Bookish Thoughts

The final installment in Lev Grossman's Magicians trilogy is absolutely fantastic. As a finale, it's more than I could have hoped for. It's deeply satisfying, making up for all the frustration that preceded it. I must have felt every emotion while I was reading it, from joy to terror to deep sadness. Sometimes all at once, which is really amazing. The book, and really the whole trilogy, is about growing up. Not in a YA coming-of-age way. It's about your twenties. About the stretch of time between when the law declares you an adult and you figure out the kind of person you want to be. For Quentin (and all his friends, really) this takes a while. It's a long process, and Quentin's immaturity makes the first two books frustrating. But in The Magician's Land he finally comes into his own. He deals with the consequences of his actions, faces up to the demons of his past, and muddles his way to becoming a mature, compassionate person. Someone you ...

I have to say that I enjoyed Lev Grossman's The Magcian King much more than it's prequel, The Magicians . It becomes clear pretty quickly that, once again, Quentin isn't satisfied with his happy ending. Being a king in Fillory has left him bored and restless. The book opens with him wanting something to change. When things do change, he's not terribly happy about the direction they go. But he's able to recognize that this is what he wished for and to make the best of it. Quentin is growing up, and that makes him far more likable than he was in the first book. Interlaced with Quentin's story, is Julia's, which is mostly far more interesting. I like Julia a lot better than Quentin. She's just as miserable, but she's trying to do something about it. And when she finally achieves contentment, she recognizes it, even if it is too late for her to hold on to. The end of the book seemed to be structured a bit strangely. The order of the c...

Lev Grossman's The Magicians is an interesting book. It's definitely good, and it explores some themes that I enjoyed. But I'm honestly not sure whether I liked it or not. I don't think I'll be able to fully form an opinion until after I've read the sequel. Like The Name of the Wind , The Magicians has been described to me as "Harry Potter for adults" and, as with Rothfuss' book, I have to disagree about that label being applied to this book. While it does feature a bunch of kids at a magical school The Magicians  is far from the happy, escapist fantasy that I think of when I think of Harry Potter . In fact, the book mostly serves as a subversion of that entire genre. The characters of The Magicians  are miserable over-achievers. They all ended up at Brakebills college for magicians because they were the top of the class at their very elite high schools. They're all also deeply unhappy; most of them have parents who range from di...