The Magicians cover art

The Magicians

The Magicians, Book 1

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The Magicians

By: Lev Grossman
Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
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About this listen

In a secret world of forbidden knowledge, power comes at a terrible price....

Quentin Coldwater's life is changed forever by an apparently chance encounter: when he turns up for his entrance interview to Princeton, he finds his interviewer dead - but a strange envelope bearing Quentin's name leads him down a path very different from any he'd ever imagined.

The envelope, and the mysterious manuscript it contains, leads to a secret world of obsession and privilege, a world of freedom and power; and, for a while, it's a world that seems to answer all Quentin's desires. But the idyll cannot last - and when it's finally shattered, Quentin is drawn into something darker and far more dangerous than anything he could ever have expected....

©2016 Lev Grossman (P)2016 Penguin Audio Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Paranormal
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its a slow start to the book but then it just keeps building to the point that you cant stop

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Brutality honest. Brilliant but hard to read. Get to the end it's worth it. Worth it.

Brutality honest Brilliant but hard to read.

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I enjoyed the book overall, however some of the characters were a little 1 dimensional. The links to modern culture were fun, and the dialogue between the characters was mostly good. If you’ve seen the tv show, and loved it, you probably won’t like this book.

Not as good as I expected

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I read this book because I watched the tv adaptation and really liked it. I thought, of course the book must be better. I was wrong. The problem is that the characters are not developed enough. They don't really grow, and there's no nuance. I think the author was going for gritty, but their drunkenness and apathy just put me off. They are one-dimensional. The thing that really got me was that the author can't seem to decide whether the readers should hate Janet or not. She's nice, then she's the worst of the worst, then she's good again. I also didn't connect with the protagonist. He came across as whiny and defeatist.
I will not be reading the sequels.

Save your time and watch the tv series instead

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great. exciting. slow start but worth hanging in for the climactic finish. creative. a rich fantasy.

rich exploration of fantasy scapes and personality

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An ok story line, a bit lacklustre due to the narrator who is one toned and is hard to follow along with depth of characters.

Good storyline but unexciting narrator

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Yer I loved it and if you like magic of any type you will to

Listen to this now mortals

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Really enjoyed this modern take on the traditional escapist fantasy theme. Very gritty and the characters are challenging but well worth the effort. Completely original and pleasingly unique approach to an otherwise archaic trope.

Modern twisted and fascinating

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If you loved to dream about escaping to magical lands or just discovering magic as a child then this is the grown up book for you. This book was the perfect level up from The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, which (let's be real) Grossman borrowed heavily from. What he did not borrow however was the magic that he created. I found the years that Quentin and the gang spent at Breakbills to be captivating and so inventive.
Warning for those with little patience, Quentin is a morose and difficult protag to live with and that does not get better as the book (and books) go on.
The narration is pleasant and easy to listen to, Bramhall bringing his own lilts and nuances to each characters portrayal.
This is by far my favourite book in the series. And if you finish this and find the last quarter a little so so, i would recommend leaving the series at just this book.

Something for those Childhood dreamers

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It is a nicely written decadent account of the fall of the American empire (in a sense). Combining some of the lovelier aspects of Usula Le Guins Earthsea Trilogy (at the end of the story), and weaving Narnia, Hogwarts and a smattering of other stories (Thomas Covenants self I fluent whining comes to mind) to create an adult version of life and failure in the magical realms.

I enjoyed the tale and will read the sequels. It’s not earth shatteringly good but it is unusually satisfying to read when you’ve lived a little yourself; loved and suffered loss. In that sense it was quite therapeutic.

Well worth the effort, a decent solid and quirky tale...

Narnia breeds with Harry Potter and comes of age...

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