The Magicians (The Magicians, #1) in Fantasy-Faction.com

Dec 22, 2010 Kevin Xu rated it it was ok

Shelves: re-read

I feel like this book has too many tropes and cliche of all the mainstream fantasy books all wrapped up in one. I hope maybe the sequel will be better. Overall, the book was not worth the time to read it. First, the author comes from this high New York mind set that only New Yorkers are better than others, even better, add both Harvard and Yale into the mix. (one of the reason the New York Times and the media love this book) To me what I hate most about this book is that he had to copy from Harr ...more

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May 02, 2014 Mogsy rated it liked it

Shelves: audiobook, witches-and-wizards, fantasy, urban, magic, new-adult, books-about-books

3 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum: http://bibliosanctum.com/2014/07/09/b...

Self-absorbed, annoying, moody, smug, dissatisfied, spoiled, fake, maudlin, insecure, aimless, whiny, stupid, pampered, emo, vain, egotistical, small-minded, excessive, inconsiderate, thankless, pretentious, snobby, entitled, mercurial, immature, depressed, hypocritical, mean-spirited, cynical, clueless – just a small sample of the words I could use to describe the characters in this book.

No, The Magicians isn’t going to 3 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum: http://bibliosanctum.com/2014/07/09/b...

Self-absorbed, annoying, moody, smug, dissatisfied, spoiled, fake, maudlin, insecure, aimless, whiny, stupid, pampered, emo, vain, egotistical, small-minded, excessive, inconsiderate, thankless, pretentious, snobby, entitled, mercurial, immature, depressed, hypocritical, mean-spirited, cynical, clueless – just a small sample of the words I could use to describe the characters in this book.

No, The Magicians isn’t going to your big smiling ball of sunshine no matter how many Harry Potter comparisons you see slapped on it. Instead, you have a book featuring a much darker, grittier and almost satirical aura, a “New Adult” urban fantasy about letting the unhappiness of wanting something you can never have consume you. We follow disillusioned Quentin Coldwater, a high school student who never really grew out of his love for a series of novels he read as a kid about the adventures of five siblings in a magical land called Fillory. Compared to that, what can the real world offer him?

Imagine how he feels then, when he discovers that magic is real. And not only is it real, Quentin himself is a promising young magician, accepted into very secret and highly exclusive Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy in upstate New York. It should have changed everything. Quentin should have been ecstatic.

But he is not. But of course he’s not. Magic isn’t going to make Quentin happy. Neither is finding out that Fillory actually exists. It’s a sad moment when the realization hits. There’s really no cure for what ails Quentin, except one thing and one thing only: a few years of life experience and a whole lot of growing up. Well, that or maybe a swift and forceful kick in the seat of his pants.

Thing is though, you can write a miserably unlikeable character for the sake of writing a miserably unlikeable character. I don’t mind. Not even if your character is an insufferably whiny little ingrate. You just have to give me a reason – any reason – to make me care about what happens to him. That’s not too much to ask, is it? My issue with this novel wasn’t so much with the mopey protagonist than it was with the directionless storytelling. In fact, I was quite excited for the first part of this book. I couldn’t get enough of the magical school idea the author’s jabs and funny references to Harry Potter and other humorous injections. That there was no sign of a main conflict didn’t bother me at this point either, as I was relishing the setting and enjoying myself too much.

Around the midway point was when the book started to lose me, coinciding with Quentin’s graduation and life after Brakebills. Until then I never really bothered asking where the story was going, and hadn’t felt the need to – but eventually there was a creeping sense that giving Quentin and his magician friends “real life” problems like relationship hang ups and dismal prospects for the future just wasn’t going cut it. Like, dudes, I get that y’all are bored with life. But I’m bored with you too now. Sorry. Worse yet, there is absolutely no development in their characters or personalities (unless you count decline as growth) and that’s absolutely mind boggling when you consider how a person’s time at college should have been the most formative years. I don’t know anyone who left college the same person they were when they arrived.

Admittedly, the final handful of chapters about the discovery and exploration of Fillory had their charm. Possibly enough to salvage my feelings for this book for a solid rating. And I suppose the conclusion, while incomplete and flinging the doors wide open for a new adventure, also manages to offer a sense of closure and satisfaction in its own unique way.

This book isn’t bad, apart from the pacing issues. The ending gives me hope for Quentin, and the promise of more Fillory makes me feel very optimistic about the next book. ...more

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Aug 09, 2009 Liviu rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2009_release_read, genre-fantasy, read_2009

Mediocre book - very pedestrian writing, the repetition of Quentin, Quentin on each page became very jarring after a while while the prose is flat and un-absorbing, no emotion in the book which may not be a bad thing in itself, but here it is just plain boring

Lacks the flair, exuberance and epic sense of Harry Potter or the beautiful writing of Susanna Clarke to which it had been compared for reasons that are quite unfathomable to me

Just a pedestrian, ok to boring run of the mill novel and not ...more

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Jul 22, 2014 Benni rated it really liked it

(Review of the entire trilogy; spoiler-free.)

I've been wanting to read these books for awhile, but the beginning of the first book never captured my interest. It wasn't until I started watching the Syfy series that I thought I'd give them another shot.

The characters are largely unlikable, but having finished the entire trilogy back-to-back (thanks to postpartum insomnia, which has thankfully passed), I can appreciate their character arcs.

The Magicians:
The first two-thirds of this book are almos ...more

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Jun 10, 2012 Florentine rated it did not like it

Shelves: fantasy-magic

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Lumayan lah...
sebenarnya sih mengharap lebih, tapi ternyata ya begitu aja.. so-so aja deh..
beda dari beberapa genre witches yang aku baca, kalo di The Magicians, witch nya bisa datang darimana aja, khususnya high school students, yang memiliki kecenderungan terhadap sihir, baik tu dia percaya atau suka sesuatu berbau magic. and yang termasuk juga memiliki kecerdasan and merupakan murid pintar disekolahnya (reality).

Quentine seorang anak sekolah yang terobsesi dengan magic. karya yang paling me Lumayan lah...
sebenarnya sih mengharap lebih, tapi ternyata ya begitu aja.. so-so aja deh..
beda dari beberapa genre witches yang aku baca, kalo di The Magicians, witch nya bisa datang darimana aja, khususnya high school students, yang memiliki kecenderungan terhadap sihir, baik tu dia percaya atau suka sesuatu berbau magic. and yang termasuk juga memiliki kecerdasan and merupakan murid pintar disekolahnya (reality).

Quentine seorang anak sekolah yang terobsesi dengan magic. karya yang paling mengispirasinya adalah FILLORY. menurut Quentine, Fillory itu nyata. namun, tentu saja tidak ada yang mempercayainya. Quentine digambarkan sebagai seorang anak yang tekun belajar, tidak mau kalah dalam persaingan, cenderung keras kepala. meski demikian, dia merupakan teman yang menyenangkan.

dari awal bacaan sih "ok" lah.. berhubung nie juga intro, so agak membosankan.. setelah menjadi berada di Barkebills (eh, bener ga sih tulisannya hehehehe), intrik mulai terlihat. well, mungkin sifat Quentin yang sebenere nie juga mulai terlihat. contohnya saja (well, namanya juga remaja cowok yang "normal") nafsu nya gedhe juga. kehidupan dibarkebills digambarkan selayaknya kehidupan sekolah, bedanya ja nie sekolah sihir, so banyak pelajaran sihirnya. oo ya, beda dengan Harry Potter, sihir disini cuma spell and gerakan jari. tidak terlalu menarik sebenarnya kehidupan sekolahnya.

lalu, kisah cinta nie.. Quentin ga nyadar ato emang dia tumpul (soalnya cintanya DITOLAK ma julia di kehidupan realitanya), well kayaknya suka ma Alice, temen seperjuangan nie.. soalnya dari tahun pertama, cuma mereka berdua yang cepet naik kelasnya (akselerasi gitu). selayaknya remaja, alkohol and seks udah jadi biasa. digambarkan pula setelah lulus sekolah, Quentine jadi hob pesta and alkohol.

petualangan sihir mulai ada ketika Penny memberi informasi mereka terhadap keberadaan Fillory. nah, disini nie Quentine berubah menjadi pemarah (well, waktu ehm ehm ma seniornya Janet, ketahuan ma Alice, trus buat balas dendam, Alice ehm ehm ma Penny), maklumlah kalo Quentine tu kelihatan banget kalo masih cinta ma Alice. di Fillory, tokoh antagonisnya tu ternyata Martin Chatwin, yang kalo dibukunya sih dia menghilang di Fillory coz ingin banget tinggal di Fillory selamanya. untuk menghentikan Martin and menyelamatkan Quentin and the gank, tentu aja ada yang berkorban (Alice mati dunk.. ). dia berubah jadi niffin.. (nah lo, rasain tu Quentin).

bisa dibilang petualangan mereka tu anti klimaks banget. aku cuma suka bagian Quentin deket and jadian ma Alice doank.. selebihnya BIG NO!!!!.
...more

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Jan 03, 2013 Nick Mariner rated it did not like it

Books like this make me feel like the game of mainstream lit media promoting and praising new work by new(ish) authors is completely rigged. If you read the blurbs from all big pubs, you'd think the new Harry Potter or Chronicles of Narnia had arrived. The problem is it has, as a carbon copy. An "only the names and dates have changed" type of book.

I am all for writers who understand commitments to genre and homage. But at some point we have to acknowledge when a story stops being homage and star ...more

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Apr 10, 2011 Caleigh Minshall rated it it was amazing

Comparing The Magicians to the Harry Potter series is an obvious but unfortunate choice on the part of the publishers. It's really nothing like Harry Potter, apart from the magical school -- and the tone of The Magicians is much bleaker than anything J K Rowling has ever written. The main character, Quentin Coldwater, is occasionally infuriating but he's a completely real, flawed character. And that's *why* he's infuriating. I think part of the reason some people have reacted poorly to this book ...more

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Jun 12, 2009 ModernAlexandrian rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal, 2009-reads, books-i-own

It took me a long time to read this book. Mostly because of work and general life, but I was determined to finish it.
Often compared to Harry Potter, but darker and grittier, I was (of course) intrigued.
The Magicians is split into four books, and it really felt like I was reading separate novels. The first being very Harry Potter-esque in it's style. A grand world discovered by a very smart, but wholly unsatisfied, Quentine Coldwater. There he learns about magic and that there is more to this m ...more

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Aug 13, 2009 Adam Shaeffer rated it it was ok

So much has been said about this book that nothing I write here will be original, with one minor alteration.

Imagine Holden Caulfield attending Hogwarts and traveling to Narnia and you have a taste of this book. Except that doesn't nearly encompass how utterly depressing 3/4 of the novel is. The characters' lives are hopeless and empty and they know it. They have the world at their fingertips, but they're miserable. Their lives have no purpose and it's eating them from the inside out. It's tragic ...more

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Jan 22, 2011 Anthony rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, portal-fantasy

The Magicians has been called "daring and inventive," and "the best urban fantasy in years." I can agree with the former, but to my mind the later is a bit of hyperbole. The book, in some ways, may be the most accessible urban fantasy in years, but that's not the same as being the best. It is, however, daring and inventive. Grossman takes what have by now become standard YA fantasy lit tropes -- the kid who is not who he thinks he is, the boarding school, the adventurous mystery land where anima The Magicians has been called "daring and inventive," and "the best urban fantasy in years." I can agree with the former, but to my mind the later is a bit of hyperbole. The book, in some ways, may be the most accessible urban fantasy in years, but that's not the same as being the best. It is, however, daring and inventive. Grossman takes what have by now become standard YA fantasy lit tropes -- the kid who is not who he thinks he is, the boarding school, the adventurous mystery land where animals talk and God in animal form watches over without ever taking action, the fulfilling of a prophecy -- and drags them all into adult fantasy lit territory -- people die (sometimes brutally), actions have reactions, decisions have consequences, drinking and drugs and sex happen, and most of all there is no clear-cut Good and Evil despite what the characters may wish.

My quibbles about the book are relatively small, though. Spreading the story over multiple books might have helped with some of the character development and might have fixed some of the pacing issues. Then again, there is a sequel coming in 2011 and perhaps that will flesh out certain characters a bit more. It still won't fix one particular problem with the resolution of the book (and I see from other reviews I'm not the only one who has picked up on this), which lies in the motivation of the Main Bad-Guy. The explanation given is a throw-away line at best, but because it is the only theory given (and espoused by a character who should, in all honesty, be more aware of what the truth actually is than any other character in the book) the urge is to take it at face-value. It's too simple an answer for what should be a more complex question.

Despite these concerns, I enjoyed the book. I won't say "I couldn't put it down," but I will say that for the week I read it, it was the only book I picked up. I do feel like I understood Quentin and the fact that Janet is now high on my list of Characters I Love To Hate means that Grossman did something right with both of those characters. ...more

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