Reviews

Los magos by Lev Grossman

trin's review against another edition

3.0

Is it better for an author to be aware or unaware that his protagonist is a dick? If he doesn’t know, then his whole conception of his work is out of whack, and that’s bad. But if he does know, then he’s inflicting this jerk on the reader on purpose. That can work, I suppose, if the main character is really supposed to be unsympathetic, but asking one’s readers to put up with a douchebag protagonist for 400-plus pages is no small thing.

The main character of The Magicians nearly killed the book for me, and while I am pretty sure that Grossman meant to make Quentin at least a bit of a jerk, I’m pretty sure he didn’t intend his dickishness to have quite such far-reaching power or consequences. I sympathized—actually, make that empathized, and strongly—with Quentin’s initial plight: he’s a smart guy who feels dissatisfied with his life, in large part because he never got to go to the magical, (supposedly) fictional land of Narnia Fillory. Dude, I feel you. Where Quentin (and to some extent Grossman) loses me, however, is in continuing to be a sour, arrogant prick even after he gets accepted to an elite magical college he never knew existed. Some of this is, I am sure, intentional—part of the point of the book is that nothing satisfies Quentin—but that knowing that didn’t make me want to smack him any less. Or make me less want to shout, “You ungrateful ass! Why must I be stuck spending the entirety of this narrative with you?”

Because Quentin aside, it is a narrative with some serious perks. Grossman’s system of magic is fully-realized and really impressively seriously dangerous. There are some fabulous sequences, both at the magical university and outside of it. But there is, on balance, also a lot of tell instead of show—long, summarizing passages. And I really wish the last third of the book had instead been the last half.

It’s a flawed novel, no question, and sometimes it drove me absolutely, throw-it-against-the-wall nuts. But it was also at times emotionally affecting, contained some thoughtful meta, and made me consider how I want to approach fantasy conventions in my own work. Step one: skip having a total douche as my protagonist. And how ’bout this: make the main character a woman for once.

elsie2110's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

aryazara's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

5.0

saradimas's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.25

outoftheblue14's review against another edition

"Se sentite la mancanza di Harry Potter, questo è il libro che fa per voi" - The Washington Post.

Così dice la copertina. Eccetto che... non è vero neanche per scherzo. Questo libro tenta di essere Harry Potter, Le Cronache di Narnia e giovani-ventenni-sesso-droga-e-rock'n'roll tutto insieme... e finisce per non essere né carne né pesce. Le avventure di Harry Potter a Hogwarts sono piene di descrizioni e meraviglia, mentre gli anni di Quentin a Brakebills passano in fretta... in tre pagine un anno di studi e già finito e via con il prossimo. Quentin vede realizzato il suo più grande desiderio; scoprire che la magia è reale. Eppure non è felice. Nessuno dei personaggi sembra felice, nonostante siano maghi e non debbano lavorare per sopravvivere. Tutto questo diventa troppo pesante per me.

Ho smesso di leggere il libro quando si scopre che i gettoni che consentono di accedere a Fillory esistono veramente. Non riesco più a sospendere l'incredulità... e muoio di noia.

Peccato. Lettura interrotta a pagina 320.

jamierobb's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

jvmilks's review against another edition

3.0

The beginning of The Magicians seemed to parallel Quentin's aimless existential depression. It felt lost. If that was the intent of the author - to make you feel the way Quentin lived life - then this may deserve more than three stars. However, the net result for me was that the characters were hard to root for or feel genuine compassion for, so it felt a bit of a chore to keep listening. By the end of the book, the storyline and action became more interesting. If anything, I'm tempted to read more about the author and impetus for the book as it seems to nod to the worlds of Narnia and Harry Potter. Though, I am less inclined to read more books in the series.

silee's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I'm really torn in two about this book. The themes were interesting, but at the same time they weren't ever fully explored. The passage to adulthood, the rites, the friendships... all the ingredients were there but it all fell a little flat for me. 

hirvimaki's review against another edition

1.0

So, spoileresque review. If you don't want to read it I can sum it up: I did not like this book.

Spoiler

Meh. Take the wonder out of Hogwarts (or really any school of magic you've ever read about) and replace it with alcoholism and ennui and petty cruelty and you get Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy, where magic is tedious, boring, and always unfulfilling. Even the bits where you "accidentally" get your classmates murdered. And also Welters. You get Welters. Which sounds like a game I would never want to watch let alone play. Apparently wizard games have to be dumb.

All this alcohol consumption and boredom and mean-spiritedness and Welters is described in painful detail, in a meandering, wandering, pointless sort of way. It wanders. Oh yes it wanders. And at some point you realise you are reading about those people at your school or your work that you don't like because they are all just a-holes. They aren't sophisticated or clever or interesting, but they pretend to be because they are all too aware that they are a-holes.

But don't give up! In the last sliver of the book you get to the magical land of Fillory. Which is Narnia. But not the beautiful, enchanted land of The Lion, the Which, and the Wardrobe. No, Fillory is the "adult" version. Which means its not a very nice place. Everything tries to kill you. Or have sex with you. And the centaurs keep a paddock of regular horses for rape-y sex. Weeeee!

So the a-holes you don't like go to a magical land you'd never want to visit.

But then that's the point of the long exposition on how amoral and broken the protagonists of this piece are: if you liked or cared about them you would feel sorry for them. But the entirety of the novel up until they get to Fillory establishes the many, many reasons you don't like them and you pretty much wish the bunnies would just murder them and get it over with.

Blah blah. They win. But at great cost. And you don't care. Because they are unlikable.

And Quentin. the intrepid hero, decides that magic is dumb and the source of all his problems. So he gives it up.

But wait! In a moment pulled right out of the end of Back to the Future, Quentin's a-hole friends show up - plus the girl who didn't make it into magic school because she wasn't magical enough but now suddenly is magical - to pull Quentin back into the world of magic so that there can be another book.

Which I will not be reading.

The TV show has to better, right? Only now I've taken it off my Netflix queue because I am certain they devote a lot of screen time to Welters.

Meh.

graycatbird's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0