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The Magicians

by Lev Grossman Publisher: PLUME

Bestseller Critically Recognized

Magic beyond the school gates

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Awards & Recognition

  • Bestseller

    New York Times bestseller

    The supplied description identifies The Magicians as a New York Times bestselling novel.

  • Critical praise

    Praise from The New Yorker

    The New Yorker describes the novel as an inventive reworking of fantasy conventions and an unexpectedly moving c...

AlbakiReads Editorial

Magic beyond the school gates

Quentin Coldwater’s fascination with Fillory—a fictional land from the children’s books he loves—sets up a contrast between imagined escape and an imperfect real world. Admission to a secret college of magic gives him access to the extraordinary, but the description also points to hedonism, disillusionment, and a darker reality behind Fillory. The novel brings together the setting of a magic school and the larger question of what happens when a cherished fantasy becomes reachable. Its coming-of-age thread is paired with epic-fantasy elements, making the tension between childhood imagination and adult experience central to the premise.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Adults interested in fantasy centered on a secret college of magic.
  • Readers who enjoy stories about the gap between childhood fantasy and adult experience.
  • Fans of epic fantasy that draws on magical lands and fictional books within the story.

Themes

Magic and educationEscapism and disillusionmentComing of ageThe darker side of imagined worlds

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

Lev Grossman's new novel THE BRIGHT SWORD is out now!

The New York Times bestselling novel about a young man practicing magic in the real world, now an original series on SYFY

"The Magicians is to Harry Potter as a shot of Irish whiskey is to a glass of weak tea. . . . Hogwarts was never like this."
--George R.R. Martin

"Sad, hilarious, beautiful, and essential to anyone who cares about modern fantasy."
--Joe Hill

"A very knowing and wonderful take on the wizard school genre."
--John Green

"The Magicians may just be the most subversive, gripping and enchanting fantasy novel I've read this century."
--Cory Doctorow

"This gripping novel draws on the conventions of contemporary and classic fantasy novels in order to upend them . . . an unexpectedly moving coming-of-age story."
--The New Yorker

"The best urban fantasy in years."
--A.V. Club


Quentin Coldwater is brilliant but miserable. A high school math genius, he's secretly fascinated with a series of children's fantasy novels set in a magical land called Fillory, and real life is disappointing by comparison. When Quentin is unexpectedly admitted to an elite, secret college of magic, it looks like his wildest dreams have come true. But his newfound powers lead him down a rabbit hole of hedonism and disillusionment, and ultimately to the dark secret behind the story of Fillory. The land of his childhood fantasies turns out to be much darker and more dangerous than he ever could have imagined. . . .

The prequel to the New York Times bestselling book The Magician King and the #1 bestseller The Magician's Land, The Magicians is one of the most daring and inventive works of literary fantasy in years. No one who has escaped into the worlds of Narnia and Harry Potter should miss this breathtaking return to the landscape of the imagination.
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Customer reviews

M
AlbakiReads
Malaika Taylor

I highly recommend to for anyone looking for inner clarity

T
AlbakiReads
Thomas DiMassa

Great service and fast service

Great shopping experience! The book arrived quickly, was well packaged, and matched the description perfectly. I would definitely shop with you again

O
AlbakiReads
Olivia

Smooth.