Reviews
Praise for The Magicians "Fresh and compelling… The Magicians is a great fairy tale, written for grown-ups but appealing to our most basic desires for stories to bring about some re-enchantment with the world, where monsters lurk but where a young man with a little magic may prevail." -Washington Post " The Magicians is original…slyly funny." -USA Today "Lev Grossman's playful fantasy novel The Magicians pays homage to a variety of sources…with such verve and ease that you quickly forget the references and lose yourself in the story." -O, The Oprah Magazine " The Magicians is to Harry Potter as a shot of Irish whiskey is to a glass of weak tea. Solidly rooted in the traditions of both fantasy and mainstream literary fiction, the novel tips its hat to Oz and Narnia as well to Harry, but don't mistake this for a children''s book. Grossman's sensibilities are thoroughly adult, his narrative dark and dangerous and full of twists. Hogwarts was never like this." -George R. R. Martin, bestselling author of A Game of Thrones "Stirring, complex, adventurous…from the life of Quentin Coldwater, his slacker Park Slope Harry Potter, Lev Grossman delivers superb coming of age fantasy." -Junot DÃaz, Pulitzer PrizeÂwinning author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao "I felt like I was poppin' peyote buttons with J. K. Rowling when I was reading Lev Grossman's new novel The Magicians .…I couldn't put it down." -Mickey Rapkin, GQ "The novel manages a literary magic trick: it's both an enchantingly written fantasy and a moving deconstruction of enchantingly realized fantasies." -Los Angeles Times "Intriguing, coming-of-age fantasy." -Boston Globe (Pick of the Week) " The Magicians by Lev Grossman is a very entertaining book; one of those summer page-turners that you wish went on for another six volumes. Grossman takes a good number of the best childhood fantasy books from the last seventy-five years and distills their ability to fascinate into the fan-boy mind of his protagonist, Quentin Coldwater.… There is no doubt that this book is inventive storytelling and Grossman is at the height of his powers." -Chicago Sun-Times "Entertaining." -People "Lev Grossman's novel The Magicians may just be the most subversive, gripping, and enchanting fantasy novel I've read this century…. Grossman is a hell of a pacer, and the book rips along, whole seasons tossed out in a single sentence, all the boring mortar ground off the bricks, so that the book comes across as a sheer, seamless face that you can't stop yourself from tumbling down once you launch yourself off the first page. This isn't just an exercise in exploring what we love about fantasy and the lies we tell ourselves about it-it's a shit-kicking, gripping, tightly plotted novel that makes you want to take the afternoon off work to finish it." -Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing "An irresistible storytelling momentum makes The Magicians a great summer book, both thoughtful and enchanting." -Salon.com "Sly and lyrical, [ The Magicians ] captures the magic of childhood and the sobering years beyond." -Entertainment Weekly "This gripping novel draws on the conventions of contemporary and classic fantasy novels in order to upend them, and tell a darkly cunning story about the power of imagination itself. [ The Magicians is] an unexpectedly moving coming-of-age story." -The New Yorker, Praise for The Magicians "Fresh and compelling… The Magicians is a great fairy tale, written for grown-ups but appealing to our most basic desires for stories to bring about some re-enchantment with the world, where monsters lurk but where a young man with a little magic may prevail." -Washington Post " The Magicians is original…slyly funny." -USA Today "Lev Grossman's playful fantasy novel The Magicians pays homage to a variety of sources…with such verve and ease that you quickly forget the references and lose yourself in the story." -O, The Oprah Magazine " The Magicians is to Harry Potter as a shot of Irish whiskey is to a glass of weak tea. Solidly rooted in the traditions of both fantasy and mainstream literary fiction, the novel tips its hat to Oz and Narnia as well to Harry, but don't mistake this for a children''s book. Grossman's sensibilities are thoroughly adult, his narrative dark and dangerous and full of twists. Hogwarts was never like this." -George R. R. Martin, bestselling author of A Game of Thrones "Stirring, complex, adventurous…from the life of Quentin Coldwater, his slacker Park Slope Harry Potter, Lev Grossman delivers superb coming of age fantasy." -Junot DÃaz, Pulitzer PrizeÂwinning author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao "I felt like I was poppin' peyote buttons with J. K. Rowling when I was reading Lev Grossman's new novel The Magicians .…I couldn't put it down." -Mickey Rapkin, GQ "The novel manages a literary magic trick: it's both an enchantingly written fantasy and a moving deconstruction of enchantingly realized fantasies." -Los Angeles Times "Intriguing, coming-of-age fantasy." -Boston Globe (Pick of the Week) " The Magicians by Lev Grossman is a very entertaining book; one of those summer page-turners that you wish went on for another six volumes. Grossman takes a good number of the best childhood fantasy books from the last seventy-five years and distills their ability to fascinate into the fan-boy mind of his protagonist, Quentin Coldwater.… There is no doubt that this book is inventive storytelling and Grossman is at the height of his powers." -Chicago Sun-Times "Entertaining." -People "Lev Grossman's novel The Magicians may just be the most subversive, gripping, and enchanting fantasy novel I've read this century…. Grossman is a hell of a pacer, and the book rips along, whole seasons tossed out in a single sentence, all the boring mortar ground off the bricks, so that the book comes across as a sheer, seamless face that you can't stop yourself from tumbling down once you launch yourself off the first page. This isn't just an exercise in exploring what we love about fantasy and the lies we tell ourselves about it-it's a shit-kicking, gripping, tightly plotted novel that makes you want to take the afternoon off work to finish it." -Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing "An irresistible storytelling momentum makes The Magicians a great summer book, both thoughtful and enchanting." -Salon.com "Sly and lyrical, [ The Magicians ] captures the magic of childhood and the sobering years beyond." -Entertainment Weekly "This gripping novel draws on the conventions of contemporary and classic fantasy novels in order to upend them, and tell a darkly cunning story about the power of imagination itself. [ The Magicians is] an unexpectedly moving coming-of-age story." -The New Yorker "Fantasy fans can't afford to miss the darkly comic and unforgettably queasy experience of reading this book-and be glad for reality." - Booklist (Starred Review) "This is a book for grown-up fans of children's fantasy and would appeal to those who loved Donna Tartt's The Secret History . Highly recommended." - Library Journal (Starred Review) "Very dark and very scary, with no simple answers provided-fantasy for grown-ups, in other words, and very satisfying indeed." -Kirkus Reviews, Praise for The Magician's Land "Lev Grossman has conjured a rare creature: a trilogy that simply gets better and better as it goes along. The Magician's Land is sumptuous and surprising yet deliciously familiar, a glass of rich red wine left out for a hungry ghost. Literary perfection for those of us who grew up testing the structural integrity of the backs of wardrobes." -Erin Morgenstern, author of The Night Circus , Praise for The Magician''s Land "Richly imagined and continually surprising. . . . The strongest book in Grossman's series. It not only offers a satisfying conclusion to Quentin Coldwater's quests, earthly and otherwise, but also considers complex questions about identity and selfhood as profound as they are entertaining. . . . The Magician's Land, more than any other book in the trilogy, wrestles with the question of humanity. . . . This is a gifted writer, and his gifts are at their apex in The Magician's Land." -Edan Lepucki, The New York Times Book Review "The last (and IOHO, best) book in the hit Magicians trilogy. Savor every word." - Cosmopolitan "An explosive conclusion to Quentin Coldwater's adventures." - Entertainment Weekly "[A] deeply satisfying finale . . . [Grossman's] characters' magical battles have a bravura all their own. . . . The essence of being a magician, as Quentin learns to define it, could easily serve as a thumbnail description of Grossman's art: 'the power to enchant the world.'" - Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "An absolutely brilliant fantasy filled with memorable characters-old and new-and prodigious feats of imagination. . . . Endlessly fascinating . . . Fantasy fans will rejoice at its publication." - Booklist (starred review) "[ The Magicians ] series taken as a whole brings new life and energy to the fantasy genre. The final volume will please fans looking for action, emotion, and, ultimately, closure." - Library Journal "An elegantly written third act to Quentin's bildungsroman. . . . Fans of the trilogy will be pleased." - Publishers Weekly "If you haven't read the first two books in Grossman's Magicians trilogy, buy them immediately and set aside a weekend to read them straight through before you turn to The Magician's Land . The series, which follows a group of-you guessed it-magicians through the emotional foibles of young adulthood has been called 'Harry Potter for adults.' But it's way more complex than that. Grossman hones in on the particularly brutal business of being young, and then adds layer upon layer of literary allusion, creating works that are both homages to fantasy's past and glimpses at its future." -The New Republic "Sink your mobile devices into the nearest wishing well and duct-tape your front door against gnomes, pollsters, and other distractions. The Magician's Land is beckoning, and demands your full attention. Lev Grossman proves again that the costs and consolations of creation-both of Fillory and of this conclusion to his trilogy-are mighty forces. Quentin Coldwater, Grossman''s Orpheus and his Abraham, his Yahweh and his Puck, enchants as few other magicians can, or dare." - Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked and Egg & Spoon "Lev Grossman has conjured a rare creature: a trilogy that simply gets better and better as it goes along. The Magician''s Land is sumptuous and surprising yet deliciously familiar, a glass of rich red wine left out for a hungry ghost. Literary perfection for those of us who grew up testing the structural integrity of the backs of wardrobes." -Erin Morgenstern, author of The Night Circus " The Magician''s Land is a triumphant climax to the best fantasy trilogy of the decade." - Charles Stross "Poignant and messy, fearsome and beautiful-like a good magic spell, the final book in this trilogy is more than the sum of its parts. Also, damn. Just some of the best magic I have read, ever." -Maggie Stiefvater, Praise for The Magician's Land "Sink your mobile devices into the nearest wishing well and duct-tape your front door against gnomes, pollsters, and other distractions. The Magician's Land is beckoning, and demands your full attention. Lev Grossman proves again that the costs and consolations of creation-both of Fillory and of this conclusion to his trilogy-are mighty forces. Quentin Coldwater, Grossman's Orpheus and his Abraham, his Yahweh and his Puck, enchants as few other magicians can, or dare." - Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked and Egg & Spoon "Lev Grossman has conjured a rare creature: a trilogy that simply gets better and better as it goes along. The Magician's Land is sumptuous and surprising yet deliciously familiar, a glass of rich red wine left out for a hungry ghost. Literary perfection for those of us who grew up testing the structural integrity of the backs of wardrobes." -Erin Morgenstern, author of The Night Circus " The Magician's Land is a triumphant climax to the best fantasy trilogy of the decade." - Charles Stross, Praise for The Magician King "[A] serious, heartfelt novel [that] turns the machinery of fantasy inside out." - The New York Times (Editor's Choice) "A spellbinding stereograph, a literary adventure novel that is also about privilege, power, and the limits of being human. The Magician King is a triumphant sequel." -NPR.org "[ The Magician King ] is The Catcher in the Rye for devotees of alternative universes. It's dazzling and devil-may-care. . . . Grossman has created a rare, strange, and scintillating novel." - Chicago Tribune " The Magician King is a rare achievement, a book that simultaneously criticizes and celebrates our deep desire for fantasy." - The Boston Globe "Grossman has devised an enchanted milieu brimming with possibility, and his sly authorial voice gives it a literary life that positions The Magician King well above the standard fantasy fare." - San Francisco Chronicle "Grossman expands his magical world into a boundless enchanted universe, and his lively characters navigate it with aplomb." - The New Yorker " The Magician King , the immensely entertaining new novel by Lev Grossman, manages to be both deep and deeply enjoyable." - Chicago Sun-Times "Now that Harry Potter is through in books and films, grown-up fans of the boy wizard might want to give this nimble fantasy series a try." - New York Post "Lev Grossman's The Magician King is a fresh take on the fantasy-quest novel-dark, austere, featuring characters with considerable psychological complexity, a collection of idiosyncratic talking animals (a sloth who knows the path to the underworld, a dragon in the Grand Canal), and splendid set pieces in Venice, Provence, Cornwall, and Brooklyn." - The Daily Beast "In this page-turning follow-up to his bestselling 2009 novel The Magicians , Grossman takes another dark, sarcastically sinister stab at fantasy, set in the Narnia-esque realm of Fillory." - Entertainment Weekly , Praise for The Magician's Land "[A] deeply satisfying finale . . . [Grossman's] characters' magical battles have a bravura all their own. . . . The essence of being a magician, as Quentin learns to define it, could easily serve as a thumbnail description of Grossman's art: 'the power to enchant the world.'" - Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "An absolutely brilliant fantasy filled with memorable characters-old and new-and prodigious feats of imagination. . . . Endlessly fascinating . . . Fantasy fans will rejoice at its publication." - Booklist (starred review) "Sink your mobile devices into the nearest wishing well and duct-tape your front door against gnomes, pollsters, and other distractions. The Magician's Land is beckoning, and demands your full attention. Lev Grossman proves again that the costs and consolations of creation-both of Fillory and of this conclusion to his trilogy-are mighty forces. Quentin Coldwater, Grossman's Orpheus and his Abraham, his Yahweh and his Puck, enchants as few other magicians can, or dare." - Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked and Egg & Spoon "Lev Grossman has conjured a rare creature: a trilogy that simply gets better and better as it goes along. The Magician's Land is sumptuous and surprising yet deliciously familiar, a glass of rich red wine left out for a hungry ghost. Literary perfection for those of us who grew up testing the structural integrity of the backs of wardrobes." -Erin Morgenstern, author of The Night Circus " The Magician's Land is a triumphant climax to the best fantasy trilogy of the decade." - Charles Stross "Poignant and messy, fearsome and beautiful-like a good magic spell, the final book in this trilogy is more than the sum of its parts. Also, damn. Just some of the best magic I have read, ever." -Maggie Stiefvater, Praise for The Magician's Land "[A] deeply satisfying finale . . . [Grossman's] characters' magical battles have a bravura all their own. . . . The essence of being a magician, as Quentin learns to define it, could easily serve as a thumbnail description of Grossman's art: 'the power to enchant the world.'" - Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "An absolutely brilliant fantasy filled with memorable characters-old and new-and prodigious feats of imagination. . . . Endlessly fascinating . . . Fantasy fans will rejoice at its publication." - Booklist (starred review) "An elegantly written third act to Quentin's bildungsroman. . . . Fans of the trilogy will be pleased." - Publishers Weekly "If you haven't read the first two books in Grossman's Magicians trilogy, buy them immediately and set aside a weekend to read them straight through before you turn to The Magician's Land . The series, which follows a group of-you guessed it-magicians through the emotional foibles of young adulthood has been called 'Harry Potter for adults.' But it's way more complex than that. Grossman hones in on the particularly brutal business of being young, and then adds layer upon layer of literary allusion, creating works that are both homages to fantasy's past and glimpses at its future." -The New Republic "Sink your mobile devices into the nearest wishing well and duct-tape your front door against gnomes, pollsters, and other distractions. The Magician's Land is beckoning, and demands your full attention. Lev Grossman proves again that the costs and consolations of creation-both of Fillory and of this conclusion to his trilogy-are mighty forces. Quentin Coldwater, Grossman's Orpheus and his Abraham, his Yahweh and his Puck, enchants as few other magicians can, or dare." - Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked and Egg & Spoon "Lev Grossman has conjured a rare creature: a trilogy that simply gets better and better as it goes along. The Magician's Land is sumptuous and surprising yet deliciously familiar, a glass of rich red wine left out for a hungry ghost. Literary perfection for those of us who grew up testing the structural integrity of the backs of wardrobes." -Erin Morgenstern, author of The Night Circus " The Magician's Land is a triumphant climax to the best fantasy trilogy of the decade." - Charles Stross "Poignant and messy, fearsome and beautiful-like a good magic spell, the final book in this trilogy is more than the sum of its parts. Also, damn. Just some of the best magic I have read, ever." -Maggie Stiefvater, Praise for The Magician's Land "[A] deeply satisfying finale . . . [Grossman's] characters' magical battles have a bravura all their own. . . . The essence of being a magician, as Quentin learns to define it, could easily serve as a thumbnail description of Grossman's art: 'the power to enchant the world.'" - Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "An absolutely brilliant fantasy filled with memorable characters-old and new-and prodigious feats of imagination. . . . Endlessly fascinating . . . Fantasy fans will rejoice at its publication." - Booklist (starred review) "An elegantly written third act to Quentin's bildungsroman. . . . Fans of the trilogy will be pleased." - Publishers Weekly "Sink your mobile devices into the nearest wishing well and duct-tape your front door against gnomes, pollsters, and other distractions. The Magician's Land is beckoning, and demands your full attention. Lev Grossman proves again that the costs and consolations of creation-both of Fillory and of this conclusion to his trilogy-are mighty forces. Quentin Coldwater, Grossman's Orpheus and his Abraham, his Yahweh and his Puck, enchants as few other magicians can, or dare." - Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked and Egg & Spoon "Lev Grossman has conjured a rare creature: a trilogy that simply gets better and better as it goes along. The Magician's Land is sumptuous and surprising yet deliciously familiar, a glass of rich red wine left out for a hungry ghost. Literary perfection for those of us who grew up testing the structural integrity of the backs of wardrobes." -Erin Morgenstern, author of The Night Circus " The Magician's Land is a triumphant climax to the best fantasy trilogy of the decade." - Charles Stross "Poignant and messy, fearsome and beautiful-like a good magic spell, the final book in this trilogy is more than the sum of its parts. Also, damn. Just some of the best magic I have read, ever." -Maggie Stiefvater, Praise for The Magician's Land "An absolutely brilliant fantasy filled with memorable characters-old and new-and prodigious feats of imagination. . . . Endlessly fascinating . . . Fantasy fans will rejoice at its publication." - Booklist (starred review) "Sink your mobile devices into the nearest wishing well and duct-tape your front door against gnomes, pollsters, and other distractions. The Magician's Land is beckoning, and demands your full attention. Lev Grossman proves again that the costs and consolations of creation-both of Fillory and of this conclusion to his trilogy-are mighty forces. Quentin Coldwater, Grossman's Orpheus and his Abraham, his Yahweh and his Puck, enchants as few other magicians can, or dare." - Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked and Egg & Spoon "Lev Grossman has conjured a rare creature: a trilogy that simply gets better and better as it goes along. The Magician's Land is sumptuous and surprising yet deliciously familiar, a glass of rich red wine left out for a hungry ghost. Literary perfection for those of us who grew up testing the structural integrity of the backs of wardrobes." -Erin Morgenstern, author of The Night Circus " The Magician's Land is a triumphant climax to the best fantasy trilogy of the decade." - Charles Stross, Praise for The Magician's Land "The last (and IOHO, best) book in the hit Magicians trilogy. Savor every word." - Cosmopolitan "An explosive conclusion to Quentin Coldwater's adventures." - Entertainment Weekly "[A] deeply satisfying finale . . . [Grossman's] characters' magical battles have a bravura all their own. . . . The essence of being a magician, as Quentin learns to define it, could easily serve as a thumbnail description of Grossman's art: 'the power to enchant the world.'" - Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "An absolutely brilliant fantasy filled with memorable characters-old and new-and prodigious feats of imagination. . . . Endlessly fascinating . . . Fantasy fans will rejoice at its publication." - Booklist (starred review) "[ The Magicians ] series taken as a whole brings new life and energy to the fantasy genre. The final volume will please fans looking for action, emotion, and, ultimately, closure." - Library Journal "An elegantly written third act to Quentin's bildungsroman. . . . Fans of the trilogy will be pleased." - Publishers Weekly "If you haven't read the first two books in Grossman's Magicians trilogy, buy them immediately and set aside a weekend to read them straight through before you turn to The Magician's Land . The series, which follows a group of-you guessed it-magicians through the emotional foibles of young adulthood has been called 'Harry Potter for adults.' But it's way more complex than that. Grossman hones in on the particularly brutal business of being young, and then adds layer upon layer of literary allusion, creating works that are both homages to fantasy's past and glimpses at its future." -The New Republic "Sink your mobile devices into the nearest wishing well and duct-tape your front door against gnomes, pollsters, and other distractions. The Magician's Land is beckoning, and demands your full attention. Lev Grossman proves again that the costs and consolations of creation-both of Fillory and of this conclusion to his trilogy-are mighty forces. Quentin Coldwater, Grossman's Orpheus and his Abraham, his Yahweh and his Puck, enchants as few other magicians can, or dare." - Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked and Egg & Spoon "Lev Grossman has conjured a rare creature: a trilogy that simply gets better and better as it goes along. The Magician's Land is sumptuous and surprising yet deliciously familiar, a glass of rich red wine left out for a hungry ghost. Literary perfection for those of us who grew up testing the structural integrity of the backs of wardrobes." -Erin Morgenstern, author of The Night Circus " The Magician's Land is a triumphant climax to the best fantasy trilogy of the decade." - Charles Stross "Poignant and messy, fearsome and beautiful-like a good magic spell, the final book in this trilogy is more than the sum of its parts. Also, damn. Just some of the best magic I have read, ever." -Maggie Stiefvater, Praise for The Magician's Land "Sink your mobile devices into the nearest wishing well and duct-tape your front door against gnomes, pollsters, and other distractions. The Magician's Land is beckoning, and demands your full attention. Lev Grossman proves again that the costs and consolations of creation-both of Fillory and of this conclusion to his trilogy-are mighty forces. Quentin Coldwater, Grossman's Orpheus and his Abraham, his Yahweh and his Puck, enchants as few other magicians can, or dare." - Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked and Egg & Spoon "Lev Grossman has conjured a rare creature: a trilogy that simply gets better and better as it goes along. The Magician's Land is sumptuous and surprising yet deliciously familiar, a glass of rich red wine left out for a hungry ghost. Literary perfection for those of us who grew up testing the structural integrity of the backs of wardrobes." -Erin Morgenstern, author of The Night Circus , Praise for The Magician's Land "An explosive conclusion to Quentin Coldwater's adventures." - Entertainment Weekly "[A] deeply satisfying finale . . . [Grossman's] characters' magical battles have a bravura all their own. . . . The essence of being a magician, as Quentin learns to define it, could easily serve as a thumbnail description of Grossman's art: 'the power to enchant the world.'" - Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "An absolutely brilliant fantasy filled with memorable characters-old and new-and prodigious feats of imagination. . . . Endlessly fascinating . . . Fantasy fans will rejoice at its publication." - Booklist (starred review) "[ The Magicians ] series taken as a whole brings new life and energy to the fantasy genre. The final volume will please fans looking for action, emotion, and, ultimately, closure." - Library Journal "An elegantly written third act to Quentin's bildungsroman. . . . Fans of the trilogy will be pleased." - Publishers Weekly "If you haven't read the first two books in Grossman's Magicians trilogy, buy them immediately and set aside a weekend to read them straight through before you turn to The Magician's Land . The series, which follows a group of-you guessed it-magicians through the emotional foibles of young adulthood has been called 'Harry Potter for adults.' But it's way more complex than that. Grossman hones in on the particularly brutal business of being young, and then adds layer upon layer of literary allusion, creating works that are both homages to fantasy's past and glimpses at its future." -The New Republic "Sink your mobile devices into the nearest wishing well and duct-tape your front door against gnomes, pollsters, and other distractions. The Magician's Land is beckoning, and demands your full attention. Lev Grossman proves again that the costs and consolations of creation-both of Fillory and of this conclusion to his trilogy-are mighty forces. Quentin Coldwater, Grossman's Orpheus and his Abraham, his Yahweh and his Puck, enchants as few other magicians can, or dare." - Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked and Egg & Spoon "Lev Grossman has conjured a rare creature: a trilogy that simply gets better and better as it goes along. The Magician's Land is sumptuous and surprising yet deliciously familiar, a glass of rich red wine left out for a hungry ghost. Literary perfection for those of us who grew up testing the structural integrity of the backs of wardrobes." -Erin Morgenstern, author of The Night Circus " The Magician's Land is a triumphant climax to the best fantasy trilogy of the decade." - Charles Stross "Poignant and messy, fearsome and beautiful-like a good magic spell, the final book in this trilogy is more than the sum of its parts. Also, damn. Just some of the best magic I have read, ever." -Maggie Stiefvater, Praise for The Magician King "[A] serious, heartfelt novel [that] turns the machinery of fantasy inside out." - The New York Times (Editor's Choice) "A spellbinding stereograph, a literary adventure novel that is also about privilege, power, and the limits of being human. The Magician King is a triumphant sequel." -NPR.org "[ The Magician King ] is The Catcher in the Rye for devotees of alternative universes. It's dazzling and devil-may-care. . . . Grossman has created a rare, strange, and scintillating novel." - Chicago Tribune " The Magician King is a rare achievement, a book that simultaneously criticizes and celebrates our deep desire for fantasy." - The Boston Globe "Grossman has devised an enchanted milieu brimming with possibility, and his sly authorial voice gives it a literary life that positions The Magician King well above the standard fantasy fare." - San Francisco Chronicle "Grossman expands his magical world into a boundless enchanted universe, and his lively characters navigate it with aplomb." - The New Yorker " The Magician King , the immensely entertaining new novel by Lev Grossman, manages to be both deep and deeply enjoyable." - Chicago Sun-Times "Now that Harry Potter is through in books and films, grown-up fans of the boy wizard might want to give this nimble fantasy series a try." - New York Post "Lev Grossman's The Magician King is a fresh take on the fantasy-quest novel-dark, austere, featuring characters with considerable psychological complexity, a collection of idiosyncratic talking animals (a sloth who knows the path to the underworld, a dragon in the Grand Canal), and splendid set pieces in Venice, Provence, Cornwall, and Brooklyn." - The Daily Beast "In this page-turning follow-up to his bestselling 2009 novel The Magicians , Grossman takes another dark, sarcastically sinister stab at fantasy, set in the Narnia-esque realm of Fillory." - Entertainment Weekly "Fabulous fantasy spiked with bitter adult wisdom-not to be missed." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Fans of The Magicians will find this sequel a feast and will be delighted that a jaw-dropping denouement surely promises a third volume to come." - Booklist, Praise for The Magicians "Fresh and compelling… The Magicians is a great fairy tale, written for grown-ups but appealing to our most basic desires for stories to bring about some re-enchantment with the world, where monsters lurk but where a young man with a little magic may prevail." -Washington Post " The Magicians is original…slyly funny." -USA Today "Lev Grossman's playful fantasy novel The Magicians pays homage to a variety of sources…with such verve and ease that you quickly forget the references and lose yourself in the story." -O, The Oprah Magazine " The Magicians is to Harry Potter as a shot of Irish whiskey is to a glass of weak tea. Solidly rooted in the traditions of both fantasy and mainstream literary fiction, the novel tips its hat to Oz and Narnia as well to Harry, but don't mistake this for a children''s book. Grossman's sensibilities are thoroughly adult, his narrative dark and dangerous and full of twists. Hogwart's was never like this." -George R. R. Martin, bestselling author of A Game of Thrones "Stirring, complex, adventurous…from the life of Quentin Coldwater, his slacker Park Slope Harry Potter, Lev Grossman delivers superb coming of age fantasy." -Junot DÃaz, Pulitzer PrizeÂwinning author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao "I felt like I was poppin' peyote buttons with J. K. Rowling when I was reading Lev Grossman's new novel The Magicians .…I couldn't put it down." -Mickey Rapkin, GQ "The novel manages a literary magic trick: it's both an enchantingly written fantasy and a moving deconstruction of enchantingly realized fantasies." -Los Angeles Times "Intriguing, coming-of-age fantasy." -Boston Globe (Pick of the Week) " The Magicians by Lev Grossman is a very entertaining book; one of those summer page-turners that you wish went on for another six volumes. Grossman takes a good number of the best childhood fantasy books from the last seventy-five years and distills their ability to fascinate into the fan-boy mind of his protagonist, Quentin Coldwater.… There is no doubt that this book is inventive storytelling and Grossman is at the height of his powers." -Chicago Sun-Times "Entertaining." -People "Lev Grossman's novel The Magicians may just be the most subversive, gripping, and enchanting fantasy novel I've read this century…. Grossman is a hell of a pacer, and the book rips along, whole seasons tossed out in a single sentence, all the boring mortar ground off the bricks, so that the book comes across as a sheer, seamless face that you can't stop yourself from tumbling down once you launch yourself off the first page. This isn't just an exercise in exploring what we love about fantasy and the lies we tell ourselves about it-it's a shit-kicking, gripping, tightly plotted novel that makes you want to take the afternoon off work to finish it." -Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing "An irresistible storytelling momentum makes The Magicians a great summer book, both thoughtful and enchanting." -Salon.com "Sly and lyrical, [ The Magicians ] captures the magic of childhood and the sobering years beyond." -Entertainment Weekly "This gripping novel draws on the conventions of contemporary and classic fantasy novels in order to upend them, and tell a darkly cunning story about the power of imagination itself. [ The Magicians is] an unexpectedly moving coming-of-age story." -The New Yorker "Fantasy fans can't afford to miss the darkly comic and unforgettably queasy experience of reading this book-and be glad for reality." - Booklist (Starred Review) "This is a book for grown-up fans of children's fantasy and would appeal to those who loved Donna Tartt's The Secret History . Highly recommended." - Library Journal (Starred Review) "Very dark and very scary, with no simple answers provided-fantasy for grown-ups, in other words, and very satisfying indeed." -Kirkus Reviews
