The Magician's Land by Lev Grossman

I'm really glad that I didn't wait to read the final installment of the Magician's trilogy. It's interesting to read other's reviews of the books, especially on goodreads. I personally loved the snark of Quentin and co, simply because I'm full of snark and salt, and  I'm just getting saltier with age.

It starts off with Quentin 30 years old. That was a reality check for me, since I turned the big 2-9 this year, and staring down the face of 30. Whereas in the second book he's still dissatisfied with life (and despite all that he went through with the first book, has not learned a thing), he's finally humbled, and is at peace with how the events of the second book turned out. He goes back to Brakebill's and becomes a teacher, a choice where normally, I wouldn't agree with (education always seems to be the backup career) but he settles into it, and enjoys it. He is also finally given a discipline, "repair of small objects."

Meh. I'm not sure about all of that but I'm sure it'll come in handy later on.

A few other things happens that signals the change of life for Quentin: his father passed away, and Quentin, though matured, has a hope that his father was also a magician, and goes looking for this "final quest" in his office, searching for meaning. When he figures out that his father wasn't a magician, and his death was just a part of life, Quentin is distraught, but moves on and goes back to Brakebill's.

Until Alice. He rescues a student when she encounters Alice the Niffin when a prank goes wrong. Plum is expelled from Brakebills and Quentin is fired for not following teacher protocols. From there, they start their weird partnership, seeking out a job stealing a suitcase.

What is also different about this book is the perspective of Elliot and Janet. Elliot was a prominent figure in the second book, but Janet took to the sidelines when Julia became a main character. I was really intrigued by Janet's story, even though interestingly enough, Grossman didn't go back to the beginning and describe how she even got to Brakebill's, which I guess is a moot point now. Janet is unapologetic and capable, which makes her a fun read.

Elliot has definitely matured. Even though this is the first time we're able to read his perspective, he's mostly a main character, so I feel like I know him. He's thinking of Fillory, and the destruction of the world, and everyone in it. When leadership is thrust upon him, Elliot doesn't buckle and instead uses his kingship to try and solve the problem. I love their friendship, I love how they work together, and Janet is a BAMF.

There are a lot of strong opinions about this series, but I loved it. I loved the stupid, silly meta references and again, the snark has matured, but there is still lots of snark in there. I really liked the ending, and how Quentin found what he was looking for, despite losing everything in the second book.

Enjoyable read.

Which is Better? The Magicians

At first, I thought the show was terrible. I was confused by the complexity and rushed first episode. Josh had read the book before I did and inform me that the first half episode covered about 200 pages of the book.

We're not given much of a set up as Quentin and Julia are hurried into Brakebill's to take their exams, with Quentin passing and Elliot to show him around while Julia, being told that she's not good enough, is exported back to NYC. She leaves a mark on her arm so she remembers through the strong memory spell they put on her. 

Throughout the episode, it seemed like characters would say things without any background or context, expecting the audience to go along with the fact that though we hadn't seen Alice and Quentin interact before, we are expected to believe that Alice is ace at magic and Quentin sucks at it. Everyone, including Quentin is incredibly good looking, but we're expected to believe that Alice is a gross nerd and Quentin is a weird geek. Oh, and there is a lot of sex, 'cause pilot.

By the end of the first episode, the Beast arrives, but I was so darn confused for the entire episode that I had no idea who the Beast was, or why he was so dangerous, or why he arrived for the first episode. If he's a big bad, like the characters stated, briefly, that he was.. shouldn't he have been wielded out for a episode later on in the season? It seemed a bit unnecessary with Dean Fog getting his hands and his eyes removed by the Beast right off the bat.

The writers aged up the characters, made Brakebills University a magical graduate school and Josh disclosed that Julia's story was from the second book, instead of the first.


I figured that was my cue... So, I read the first book, wrote a review, and discovered that they added a few characters, took away a few characters and even changed a few characters' names.

As I continued watching the show, I just blatantly ignored "graduate school" since the book so expertly placed them in college. Hollywood has a habit of casting much older people in younger parts anyway. 

The pilot was confusing and terrible, but we hoped that the pilot followed the rule of most pilots: the first one of a series is never any good. Josh and I turned in week after week, dismantling the show and making fun of it's disconnected episodes. However, our snarky comments and  ripping apart every episode diminished as we watched, and after the episode where they turn into geese, Josh turned to me and went...


"Do we like this show now?"

And the answer is.. Yes, yes we do. Somehow, the show stumbled through way more voiceless episodes than allotted for a new show, especially during "peak TV," and managed to become a funny show about the price of magic sans Harry Potter.

As Josh and I recapped, we maintained that if we hadn't read the books, we still wouldn't have known what was going on in the series. However, it did get renewed for a second season, so I guess people that didn't read the books liked it.

I since read the second book, and soon I will read the third book. I can't wait to see where they go with this, providing they keep the steam they built over the last several episodes.

My only hesitation is Alice. Quentin finally came to the conclusion that Alice was the one, and not him, which lead to their demise in the season finale. I hope they use Alice the way she was used in the book, because she turned out to be an undeniable bad ass that saves the day. So, don't undo all the goodwill you've mustered, show! Keep a good thing going! 

The Magician King by Lev Grossman

Thankfully my job now allows me to listen to music and audiobooks (I don't have to talk to anyone!) soo..... that's how I was able to listen to The Magician King in two days. I really enjoyed the first book, The Magicians so when Audible had their 50% off sale, I dove right in and snatched up the second book of the series.

As I really get into audiobooks, I realize just how much the voice actor really does matter. Man, the voice actor really does affect the audio of the book! It's a shame because if the voice actor is bad, well, then it doesn't matter how well written your book is.

However, The Magician King has nothing to worry about, because the voice actor is awesome. It's the same one from the first book, and reads Quentin's and Julia's, this time around, with just as much snark as the first book. I really like it when the voice actor doesn't go too off base when they read other characters because it's how I would read it inside my head. I really can't stand it when the voice actor tries to do different accents and different pitches, because... I totally know that you are just one person. Ugh!

Anyway, the reviews of the book on goodreads are up and down. Some people love this book and others... not so much.

I personally thought it was excellent. I loved the Quentin snark, and though some were frustrated with Quentin not learning ANYTHING from the first book, I felt like it was organic. Quentin is now the King of Fillory, and as par for the course, he hates his life. It seems that he hadn't learned anything from his misadventures of the first book, which should annoy the crap out of me, but it doesn't. He reflects upon the death of Alice, and is almost resigned to living a boring, comfortable life of Fillory, which of course, gets him in trouble.

To me, he represents a couple of people in my life, where even though they obtained everything they wanted (even at the expense of others, i.e Alice), they are still unhappy. He was eye roll-y until he used the key to be dumped back into Chestertown. HAH!

From there, Grossman really explored Quentin and Julia, including their adventure to get back to Fillory. I already knew from the show, that in this book, Grossman tells Julia's story, which is harrowing and heartbreaking at the same time. I think what struck me the most was the hand that was given to two students who worked the same, were in the same classes growing up and simultaneously given different "rewards" for their hard work. We learned that magic is arbitrary. Julia became, through sheer will, a great magician, though at a terrible price.

There wasn't any reason, other than maybe initial talent, that Julia didn't get into Brakebill's. Quentin at first is convinced of his own superiority, but when he goes to Fog for help, he realizes just how snobbish and elitist his own education had been. Finally, when he sees the world through Julia's eyes, he repents and for the first time, actually starts to grows up and reflect his journey so far.

Grossman has such a way with words that is admirable, and I only hope to write fantasy as well as he does. Grossman still has a literary style, it's more action packed, especially his time with Julia. I wished his story with Julia was a bit tighter, and maybe even a stand alone book before The Magician King? Or a novella? The reason I say that is that Fillory, the outside islands, the seven keys adventures and the underworld seems to be just a sketch, not an actualized world, like Brakebill's was. I can argue that it was never meant to be a world that we knew much of because Quentin, though obsessed with getting there, and then getting back there, just used Fillory as a goal, not as a place to live. However, I would have liked to understood more of Fillory, and then the underworld when they obtained the 7th key.

I will say, I was shocked by the ending. I did feel sorry for Quentin, but I'm excited to read where the 3rd book takes him. He is in the Neitherlands completely alone and this... this is when Quentin is really going to come into his own. I just hope the snark doesn't go completely away, but maybe use it to make fun of others, like I do! I can't wait to read the final book in the trilogy.

Audiobook Wednesdays: The Magicians by Lev Grossman

This took me forever to get through. It's not because it wasn't a great book or not an entertaining listen, they were, but the snow storm kept me home (which was good) but also prevented me from listening to it until my drive resumed.

This book is leaps and bounds better to listen to then The Maze Runner. There, I said it. The language is much more colorful and the voice actor just embodies the character of Quentin much more than Thomas... but I also think that Thomas, other than the fact that he was a very smart kid that was used for a science experiment to help save the world, was a very bland character. I'm sure that the reader for the audiobook did the best he could with what he had.

I also think The Magicians is just a better book than The Maze Runner. The Magicians was definitely written for the Harry Potter crowd, a bunch of college students who waited for their Hogwarts letter and gave up hope... until Brakebills.

There are a few things that I don't like about this universe. I find it odd that Brakebills, a university, has uniforms and curfews. Like the Harry Potter series, what magic is used for has not been revealed yet, and almost makes it a joke that the magicians that studied at the school go on to become teachers, because what else were they going to do?

I watched the first episode of the new show that's on SyFy which I'll get into in another post, but I will say that I am very glad that I decided to listen to the audiobook instead of waiting to be done with the series.

First off, Quentin is a "butthurt," someone that feels like the world owes something to them. It's a refreshing point of view. He sort of mirrors that early 20 something viewpoint of "when is my life going to start?" and "there has to be something more than this." He goes on a journey and "grows up" during the course of the book. I put that in quotation marks because even though he obtains new friends, a girlfriend and learns magic, he still remains the same person at the beginning of the book. He's the protagonist, or maybe anti-protagonist(?) but he's not likeable, at all. However, Grossman does a good job of making other characters very likeable, and even though it's through Quentin's point of view, the reader sees the other characters, especially Alice and enjoys them throughout the book.

Grossman really takes his time developing multiple characters. Again, it's through the point of view of Quentin, but you become familiar and care about Elliot, Alice, Janet, Penny and even Josh and Richard. So when Grossman takes off running towards the climax of the book, you listen so intently and I found myself sitting in the car when I came home so I could listen to a few more minutes. What I appreciate the most is that Grossman does not do any favors for Quentin and shows, through the actions of his friends, that Quentin is a despicable character but also allows him, towards the end of the book, to reflect on his actions thus far, and make changes to them.

The pacing of the book is also something I have not read in awhile. Usually, these fantasy books have the vibe of "The Chosen One" and defeating the great evil that plagues the land. However, for Book 1 and Book 2, there is a lot of foreshadowing and world creation, but concentrates on Quentin's journey through becoming a Magician. It allows the reader to really explore the magical world, and their terrifying consequences of people who "have everything." When the group decides to take their magical journey, other characters decide to step up and in essence, is the chosen one.

I really enjoyed the book, and I can't wait to either read, or listen to the second book. My two credits on audible is up, but I do have another credit to spend now that I'm an audible member. Any suggestions? Comment below!