The Magicians by Lev Grossman Reviewed

It was about two weeks ago when I mentioned finishing The Magicians by Lev Grossman. With the timing of my reviews and how much this book moved me and completely worked, I took a some time to craft my review which I posted yesterday. I keep saying this about some of the recent reads, but this one really blew me away and is probably, if not a top 5 read, then easily a top 10 read for 2009 for me.

Grossman’s writing is subtle and relaxed on the whole, but like the sex scene between the two male students I mentioned earlier, he will throw a sucker punch in the midst of otherwise well-flowing narrative. In two cases, this comes in the form of Penny, one scene of which is literally a sucker punch from Penny to Quentin. Another scene (not with Penny) involves a standard lecture, with Quentin being bored (as most students tend to get during college lectures) when suddenly the Beast appears shocking everyone including the instructor and killing a student. These “sucker-punch” scenes occur even more explicitly once the Physical Kids finally arrive in Fillory. Grossman shows how magic might work in the real world in an effective manner, with possibly terrifying implications. Perhaps the strongest parallel I can draw here is how well Alan Moore / Dave Gibbons showed the effects of superheroes in the real world in their landmark graphic novel Watchmen. In this sense, Grossman illustrates just how unsafe magic could be, especially in the unpracticed hands of young college students, and even older students and thos who graduated – perhaps the axiom a little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing applies. Gone is the safe illusion of magic as Quentin and his friends soon realize. Just like Watchmen, The Magicians is a work I can see myself returning to multiple times in the future.
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The Magicians is an ingeniously detailed novel and Grossman should be highly applauded for the subtle details he laid out throughout the novel. The book received high praise even before it was published, with blurbs from George R.R. Martin, Kelly Link, and Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Diaz among others. Many may find the novel as an attempt at emulating Rowling, C.S. Lewis and Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, which is unfortunate because Grossman is his own Beast of a writer. The manner in which he acknowledges the writers who inspired him and laid a foundation for magical stories is smart without being mere imitation. His storytelling skills, ability to create narrative drive, and the organic manner in which he fits it all together is a unique and remarkable work of art.

Age of Misrule and The Magicians

Always Forever brings Mark Chadbourn’s Age of Misrule trilogy to a close, and this three week review-a-thon as well. Most novels that close out series are stuck with holding the full judgment of the series on its proverbial shoulders and in this case, it did a good job on its own and in closing the series. With the review posted last night, you all know the blurb follows:

How does the series as a whole rank in today’s current crop of fantasy literature? Very well, I think. Chadbourn’s writing is both evocative and clear, the imagery he conjures is resonant, while still being original. At times, the plot throughout the trilogy does have the video-game feel of it in that the characters must find an object to keep going. Early on, and Chadbourn seems to have grown out of this habit by trilogy’s end, chapters or mini-chapters broke with characters blacking out. In that sense, it was very nice to see Chadbourn’s writing and storytelling skills grow and mature as the story progressed.

Flavors of Horror, Dark Fantasy, Mythic Literature, and Epic Fantasy blend very well and that might be the strength of the trilogy. Chadbourn doesn’t sacrifice one for the other and balances the subtleties of each subgenre very well throughout the three books.

Last night I finished up a great fantasy novel that is being marketing to mainstream audiences: The Magicians by Lev Grossman. The book was terrific and has some impressive blurbs by George R.R. Martin and Kelly Link. Additionally, Viking is really doing a viral marketing program with a handful of Web sites:

• Official Web site for the book: http://themagiciansbook.com/
• Christopher Plover, author of the Books of Fillory, a series of fantasy novels within the book: http://www.christopherplover.com/
• “Fan” site for the world of Fillory: http://www.emberstomb.com/
• Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy, where the protagonists learns of and is educated in the world of magic: http://www.brakebills.com/index.html

All that superfluous material and detail aside, the book was an engrossing read which became increasingly addictive as the plot moved along. I’ll have a full review at SFFWorld in the next couple of weeks, but this will probably be a top 10 read for me for this year.