Review: The Magicians

The Magicians by Lev Grossman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is a kind of bizarre meta-look at a fantasy world like the kind we all grew up with - Harry Potter, Narnia, etc. - but filtered through the lens of millennials going to college. Yeah, yeah, sure, they're millennial characters, and that means they're automatically all unlikable assbites...or does it? They're just...complicated, is all. Complicated, and often, struggling to find a place for themselves in this world, magical or not.

No wonder they all want to escape to a place like Fillory.

And no wonder everything that can possibly go wrong, does.

I had to special order this one from San Jose because all the copies at my library were on hold, as people are anticipating the forthcoming official debut of the Syfy TV series adaptation. I was lucky enough to catch the early airing of the premiere in December, and I found it visually stunning and more than interesting enough to try the books out.

I think the series is an improvement, but the book's still pretty good all the same. Now it's really got me pumped for the new show - can't wait to really get into the televised world of Brakebills and Fillory! (Even though neither of them is exactly Hogwarts or Narnia, but that's okay. No place can be Hogwarts or Narnia, except Hogwarts and Narnia.)

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