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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.
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.
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
njdarkish's review against another edition
1.0
There are problems with this book. The writing style bored me even when exciting things were going on. The passage of time was way too fast for much of it, not allowing for an understanding of the characters or worldbuilding. So much of the plot seemed very convenient-- of course the protagonist is obsessed with the fantasy novels that just happen to be real. Also, I get very tired very quickly when every female character is conveniently sexy for the protagonist to lust over. I am pretty sure that every well-endowed-in-bosom fellow student and professor and up get more page space describing that asset than the magic system does.
Needless to say I'm not going to bother picking up the sequels.
Needless to say I'm not going to bother picking up the sequels.
argenterie4's review against another edition
5.0
It's as if you dropped into Harry Potter's world as a cynical adult rather than an optimistic 11-year-old child. Magic is hiding all around us, but we don't get our letter to Hogwarts until we're jaded and miserable and nearly a grownup. How would that change our understanding of the hidden world? A really interesting and (for me, anyway) somehow deeply troubling book, which I enjoyed reading.
shkaff's review against another edition
3.0
Я очень хотел, чтобы мне понравилась эта книга. Казалось бы, сеттинг: подростки в школе для магов а-ля Гарри Поттер замешанный с Нарнией, только с блекджеком и шлюхами. Т.е. сексом, непрерывной выпивкой, кровавыми смертями, реалистичными героями и в целом мрачной атмосферой. И все было бы ничего, потому что написано оно весьма неплохо (хотя и не блестяще, нейтрально), история в меру увлекательная, герои — типичные подростки 18-19 лет со всеми их драмами и глупостью. Но.
Во-первых, мы все читали Vita Nostra (а если еще нет, то бросайте эту рецензию и бегите читать), где та же тема сделана просто на порядки гениальнее. Во-вторых, так сложилось, что я параллельно слушал The Fairy Tale Кинга, где общая канва сюжета оказалась похожей. И качество повествования и языка просто несравнимо. Я читал Кинга и на его фоне Гроссман был просто фанфиком где-то в интернетах.
Что мне понравилось: довольно неприятный главный герой и его эволюция. Разные тайны. Работа магии в целом. В целом реалистичность действий персонажей в разных ситуациях. Было довольно увлекательно.
Там есть два продолжения. Возможно, я даже прочитаю когда-нибудь, потому что несколько интересных моментов остались не раскрытыми, и говорят, что они получше.
Во-первых, мы все читали Vita Nostra (а если еще нет, то бросайте эту рецензию и бегите читать), где та же тема сделана просто на порядки гениальнее. Во-вторых, так сложилось, что я параллельно слушал The Fairy Tale Кинга, где общая канва сюжета оказалась похожей. И качество повествования и языка просто несравнимо. Я читал Кинга и на его фоне Гроссман был просто фанфиком где-то в интернетах.
Что мне понравилось: довольно неприятный главный герой и его эволюция. Разные тайны. Работа магии в целом. В целом реалистичность действий персонажей в разных ситуациях. Было довольно увлекательно.
Там есть два продолжения. Возможно, я даже прочитаю когда-нибудь, потому что несколько интересных моментов остались не раскрытыми, и говорят, что они получше.
cmby's review against another edition
3.0
I can't decide if this book is brilliant or listless. The characters are unlikable, which is fine, but at times the narrative felt too self-loathing/genre-loathing. Maybe I need to read the full series?