Lev Grossman

lunixer · 09-05-2010, 10:41 AM

Well, this is the first book that I read on my new Kindle and it is *really* good. For anybody who reads quite a lot of the fantasy genre it is just hilarious. it's really a parody on every other fantasy book out there, but it has quite a good story as well. My favorite passage: The two characters are going to play a game of "Welters," the school sport.

Quote:

He did an abrupt about-face.
"Hang on," he said. "Gotta get my quidditch costume. I mean uniform. I mean welters."
"We don't have uniforms."
"I know that," Josh snapped. "I'm drunk, I'm not delusional. I still need my winter coat."

The book parodies everything. The door used to open by saying "friend" in elvish, but not enough of the students had read tolkien. The main character never got out of reading this juvenille series where a group of english characters went to a magical place with an all-powerful guardian who only appeared at the end to send them home (Narnia). And other references. Highly recommended.

Warning though: It seems to be a love/hate split on Amazon.

Penforhire · 12-20-2014, 09:30 PM

I just finished this book and searched here to see if anyone else read it. This is the most direct thread I found. I have to say my own reaction was a lot more meh than yours.

The sort of humor you noted did not lighten the mood. It was as if the humor was completely sucked out of a Harry Potter novel. Everything was so dry and colorless.

Even though the story is told through action and dialog it felt like it was "told to us, not shown." I found most of it to be remote, cold, and lacked immediacy. Probably because our protagonist is a self-absorbed angsty teen who who never gets better. Sure, he eventually takes responsibility for his actions but I did not sense any growth. He just formed an emotional barrier to numb his pain.

All of his fluency in magic, and his working toward it, was vaguely masturbatory. He never reached out to help those in the world around him.

I actually liked that Grossman presented magic as a grind. That was refreshing. I can sense the writer's loving effort in this. They was quite a bit of intentional satire. Some scenes were quite touching, delicate, and authentic. I am not saying it was poorly written, just hard to be sympathetic to the protagonist. But after I finished this book I am left asking if he added anything to the genre. I am not certain he did. I am not totally down on this book but I am not anticipating the next book(s) as much as I expected to. There certainly are some five-of-five star fans of this book but I'm rating it a three.

eschwartz · 12-20-2014, 11:21 PM

Keep in mind that you are supposed to be disappointed in the protagonist.

The series is a sarcastic parody of common tropes.

He gets a lot better in the third book, though.

(

)

curtw · 12-22-2014, 11:39 AM

Split reviews sounds like a call for Overdrive. I'm now in line for it at the library. Thanks!

Lin2412 · 12-22-2014, 11:11 PM

I'm planning to read a lot of Fantasy / Sci-Fi books for 2015, so thanks for sharing. It contains humor too so I'm all about that.

Wow, so many mixed reviews at Amazon though, I think I'm going to give this one a shot. The positive reviews seem to be more enticing.

12-20-2014, 11:21 PM	#3
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,421 Karma: 85397180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	Keep in mind that you are supposed to be disappointed in the protagonist. The series is a sarcastic parody of common tropes. He gets a lot better in the third book, though. ()

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12-20-2014, 09:30 PM	#2
Penforhire Wizard Posts: 2,230 Karma: 7145404 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Southern California Device: Kindle Voyage & iPhone 7+	I just finished this book and searched here to see if anyone else read it. This is the most direct thread I found. I have to say my own reaction was a lot more meh than yours. The sort of humor you noted did not lighten the mood. It was as if the humor was completely sucked out of a Harry Potter novel. Everything was so dry and colorless. Even though the story is told through action and dialog it felt like it was "told to us, not shown." I found most of it to be remote, cold, and lacked immediacy. Probably because our protagonist is a self-absorbed angsty teen who who never gets better. Sure, he eventually takes responsibility for his actions but I did not sense any growth. He just formed an emotional barrier to numb his pain. All of his fluency in magic, and his working toward it, was vaguely masturbatory. He never reached out to help those in the world around him. I actually liked that Grossman presented magic as a grind. That was refreshing. I can sense the writer's loving effort in this. They was quite a bit of intentional satire. Some scenes were quite touching, delicate, and authentic. I am not saying it was poorly written, just hard to be sympathetic to the protagonist. But after I finished this book I am left asking if he added anything to the genre. I am not certain he did. I am not totally down on this book but I am not anticipating the next book(s) as much as I expected to. There certainly are some five-of-five star fans of this book but I'm rating it a three.

12-22-2014, 11:39 AM	#4
curtw Outside of a dog Posts: 864 Karma: 4457646 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Houston, TX Device: Kindle Voyage	Split reviews sounds like a call for Overdrive. I'm now in line for it at the library. Thanks!

12-22-2014, 11:11 PM	#5
Lin2412 Grand Sorceress Posts: 456 Karma: 12931465 Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Florida Device: Kindle	I'm planning to read a lot of Fantasy / Sci-Fi books for 2015, so thanks for sharing. It contains humor too so I'm all about that. Wow, so many mixed reviews at Amazon though, I think I'm going to give this one a shot. The positive reviews seem to be more enticing.

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