The Magicians by Lev Grossman

The Magicians

Publisher: Viking (2009) The Penguin Group through Plume (2010)

Author: Lev Grossman

Genre: Fantasy, Urban

Pages: 402

Price: $16.00

Quentin Coldwater is brillant but miserable. He's a senior in high school, and a certifiable genius, but he's still secretly obsessed with a series of fantasy novels he read as a kid, about the adventures of five children in a magical land called Fillory. Compared to that, anything in his real life just seems gray and colorless.

Everything changes when Quentin finds himself unexpectedly admitted to a very secret, very exclusive college of magic in upstate New York, where he receives a thorough and rigorous education in the practice of modern sorcery. He also discovers all the other things people learn in college: friendship, love, sex, booze, and boredom. But something is still missing. Magic doesn't bring Quentin the happiness and adventure he though it would.

Then, after graduation, he and his friends make a stunning discovery: Fillory is real.

I never read the Harry Potter books, but this book was pitched to me, as it has been to many others as Harry Potter for adults. I knew the basics; a magical academy, a coming of age story, supreme evil and a journey that ends ultimately in victory. What begins as an interesting premise quickly becomes a joyless, by the numbers fantasy story, with one of the most unlikable protagonists I've ever had the displeasure of reading.

Enter Quentin Coldwater, a teen going through the motions of his life. He's attempting to do what all of us have to do, set our adult lives into motion and get on the track that will determine what kind of adult life we'll have, long before many have any idea what kind of adult life they want to have. Determining what you are going to do and be for the rest of your life while still a teenager is a daunting task, one that intimidates many into indecision and self-destructive behavior. I was actually pleased with the first part of the book. Here's a character with plenty of room for improvement, lots of growing to do. Say what you will about the how hard it can be to go through puberty, the real time for growth in a person is that transition between teenager and adult. That's a true coming of age, and I was excited to see it happen in a fantasy setting.

The time spent at Brakebills (the magical college Quentin attends) was handled fairly well. Five years are accelerated and probably account for half of the book. Along the way the reader is treated to many things that are familiar to anyone that's gone through this period in their life. There are a couple of harrowing encounters along the way, but aside from the magic it is a story you yourself might have lived through. Upon graduation I was sure that the story would take a turn and we'd finally see some sort of development in Quentin.

Alas, it was not to be. Alcohol, drugs, and sex rule the day, with Quentin sabotaging the only relationship he seems to actually care about. When Mr. Grossman finally worked his way around to Fillory I already had a sneaking suspicion that not much was going to change going forward. The climax of the story is woefully unfulfilling, and instead of leaving with a sense of hard won victory or at least lessons learned our 'hero' decides that happiness is impossible.

Before I'm told that I just didn't get it, I assure you I did. Quentin is unhappy, and that unhappiness taints everything he touches and experiences. If you don't know happiness nothing can magically bestow it upon you, not even magic. While true, and maybe even a necessary thing to write about now and then, that is a rut that you can't write a compelling story around. A book is about a character's journey, not the places he goes or the things he does, but what changes those travels and trials work upon the character. When the character ends up in the place that all of the early promise was supposed to rescue him from, the story falls flat.

Conclusion: I have trouble not finishing trilogies/story arcs/sagas and will most likely read the follow ups to The Magician at a later date. The conclusion of the book did show a glimmer of promise, but I won't be running into the bookstore five minutes before they close because I just have to find out what happens next. Maybe Quentin's growth will just take longer to tell the readers about than I anticipated, but as it stands The Magician is a promising premise sullied by a selfish, self-defeating protagonist that fails to engender sympathy or transform himself one iota along the way.

Rating: 5/10