The Magicians Review

The Magicians by Lev Grossman
Adult Fiction

I thought this book was a Harry Potter knock off with a lot of veiled Narnian references. I was prepared to scorn it from the get go. I even put it down, and was ready to move on to the next book in my stack. But then I gave it another chance. What I discovered was that it was not a Harry Potter/Narnia knock off, but it was a thick darkly textured story that gave homage and tribute to those who came before it, especially Potter and Narnia. While giving homage to those worlds, it also twisted them, developed whole new elements of magical culture, gossip, rumors and danger.

(Both HP and The Magicians have magical games; they have striped elements in their uniforms; there's a trio of main character two boys and a girl who is too smart for her own good.... There are similarities, but like I said, it's not a knock off. I thought it was, and then it stunned me.)

Remember, back in the Never Ending Story movies? The very first one, where Bastion goes to the book seller and lists all the books he's read, and the book seller says something about those books being 'safe,' and the book he (the book seller) was reading (of course the one that Bastion ands up borrowing and reading in the school attic) dangerous?



The Magicians is a Dangerous book. Harry Potter, Narnia, as much as I love them, and trust me, I had a gold fish named Gandalf as a child, they are safe books. Good wins. There are deaths. (I yelled when Dumbledore died. Sorry if you didn't know about that death already. I figure it's in a film already on DVD, it's fair game.)
The Magicians is dark. It is haunting. It is beautifully woven. It will keep you up at night. There is the feeling that the characters you have grown so attached to really may not get out of here alive.

This is fantasy with a great set of incisors, wings, and a lot of fire.