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A review by peterkeep
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
4.0
This book is a lot of things, but one thing that it isn't is subtle.
The comparisons to Harry Potter and Narnia are pretty obvious, and it's clear that Grossman is playing with those ideas and twisting them all about. While reading, there were parts where the comparison of Fillory or Brakebills to Narnia or Hogwarts were almost too heavy-handed and I wondered, "Can this guy write anything original?"
And then he does this great thing, where he twists everything up. Hogwarts (Brakebills) is a magical school, but it's not removed from the same problems as any college. The characters are magicians, but that doesn't make them perfect people. The stories about Narnia (Fillory) end up being a lot more interesting than just small children's stories.
I really liked everything Grossman did. He took a kind of status quo and turned it upside down, injecting some realism into an unrealistic (magical) setting.
It's a really well-done book, and captured my attention pretty easily.
The comparisons to Harry Potter and Narnia are pretty obvious, and it's clear that Grossman is playing with those ideas and twisting them all about. While reading, there were parts where the comparison of Fillory or Brakebills to Narnia or Hogwarts were almost too heavy-handed and I wondered, "Can this guy write anything original?"
And then he does this great thing, where he twists everything up. Hogwarts (Brakebills) is a magical school, but it's not removed from the same problems as any college. The characters are magicians, but that doesn't make them perfect people. The stories about Narnia (Fillory) end up being a lot more interesting than just small children's stories.
I really liked everything Grossman did. He took a kind of status quo and turned it upside down, injecting some realism into an unrealistic (magical) setting.
It's a really well-done book, and captured my attention pretty easily.