Reb's Reading Room: Review: The Magicians by Lev Grossman

Title: The Magicians (The Magicians #1)
Author: Lev Grossman
Genre: Fantasy, Adult
Publisher: Plume
Pages: 516

Quentin Coldwater is brilliant but miserable. A senior in high school, he’s still secretly preoccupied with a series of fantasy novels he read as a child, set in a magical land called Fillory. Imagine his surprise when he finds himself unexpectedly admitted to a very secret, very exclusive college of magic in upstate New York, where he receives a thorough and rigorous education in the craft of modern sorcery.

He also discovers all the other things people learn in college: friendship, love, sex, booze, and boredom. Something is missing, though. Magic doesn’t bring Quentin the happiness and adventure he dreamed it would. After graduation he and his friends make a stunning discovery... But his childhood dream becomes a nightmare with a shocking truth at its heart.

At once psychologically piercing and magnificently absorbing, The Magicians boldly moves into uncharted literary territory, imagining magic as practiced by real people, with their capricious desires and volatile emotions. Lev Grossman creates an utterly original world in which good and evil aren’t black and white, love and sex aren’t simple or innocent, and power comes at a terrible price. (More from Goodreads)

Warning: Unless the summary isn't clear, this is NOT children's book. I repeat, this is NOT A CHILDREN'S BOOK. It has been marketed as 'Harry Potter for grown-ups', 'Harry Potter goes to Narnia', and other things along those lines; and perhaps some elements are so reminiscent of these books that they may seem plagiarised (gasp) but no. Comparing The Magicians to Harry Potter is like comparing tomatoes to carrots. They both belong in a salad, but that's about as much as they have in common.

If I had to summarize the book in one sentence, it would be thus: an R-rated parody of Harry Potter and Narnia with 30 times the angst and misery.

Which doesn't necessarily mean it's not a good book.

Setting

Set in modern New York, this book starts off with three friends: the popular, dashing guy, his beautiful girlfriend, and the resentful third-wheel hung-up on the girl he can never have (familiar enough yet?). All three are geniuses, and a turn of events somehow landed the latter of the three, Quentin, into a prestigious college for magic known only to magical folk: Brakebills. Unlike the Harry Potter World, however, magic in this world is complicated. EXTREMELY complicated. Instead of sorting hats, the students are required to take entrance tests that would stump even most students who can make it into an Ivy League institution, with additional questions that would not make sense to normal people, somehow proving their mettle for magic. And that was just the beginning.

The book spans Quentin's entire duration of study in Brakebills (and then some) and narrates his struggles as he crosses the threshold into adulthood and becomes a full-fledged magician.

And boy, does this kid struggle.

Main Character

Quentin Coldwater is the main character in this story, but after several lines he might as well be the villain in the making, indifferent, cynical genius that he is. Despite that, he finds comfort in the magical world of Fillory, from his favourite childhood book series, leading us to believe that he might be a bit of a softie after all.

Not.

Now Quentin is not particularly described as a heinous, devious character through-and-through, but he is not the typical hero you would find in the likes of famous fantasy books for children. While his IQ would probably make Einstein seem like a kindergartener, his EQ was not so hot. He constantly makes irritating, stupid mistakes and in my opinion, throughout the book it was hard to see how he progressed emotionally to become more than just this void; an emotional black hole.

Perhaps that is why he can be relatable to many readers, as this is the exact trait that lends his character a sick but undeniable dimension of realism.

Story Progression & Writing Style

“Are you kidding? That guy was a mystery wrapped in an enigma and crudely stapled to a ticking f**king time bomb. He was either going to hit somebody or start a blog.”

***

“You can't just decide to be happy."

"No, you can't. But you can sure as hell decide to be miserable. Is that what you want? Do you want to be the a**hole who went to Fillory and was miserable there? Even in Fillory? Because that's who you are right now."

***

“I have a little theory that I'd like to air here, if I may. What is it that you think makes you magicians?" [...] "Is it because you are intelligent? Is it because you are brave and good? Is is because you're special?

Maybe. Who knows. But I'll tell you something: I think you're magicians because you're unhappy. A magician is strong because he feels pain. He feels the difference between what the world is and what he would make of it. Or what did you think that stuff in your chest was? A magician is strong because he hurts more than others. His wound is his strength.

Most people carry that pain around inside them their whole lives, until they kill the pain by other means, or until it kills them. But you, my friends, you found another way: a way to use the pain. To burn it as fuel, for light and warmth. You have learned to break the world that has tried to break you.”

***

Once you get into it, the story moves rather quickly. It's only a matter of whether or not you can down the perpetually depressing aura of Quentin, and Grossman's (usually nihilistic) approach to psychological evaluation. Put that stuff aside, though, and I believe the story progression is actually decent. Yes, there are introspective monologues aplenty, and rather disturbing scenes, and more existential crises than I would dare count but hey. It worked for me.

On that note, let me tell you the ironic thing that did NOT work most of the time: the magic. The spells.

I appreciate the depth in which Grossman befuddles his readers with the intricate magic system. In this book it seems that in the process of casting a simple spell to, say, heat a mug of water, I could have boiled water conventionally in a kettle, made coffee, finished my breakfast, gone off to work and had my first short break to enjoy the already cooling coffee in my thermos before they would be done figuring out the correct hand movement based on the planetary alignment and the rate at which the tectonic plates are moving. If I am exaggerating, it is only slightly. Man, the magic system is difficult.

You can't just wave a wand and enunciate a string of latin words clearly to reap the fruits of your labour. No, you have to have the knowledge of astronomy, nuclear physics and a bunch of other specialized things at the tips of your fingers before you can even attempt to cast a spell; and then there are complicated hand movements and paragraphs - PARAGRAPHS- of words you would have to vocalize absolutely correctly. Because for certain spells, a single syllable off could mean certain death. That is no exaggeration.

As for world-building, I don't really have anything to complain about. Despite initially being set in New York, in a rather Harry Potter-esque kinda way (obviously) the people with magic live among normal people, but not quite with them. You know, stumble into a wall to enter a pub that leads to a magical shopping area = follow a flying piece of paper into a magical institution unseen by normal eyes.

Conclusion

Let me not spoil the entire book. I, for one, enjoyed it- and I was surprised, because most of the reviews were scathing. The only way to know if you would enjoy it is to pick it up and read a few chapters.

I think marketing the book with the words 'Harry Potter' and 'Narnia' could not have been a good strategy- The Magicians is way too dark and gritty for the likes of those. In another world, those words could have been avoided, and Lev Grossman would have incorporated less elements that seem like a straight rip-off from them, and perhaps die-hard fans of said series wouldn't have given it so much hell. More mature HP and Narnia fans would have enjoyed this book for what it was, and more people who disliked said famous franchises could have picked up the book and enjoyed it even more. Alas, that is not the case.