The Magician King
Ratings160
Average rating3.9
15
Ratings160
Average rating3.9
Return to Fillory in the riveting sequel to the *New York Times* bestseller and literary phenomenon of 2009 *The Magicians*.
Quentin Coldwater should be blissfully happy. He escaped a miserable Brooklyn childhood for Brakebills, a secret and exclusive college for magic in upstate New York. When he graduated he discovered that Fillory, the magical utopia described in a series of children's fantasy novels he never quite outgrew, was real.
Fillory was a far more dangerous place than Quentin could have imagine, and he faced unspeakable tragedies there. But now Quentin and his friends have become the kings and queens of Fillory and, under their reign, Fillory is a peaceful kingdom. But Quentin is restless. He hasn't escaped the scars of his past, and the peace and luxury of his life in Fillory will prove more fragile than anyone expects.
After a royal morning hunt takes a sinister turn, Quentin's doubts get the better of him. With Julia, a queen of Fillory and Quentin's high school friend, in tow, he charters a magical sailing ship and heads off to the farthest reaches of Fillory. He is in search of adventure--the thrill and sense of purpose only a heroic quest can bestow. Instead his journey takes them to the last place Quentin wants to be: his parents' house in Chesterton, Massachusetts.
Quentin is a magician and a king, but even he can't rescue them from suburban America. only the dark, twisted sorcery Julia learned in the seedy back alleys of the Brooklyn underground magic scene can put them on the road back to Fillory. But when Julia takes center stage, so too does her story, and with it the secret of the terrible price she paid for her power. As Quentin and Julia follow a trail of clues from Brakebills to Venice to the home of the real-life children who appeared in the Fillory novels, they gradually discover a more sinister, more powerful threat than any they've faced. And they must fight death and despair in a world that is very far from the bright, simple fantasy novels they read as children.
In *The Magicians*, Lev Grossman shattered the limits of conventional fantasy writing by imagining magic as practiced in the real world by fallible and capricious people, without the clear absolutes of good and evil most fantasy heroes steer by. *The Magician King* sets these young magicians on an epic quest deep into the dark, glittering heart of magic to reveal the unexpected paradox behind being a hero. It also introduces a powerful new voice, that of Julia, whose angry genius is thrilling and terrifying. The juxtaposition of her rage and Quentin's yearning creates a novel of resonant psychological complexity and reckoning. Brilliant, inventive, and gut-wrenchingly authentic, *The Magician King* once again proves that Grossman is the modern heir to C. S. Lewis and the cutting edge of literary fantasy.
This description comes from the publisher.
Featured Series
3 primary booksThe Magicians is a 3-book series with 3 primary works first released in 2009 with contributions by Lev Grossman.
Reviews with the most likes.
Son of a...
Let's start with The Magicians. At the time, I thought it was “okay” - being a fan of series like Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, etc., I had a difficult time merging new-age teenage sullenness - no matter how true-to-life - with my idea of those playful, magical fantasy worlds established elsewhere. That said, I thought The Magicians explored some very interesting themes: disillusionment with one's current status/life/the state of the universe, the adolescent feeling of invincibility that comes with college life, the somewhat stagnant realization that life-after-college isn't all its cracked up to be (even when infused with magic), etc.
I picked up The Magician King because there was enough in the first book to interest me. I wasn't expecting a lot, but I thought I'd give it a shot.
Boy, did this book catch me off guard. It was good. It was very good (much, much better than I'd expected).
Quentin, the main character, has landed on top of the magical world: he's the king of Fillory, the fantasy land that he's idolized his entire life. However, even after gaining everything he ever wanted, he's bored. He needs some sort of quest because, after all, that's what every fantasy hero needs (and no one knows that cliche - and that it is a cliche - better than Quentin). So, along with his fellow King (Eliot) and Queens (Janet and Julia), our hero sets off to find his adventure.
What follows is a multi-layered tapestry of discovery, adventure, pain, suffering loss, disbelief, love, and destiny. The story bobs and weaves between time and space, switching between the present story of Quentin's adventures, the past story of Julia's transformation from Stanford-bound know-it-all to power-hungry hedge witch, and the strange, heart-wrenching thread that ties these two plotlines together.
I loved this book. However, let's go back to that first sentence. I won't spoil it, but the story's ending is a sure-as-shootin' cliffhanger. It's okay - even exciting - that Lev Grossman plans to write a third novel in this series; however, this book ends too quickly and quirkily, as if Grossman needed to stop before he wove his third time into this one.
Oh well. Minor quibble. The Magician King (and, truly, this whole series) is flawed, yes, but so is the reality it describe: our reality. These books speak to the deep part of us that, like Quentin, wishes magic could solve the world's problems. Give this one (and its a predecessor, if you haven't already) a shot.
3.5 on a good day , still some odd scenes but apart from that it was a bit better
4.5 *.......excellent book. Julia's story was especially compelling and it was good to see Quentin mature.
