Monday, August 15, 2011

Review: The Magicians by Lev Grossman & Giveaway: The Magician King


The Magicians is the first book in the Magician series by Lev Grossman and a novel of Fiction from Plume.

Book Blurb:

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 may 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...

My thoughts:

Quentin Coldwater is seventeen and lives in Brooklyn with his uninvolved parents.  Though loved, he does not connect with his family at all - and he has only a couple of people he calls friends.

When a college interview takes an unexpected turn, Quentin’s whole life changes.  He is introduced to magic, real magic - and invited to a school that will train him to wield that magic.

At Brakebills, Quentin meets like minded students who have the same capabilities he does - and he makes friends, fits in, he even gets a girlfriend.

For the first time in his life, Quentin is happy.  But he is always waiting for the other shoe to drop - and drop it does.  When he and his friends find the supposed make believe land of Fillory, they realize that it will take all the skills they’ve obtained to get back home in one piece.

The Magicians is the first book I’ve read by Lev Grossman and it was an okay read.  I found it to be a bit pretentious and overly done in spots.

The first half of the book covers four years worth of school and the last half of the book deals with the now grown adults finding the land of Fillory.

I give The Magicians 2 out of 5 stars.


   Product Details

    Paperback: 416 pages
    Publisher: Plume (May 25, 2010)
    Language: English
    ISBN-10: 0452296293
    ASIN: B003YDXD3G     


Thanks to Penguin I have two (2) copies of The Magician King - the sequel to The Magicians - up for grabs.






Just leave a comment with a valid email addy and you are entered.

This giveaway is open to all followers of this blog with a US mailing address.

Using Random dot Org, the winner will be chosen and announced on 8-22-11.

Good Luck! 

6 comments:

Blodeuedd said...

I have heard a lot of things about this series but yes it does not seem to impress me much

Melissa said...

Thanks for the giveaway.

Coffeebooksandlaundry(at)gmail.com

Havent heard too many great things about the series, but it's been on my WL for awhile. Hopefully it will do something for me.

Unknown said...

Hi Michelle!

Thanks for an honest review...

I'll throw my wig in the ring, maybe it will have a redeem feature?

Thanks!

Dottie :)
gymmom_027@yahoo.com

ML said...

I haven't read the series yet but I'd heard such good things about the Magician King. Thanks for the review.

mljfoland AT hotmail DOT com

Unknown said...

This series looks very interesting so I would love to give it a try. Thank you!

liedermadchen(at)hotmail(dot)com

Melissa said...

Thanks for taking the time to do a contest.


melissagrantcpacfe at gmail dot com