A review by rosea
The Magicians: Alice's Story by Pius Bak, Lev Grossman, Lilah Sturges

3.0

Not entirely sure what to make of this novel. It is certainly inventive and clever. A cynical, pragmatic, adult take on children's magical fantasy. It's wonderfully meta and the way it engages with the fantastical concepts of Harry Potter and Narnia is both depressing and oddly magical in itself. And yet its cynicism is draining. Quentin is so relentlessly dislikable for all that he is relatable. And at the end, I'm not quite sure what the book is trying to say. Perhaps that it's all futile. It seems to present the reader with the worst of human nature - and confirm that perspective. Interesting, intriguing, very imaginative and yet ultimately bleak. Great story though! My point of actual criticism was that I felt the characters lacked separate voices. Perhaps that was just seen through Quentin's self-absorbed perspective but I found it hard to distinguish or care about the other characters in the story. They all sounded like Quentin. Perhaps that was the point.

Overall I'm glad i read it. I'm not sure I'm going to pursue a sequel if there is one, however.