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January 08, 2015
The Magician’s series - three fabulous books that I WILL read again someday. That is probably about the highest praise I can give to a set of books. I was constantly knocked out by Mr. Grossman’s brilliant writing and his remarkable creativity. Everything he dreamed up and included in these books was great - Brakebills, the hidden school for magicians; Fillory, the fantasy land created in a set of children’s books that turned out to be definitely really real (difficult to explain, but central to the plot of all three Magician’s books, and absolutely awesome); the unique and fascinating ways in which the characters passed back and forth between the real world and Fillory; the underground magician society in the real world; I could go on and on.
Quentin Coldwater (the main man), Julia, Alice, Janet, Eliot, etc. - all complex, fascinating characters that went on so many remarkable adventures. These three novels are simply packed with action, plot-twists, fantasy creatures, excitement, magic, danger, outstanding imagination....all the good stuff plus more. And everything that happens connects and intertwines with everything else - it’s all so wonderfully executed. And as I mentioned in my other write-up, in these books there is sex (not explicit but it’s in there a fair amount and it’s in good and bad forms), drinking, cursing, violence (nothing too overly gory but Grossman doesn’t pull punches) - and pretty much all other types of mature content. Except paying taxes, I don’t think that’s in any of the stories.
For specific examples of why I liked these novels so much, here are two concepts Mr. Grossman expanded upon in the second and third books which really confounded and astounded me. Mostly because I’d never really reflected on these things before and once I did, I was blown away.
ONE: Imagine you are presented with your future, your dreams, something you’d never ever thought possible....but you don’t make the cut and it’s taken away from you forever. For example, if young Mr. Potter had turned up at Hogwarts and they’d said, “Actually, you aren’t quite right for this. Sorry, but it’s a no.” Doors closed, that’s it. And he has to live with that forever! How do you cope? How do you force that out of your mind and persuade yourself to move on to do something else? And even if you do get over it, there’s the constant danger of backsliding when everything that’s mundane around you reminds you that you nearly had something spectacular in your hands and then POOF it was gone. Perhaps, on your own, you try to discover whatever you were denied. Perhaps you go underground and seek out whoever you can find to get you what you wanted, what you almost had....and perhaps you do absolutely whatever it takes to get it. What happens to you then?
Julia goes through this terrible ordeal in book two, The Magician King, and it’s a gripping, fascinating, pitiful, moving, scary story. A fabulous, mesmerizing part of the overall arc of the trilogy.
TWO: Now imagine that all you’ve ever wished for is in your hands. Everything you thought impossible was, in fact possible. For years, the world (real or fantasy) was yours and you were truly happy. But then someone came along and abruptly locked you out. And you couldn’t do anything about it but just accept things and walk away, leaving your friends and all you’ve known behind you. How do you cope with that? Do you throw yourself into figuring out how to get back? Do you move on, desperately trying to forget?
This happens to Quentin Coldwater in book three, The Magician’s Land. And he goes on a crazy-fantastic-dangerous journey to get back.
I’ve mentioned this before and I’ll write it again: I love these books because as a kid I played D&D, Hero Quest and Dark Tower A LOT. I played fantasy video games and read fantasy books (the Xanth series by Piers Anthony was a favorite in middle school). I watched and re-watched fantasy movies like Legend, Labyrinth and Krull. Man I’m really geeking out now. But I write all this to emphasize that you probably need to have a similar mindset in order to dig the Magicians trilogy as much as I have.
Even if you aren’t a full fantasy fan like me, you might appreciate this series because Mr. Grossman’s writing is masterful and his imagination is engrossing and thrilling. So from a literary standpoint AND from a fantasy standpoint, I definitely liked these books so very much. But it would really help if are into magic, dragons, daring quests and so forth.
Here are some passages I highlighted from the books:
The Magician King
Quentin felt like the little boy at the beginning of The Lorax, at the mysterious tower of the dismal Once- ler. They should have been facing down bellowed challenges from black knights bearing the vergescu, or solving thorny theological dilemmas posed by holy hermits. Or at the very least resisting the diabolical temptations of ravishing succubi. Not fighting off seasonal affective disorder.
They were certainly as close to Fillory as you could get on Earth. They were closing in on the Chatwins’ house. Even the place names sounded Fillorian: Tywardreath, Castle Dore, Lostwithiel. It was as if the green landscape of Fillory was hidden right behind this one, and this was a thin place, where the other world showed through.
(Here, Quentin and his pals are in England, trying to get back to the magical fantasy world of Fillory. Which they thought existed only in some children's books they remembered as kids, but turned out to be real. Grossman does an excellent job of layering Earth and Fillory together.)
The Magician's Land
It didn’t matter where you were, if you were in a room full of books you were at least halfway home.
That was one thing about books: once you read them they couldn’t be unread.
She was too tired to feel anything more, she wanted a book to do to her what books did: take away the world, slide it aside for a little bit, and let her please, please just be somewhere and somebody else.
(Mr. Grossman is obviously a writer who reads and who knows the power of books.)
Regardless, all of our lives split that night. They became double. A more alert guardian than Aunt Maude would have noticed the change— the whispered colloquies, the tanned faces and uncut hair, the extra half- inch or so of height we would gain during an especially long trip to Fillory. But she didn’t notice. People are very determined to see only what they can explain.
(Here, a character is recalling his childhood experiences of bouncing back and forth between Earth and magical Fillory. The writing is exquisite!)
Hopefully these stories will become movies someday though it would be tough to find an audience. “Kind of like Harry Potter but much more hardcore with adult language and elements that make it suitable only for a mature audience.” I’m not sure that’s a great movie pitch. But it sure makes for a helluva great trilogy of books!
Thanks for the adventures, Mr. Grossman. I thoroughly enjoyed every word!
Happy Reading!
Quentin Coldwater (the main man), Julia, Alice, Janet, Eliot, etc. - all complex, fascinating characters that went on so many remarkable adventures. These three novels are simply packed with action, plot-twists, fantasy creatures, excitement, magic, danger, outstanding imagination....all the good stuff plus more. And everything that happens connects and intertwines with everything else - it’s all so wonderfully executed. And as I mentioned in my other write-up, in these books there is sex (not explicit but it’s in there a fair amount and it’s in good and bad forms), drinking, cursing, violence (nothing too overly gory but Grossman doesn’t pull punches) - and pretty much all other types of mature content. Except paying taxes, I don’t think that’s in any of the stories.
For specific examples of why I liked these novels so much, here are two concepts Mr. Grossman expanded upon in the second and third books which really confounded and astounded me. Mostly because I’d never really reflected on these things before and once I did, I was blown away.
ONE: Imagine you are presented with your future, your dreams, something you’d never ever thought possible....but you don’t make the cut and it’s taken away from you forever. For example, if young Mr. Potter had turned up at Hogwarts and they’d said, “Actually, you aren’t quite right for this. Sorry, but it’s a no.” Doors closed, that’s it. And he has to live with that forever! How do you cope? How do you force that out of your mind and persuade yourself to move on to do something else? And even if you do get over it, there’s the constant danger of backsliding when everything that’s mundane around you reminds you that you nearly had something spectacular in your hands and then POOF it was gone. Perhaps, on your own, you try to discover whatever you were denied. Perhaps you go underground and seek out whoever you can find to get you what you wanted, what you almost had....and perhaps you do absolutely whatever it takes to get it. What happens to you then?
Julia goes through this terrible ordeal in book two, The Magician King, and it’s a gripping, fascinating, pitiful, moving, scary story. A fabulous, mesmerizing part of the overall arc of the trilogy.
TWO: Now imagine that all you’ve ever wished for is in your hands. Everything you thought impossible was, in fact possible. For years, the world (real or fantasy) was yours and you were truly happy. But then someone came along and abruptly locked you out. And you couldn’t do anything about it but just accept things and walk away, leaving your friends and all you’ve known behind you. How do you cope with that? Do you throw yourself into figuring out how to get back? Do you move on, desperately trying to forget?
This happens to Quentin Coldwater in book three, The Magician’s Land. And he goes on a crazy-fantastic-dangerous journey to get back.
I’ve mentioned this before and I’ll write it again: I love these books because as a kid I played D&D, Hero Quest and Dark Tower A LOT. I played fantasy video games and read fantasy books (the Xanth series by Piers Anthony was a favorite in middle school). I watched and re-watched fantasy movies like Legend, Labyrinth and Krull. Man I’m really geeking out now. But I write all this to emphasize that you probably need to have a similar mindset in order to dig the Magicians trilogy as much as I have.
Even if you aren’t a full fantasy fan like me, you might appreciate this series because Mr. Grossman’s writing is masterful and his imagination is engrossing and thrilling. So from a literary standpoint AND from a fantasy standpoint, I definitely liked these books so very much. But it would really help if are into magic, dragons, daring quests and so forth.
Here are some passages I highlighted from the books:
The Magician King
Quentin felt like the little boy at the beginning of The Lorax, at the mysterious tower of the dismal Once- ler. They should have been facing down bellowed challenges from black knights bearing the vergescu, or solving thorny theological dilemmas posed by holy hermits. Or at the very least resisting the diabolical temptations of ravishing succubi. Not fighting off seasonal affective disorder.
They were certainly as close to Fillory as you could get on Earth. They were closing in on the Chatwins’ house. Even the place names sounded Fillorian: Tywardreath, Castle Dore, Lostwithiel. It was as if the green landscape of Fillory was hidden right behind this one, and this was a thin place, where the other world showed through.
(Here, Quentin and his pals are in England, trying to get back to the magical fantasy world of Fillory. Which they thought existed only in some children's books they remembered as kids, but turned out to be real. Grossman does an excellent job of layering Earth and Fillory together.)
The Magician's Land
It didn’t matter where you were, if you were in a room full of books you were at least halfway home.
That was one thing about books: once you read them they couldn’t be unread.
She was too tired to feel anything more, she wanted a book to do to her what books did: take away the world, slide it aside for a little bit, and let her please, please just be somewhere and somebody else.
(Mr. Grossman is obviously a writer who reads and who knows the power of books.)
Regardless, all of our lives split that night. They became double. A more alert guardian than Aunt Maude would have noticed the change— the whispered colloquies, the tanned faces and uncut hair, the extra half- inch or so of height we would gain during an especially long trip to Fillory. But she didn’t notice. People are very determined to see only what they can explain.
(Here, a character is recalling his childhood experiences of bouncing back and forth between Earth and magical Fillory. The writing is exquisite!)
Hopefully these stories will become movies someday though it would be tough to find an audience. “Kind of like Harry Potter but much more hardcore with adult language and elements that make it suitable only for a mature audience.” I’m not sure that’s a great movie pitch. But it sure makes for a helluva great trilogy of books!
Thanks for the adventures, Mr. Grossman. I thoroughly enjoyed every word!
Happy Reading!