The Magicians [Paperback]

This is a novel that wears its influences brazenly (there's firm nods to J. K. Rowling, C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien and D&D) and yet despite that it's still a difficult novel to define. 'Harry Potter on acid' doesn't really come close; I've seen the comparison with J. K. Rowling's young wizard made too much for my liking, not just because Grossman's tale of a young man enrolling at a magic school is much darker and edgier than Rowling's work, but also because he asks a very good question that Rowling - to my knowledge - doesn't: what the hell do you do with yourself when you've graduated from magic school, wield considerable power and have the whole real world spread out before you?

Note the emphasis on the world 'real', since this is one of the fundamental points of Grossman's book - how the real and fantastical worlds come together to cause no shortage of problems for his protagonist, the young Quentin Coldwater. Quentin is a character that many of us will feel familiar with, (since many of us have probably been similar people at some point, or maybe even still are): a bored, depressed young man who can't see where he fits into the mundanity of modern life, and longs to escape into a fantastical world that he has become obsessed with (in Quentin's case, the Narnia-esque world of Fillory).

Yet unlike most people, Quentin gets his chance to fulfil his personal fantasy when he enrolls at 'Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy', somewhere in upstate New York. Soon he finds himself wielding power the likes of which he has only ever dreamed of. It all seems too good to be true...and of course, it is. With power comes responsibility, and even in the fantastical environs of Brakebills the consequences are terribly real.

The premise of a group of young people learning magic and then having to apply it to 21st century living is a very fertile one, and one that Grossman exploits fully, not least in the various issues and themes that he addresses. Quentin - an engaging protagonist that inspires effortless sympathy on the reader's part - learns a lot of lessons the hard way: not to abuse or toy with the power he wields, not to try and run away from the problems the real world throws at him, and to be very careful what he wishes for. Quentin's (mis)adventures also raise numerous questions - is it ethical to teach young men and women to harness such a potentially destructive force, that can (and does) kill? Is escapism just pointless wish-fulfilment that only leads to disappointment (or even worse)? What do you do when you've achieved the one goal you've ever had, and realise that life doesn't just end happily after like it does in the stories?

Despite the exploration of themes and the questions that they raise, The Magicians is fundamentally an accessible, enjoyable fantasy adventure in the great tradition of the influences it makes no attempt to hide - albeit a fantasy adventure laced with irony and disaffection, with its feet planted very firmly in the bitterness and bile of the real world. Grossman's prose is fluid and furnished with evocative embellishments, and he has imbued real pace and purpose into the story. Furthermore, Brakebills - clearly based on the English public school model - is the kind of school everyone wishes they attended, and is subsequently familiar and fun to read about (the English influence extends to even the characters themselves, as all have very 'classic' English names - Quentin, Janet, Eliot, Richard, Alice and so on), which creates an almost whimsical atmosphere.

Watching Quentin and his merry band of slackers struggle with their powers and their relationships - especially when they're trying to put them in the real world's context - starts out as enjoyable and swiftly becomes addictive. Grossman manages to inject real personality into most of the principal characters and is extremely good at depicting their emotions and relationships - particularly that between Quentin and his love interest, which packs a serious, realistic emotional punch. Yet there are moments of well-judged humour as well (I laughed out loud more than once - on the train, no less) and it's also fun to see how Grossman pays tribute to his influences (the spells 'Magic Missile' and 'Prismatic Spray', for example, are lifted directly from D&D).

As always, there are some flaws. I personally thought that Quentin was thrust rather too quickly into the magical world of Brakebills, to the extent that I found it hard at first to quite understand his resentment of the real world - simply because I hadn't seen enough of his life there. A couple more pages to demonstrate his poor relationship with his parents and his general disaffection would have helped. Furthermore, I found his transition to Brakebills - to a different world - rather subjective; even for someone so obsessed with a fantasy world that he almost believes in it, he accepts his new life far too readily for my liking.

Certain emotional events are not emphasised enough - the horrible fate of one student fairly early on is clearly hugely tragic and shocking, yet the pupils seem to forget about it very swiftly. 'Book three' (the novel is divided into four 'books') is probably the weakest, mainly because the story is at its most potent when dealing with Quentin's struggles in the real world. When the action moves to other more fantastical realms - mainly in book three - the impact seems somehow muted (with one notable exception). Some readers might take issue with the fact that there is no discernible magic 'system' and that it's sometimes hard to get a feel for what constitutes a serious drawing of power and what doesn't, though this wasn't much of an issue for me.

Verdict: Flaws aside, The Magicians is a very entertaining book. Grossman has delivered a creative, thought-provoking fantasy that is all the more powerful for its links to our own reality and the issues it raises. Despite the obvious debt it owes to various genre classics, it still somehow manages to feel fresh. The Magicians is by turns exciting, shocking, amusing and heart-wrenching. Easily one of my favourite books I've read this year - highly recommended.

I found this novel to be very much a multifaceted thing, interesting at times, boring others. Mundane one minute, fantastic the next.

Overall it gave me enjoyment, which is important, and I'll mention that first. But it is a poorly constructed book, the pacing is all over the place and the plausibility of the characters, or general plot, generally tenuous.

The main character in fact is a difficulty in himself, he's a tedious, whiny ass who ultimately remains that way. One never really gets to a point where why he is troubled convinces (it is proposed that "troubled" people are the ones with magic so it should be important). It's hard to get beyond seeing him merely as a spoiled, ungrateful, disassociated "lucky" freak who can do magic. Plus, he's not even all that good at magic. It's set up that he is brilliant, then he's shown to be not so great, but then he's one of two to succeed one major test and you get the sense that he has triumphed. But then he is shown as being weak again. In moments of crisis he does nothing. I found myself far more interested in the secondary characters at times. Though they themselves also manage to veer from brilliance to ignorance, depending on what the author wishes to do next.

The book also has a tendency to go into detail for a while and then, as though the author himself got bored, flit on past six months or so and go do something else. Or throw in something that then sits undeveloped. It reads like a first draft, a quick run through that never got any rigorous review before being submitted and it suffers because of that.

It's funny, the more I write about this, the less I like it. I had it as three stars initially but now I feel it should be two. The frustrating thing is that, in essence, this is a good idea, with lots of other individual good ideas throughout, that should have made a truly excellent book. But the final output is lazy, badly paced, inconsistent and lacking in internal plausibility. It's the kind of book I really wished I liked more.

This was bought as a gift for me, purely on the basis of the cover blurb on the back - which, it turns out, gives scant clue as to the reality of the book's contents.

A plot synopsis isn't worth attempting - let's just say that it's a fantasy and at times you'll feel as though you are reading Harry Potter (to the extent that I wondered if JK Rowling would be calling her lawyers), or the Narnia books. It also reminded me at times of Donna Tartt's "The Secret History" in its description of the raltionship between the student protagonists, and even John Fowles' "The Magus" both in its treatment of relationships and betrayal, and also in the way you wonder who, if anyone, is behind the scenes pulling the strings.

I think this is a book you just have to "go with" - it's an easy read, gripping and I personally found it highly enjoyable. Recommended.

One point worth noting - whilst it is very Harry Potter like in a number of respects, it's not a children's fantasy book - sex and expletives are included!