The Magician's Land

     The Magician's Land, by Lev Grossman, is the third and final part of the Magician's trilogy. By the time that I started to read this trilogy, the first two were already out. I quite enjoyed the wait, and having a book to look forward to. Magician's land continues the story of Quentin Coldwater, Brakebills school, underground magic, and the land of Fillory. I found that it brought a satisfying conclusion, although throughout the book I thought that the readers would be left hanging.
     In the previous book, Quentin was banished from the land of Fillory which had been his home for many years. After a short-lived stent teaching a Brakebills, his old school of magic, Quentin, joins up with some underground magician thieves. Through a series of events unknowingly started in world war two, and recorded in Quentin's favourite childhood books (Narnia reference), Quentin is challenged with the task of saving a failing Fillory.
     While I enjoyed the first book in this series the most, this is definitely second. I found that there were a lot of new characters, but in the end, the old favourites were still the key characters. I was concerned for the first part of this book, not for the characters, but for the plot. Somehow it all worked, but the ragtag group of magical thieves seemed like a very different book than I was expecting. Lev Grossman managed to make it all make sense, and looking back on the book, it all works.

The Magicians

Every summer I go to my Church Campmeeting. This year I went to the bookstore in search of books which are OK to be seen reading amongst a large group of conservative Christians.  I came out with books, none of which fit the criteria. I took my old copy of Lord of the Rings to Campmeeting for the eightth year in a row, and set the new books others aside. It was September before I made it around to reading The Magicians by Lev Grossman.


I found The Magicians to be a interesting read. The main Character is collage aged, which seems to be a rarity, at least in the fantasy genre. It was refreshing to read about a character who was past the teenage angst stage, but also was not an adult, fully situated in their own life. It follows a young man who grew up reading a series of books which is clearly at least partly based on the Chronicles of Narnia. Instead of growing out of the series, he still reads it, and is slightly obsessed with them throughout his teenaged years. His experience could even be compared to reading a book. He goes from regular life, and is transported into a magical world (or three) where he makes friends, learns many skills, and goes on adventures. I connected with that, as I have also remained a fan of some of my favorite childhood series.

This book took many unexpected turns, and ended in a very different way than I thought that it would. It starts out with genius Quentin who is given, and takes, a chance to go to a magical university. While his school is different, much of his dorm and class life are relatable. The book deals with the post-grad "what now" period. The book them shifts gears and the characters use their education to take themselves to the world of Fillory which they had read about as children.

 While the characters don't share my same set of values and beliefs, and make many choices surrounding drugs and alcohol that I would not make, I find that these add to the story and to the characters personal growth. Quentin ponders his lifestyle decisions. and I think that the book accurately shows how a person's way of thinking changes as they get older and have more experience. 

This book was a great mix of Science fiction, and fantasy (mostly fantasy) two of my favorite genres. I was excited to find out that there is a sequel (which I have now read), but I didn't really have any idea where else the author could take the story. It was a complete story in itself.