Title: The Magicians

Author: Lev Grossman

Publisher: Viking 2009

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 416

Rating:   5 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Mixing It Up - Fantasy; RYN - G; Mount TBR; Random Reads - January

How I Got It: I own it!

Quentin Coldwater is brilliant but miserable. A senior in high school, he's still secretly preoccupied with a series of fantasy novels he read as a child, set in a magical land called Fillory. Imagine his surprise when he finds himself unexpectedly admitted to a very secret, very exclusive college of magic in upstate New York, where he receives a thorough and rigorous education in the craft of modern sorcery.He also discovers all the other things people learn in college: friendship, love, sex, booze, and boredom. Something is missing, though. Magic doesn't bring Quentin the happiness and adventure he dreamed it would. After graduation he and his friends make a stunning discovery: Fillory is real. But the land of Quentin's fantasies turns out to be much darker and more dangerous than he could have imagined. His childhood dream becomes a nightmare with a shocking truth at its heart.

Holy crap! I am just blown away by this novel.  Such twists and turns.  Such surprises.  I am just baffled by this whole book.  The characters are so complex and surprising.  Each one was fleshed out, real, complete with faults and insecurities.  I just loved these characters.   They weren't the most likable people, but for some reason you root for them.  You want them to become better people, to find some bit of happiness, to become valuable members of the human race.  My only issue with the novel: pacing.  The first half of the book seemed much too slow compared to the second half.  Plus, the first half has these gaps in time, weeks, months, years, that just seem awkward.  J says that the second book fixes these issues and that Grossman's writing style evolves...  I will definitely be reading the sequel soon.  I feel like I need a bit of a palate cleanser, time to digest the book first.  But I will definitely be getting to it soon.

The Magicians:

1. The Magicians
2. The Magician King