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""The Catcher in the Rye" for devotees of alternative universes. It's dazzling . . . A rare, strange, and scintillating novel."---Julia Keller, Chicago Tribune
Book Description
The magical new sequel to Grossman's unputdownable novel THE MAGICIANS
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a sequel to Magicians which came out a couple of years ago, and a book I really enjoyed as a dark blend of Harry Potter and Narnia. This was definitely not a book for children and got very mixed reactions. I would recommend you read this before The Magician King.
In Magicians we ended up with our `hero' Quentin, as one of the four ruling kings and queens of the magical land Fillory, but he is a little bored and looking for an adventure. A simple quest to a faraway isle seems ideal, they haven't paid their taxes in a while, but Quentin just wants a little adventure....
With further nods to Narnia this has a lot of Voyage of the Dawn Treader about it, but again with a dark twist. And this is not just Quentin's story, but also fellow queen Julia, the Hedgewitch, and her story becomes more important as it appears that the magical lands may be doomed and Quentin's quest becomes a lot bigger then he thought.
Author Grossman gives you much you are familiar with, especially Narnia fans, but then shakes that familiarity by taking you (and his characters) in some very strange directions. It's great fun and the underlying darkness does not let you get complacent with the direction of the story, Quentin's desire to be a proper hero, Julia's need to find herself and the consequences of their actions.
Sometimes it is not comfortable reading but it was a delight to see how Grossman plays with the readers assumptions and twists what they are used to. There are hints of a third book from the author and I would love to see how he would close this off as a trilogy, all I do know is that he will do it in an original and unique way.
In Magicians we ended up with our `hero' Quentin, as one of the four ruling kings and queens of the magical land Fillory, but he is a little bored and looking for an adventure. A simple quest to a faraway isle seems ideal, they haven't paid their taxes in a while, but Quentin just wants a little adventure....
With further nods to Narnia this has a lot of Voyage of the Dawn Treader about it, but again with a dark twist. And this is not just Quentin's story, but also fellow queen Julia, the Hedgewitch, and her story becomes more important as it appears that the magical lands may be doomed and Quentin's quest becomes a lot bigger then he thought.
Author Grossman gives you much you are familiar with, especially Narnia fans, but then shakes that familiarity by taking you (and his characters) in some very strange directions. It's great fun and the underlying darkness does not let you get complacent with the direction of the story, Quentin's desire to be a proper hero, Julia's need to find herself and the consequences of their actions.
Sometimes it is not comfortable reading but it was a delight to see how Grossman plays with the readers assumptions and twists what they are used to. There are hints of a third book from the author and I would love to see how he would close this off as a trilogy, all I do know is that he will do it in an original and unique way.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Lev Grossman is like the Marmite of the author world, he's one of these guys you either love or hate. In his first book of the series he brings a world of magic, of adventure and populates it with real world self-centred characters that either get all in your face or you find refreshing to escape the altruistic nature that many others have.
Here in the second book of the series it's more of the same with some new characters who bring things back to a more even keel as they're there to counterbalance what a few saw as a flaw. Add to this a cleverly woven plot, some great twists mixed in with some decent prose and dialogue and it was a decent enough read. If however you're not a fan of the self-centred character then I'd suggest that you leave the series well alone.
Here in the second book of the series it's more of the same with some new characters who bring things back to a more even keel as they're there to counterbalance what a few saw as a flaw. Add to this a cleverly woven plot, some great twists mixed in with some decent prose and dialogue and it was a decent enough read. If however you're not a fan of the self-centred character then I'd suggest that you leave the series well alone.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The Magician King follows on from the story of The Magicians after a gap of a year or two. You could read The Magician King without having read The Magicians, but I wouldn't recommend it.
The story opens with Quentin as King of Fillory and having the indolent time of his life, with Julia, Eliot and Janet as co-rulers. This current thread is inter-cut with the rather darker past thread of what happened to Julia to get her to that point.
Quentin doesn't disappoint as the indifferent, reluctant but talented hero who is no stranger to loss; having a narrator who isn't sure of himself and doesn't know all the answers is one of the refreshing parts of these novels. The story of Julia is at times very scary and quite shocking. Both threads come together nicely at the end in an emotional finale.
If you enjoyed The Magicians then you'll enjoy this book; if you didn't enjoy it then you won't enjoy this for the same reasons. If you haven't read The Magicians then read them both!
The story opens with Quentin as King of Fillory and having the indolent time of his life, with Julia, Eliot and Janet as co-rulers. This current thread is inter-cut with the rather darker past thread of what happened to Julia to get her to that point.
Quentin doesn't disappoint as the indifferent, reluctant but talented hero who is no stranger to loss; having a narrator who isn't sure of himself and doesn't know all the answers is one of the refreshing parts of these novels. The story of Julia is at times very scary and quite shocking. Both threads come together nicely at the end in an emotional finale.
If you enjoyed The Magicians then you'll enjoy this book; if you didn't enjoy it then you won't enjoy this for the same reasons. If you haven't read The Magicians then read them both!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Excellent read
The Magician King was a great follow up to The Magicians. Full of plots and sub-plots: a real page-turner. Really enjoyable adult magical fantasy.
Published 1 month ago by Whippet Girl
A magical book for adults
Definitely on the dark and disturbing side, this book was highly readable and a really good sequel to the Magicians. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Sally
Lev Grossman's pure magic
Assuming you've read The Magicians and enjoyed it (advisable really, since this would be difficult to read as a stand-alone novel), then I feel pretty confident that fans of the... Read more
Published 6 months ago by booksy
A great fantasy novel
This is the sequel to The Magicians, a bestselling novel that came out a couple of years ago to much critical acclaim. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Lakis Fourouklas
If you liked The Magicians, you'll probably like this
The Magician King is the follow up novel to Lev Grossman's The Magicians. This review may contain spoilers for the first book so if you haven't read that yet, do so now! Read more
Published 9 months ago by Curiosity Killed The Bookworm
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