The Magicians: A Novel

Lev Grossman’s The Magicians: A Novel is an interesting read. It is essentially a mash up of other works that have been succesful. The character’s attend a school for magic that is unknown to the world at large (Harry Potter) and revere and (of course) enter a magical realm (Chronicle’s of Narnia). Then thrown in for good measure are bits of urban fantasy. The Harry Potter homage goes so far as to include a made up “sport” although in this case it much more closely resembles a board game than a “sport” and the rules are so vaguely described as to make one question whether or not the rules were ever actually fleshed out to the point of making the inclusion of the game worth the reader’s time.
I must say that the majority of the novel, which takes place at Brakebill’s College (the stand in for Hogwart’s) I thouroughly enjoyed. In fact I would say that I would have liked to have gone to Brakebill’s. Grossman here takes the concept of a wizarding school where I think most adults really wanted Harry Potter to go. We have a bunch of hormonaly rampaging teens together and playing with magic, with very little actual adult supervision, to me it sounds like a great time. One thing I really enjoyed about the novel was the Antartic Excursion. This bit I thought was very original (in fact one of the truly authentic feeling parts of the novel) and I feel it actually brought something to the story and the character development.
The concept Grossman was going for I think had a lot of promise. Where it stumbles though is the fact that we only have one book. If this had been broken down into 4 or 5 novels, perhaps going by year as with Potter I think Grossman could have done something grand. With the stand alone novel however, I believe Grossman was far too limited to really explore the two worlds he chose for his characters to inhabit. The characters really don’t develop much beyond how they are each introduced, and all of their experiences in school are a bit hurried. In fact the whole novel feels a bit rushed, largely because so much territory is covered.
All of this could have been ok, if the pay off had been worth the build up. Unfortunately the trip to Fillory, as with the rest of the novel is rushed. In fact after revolving essentially around becoming a real magician and gaining powerful friends so that the trip to Fillory isn’t just a quit death, the trip is so essentially short that it doesn’t even feel worth the bother. Not to mention that the eventual wrap up of why the party is essentially lead to Fillory, while promising, is a bit mishandled (probably again due to the single novel size limitation) and leaves the reader feeling a bit let down. The main character does however, stay within his limited development and not suddenly become changed by the experience which in a way is refreshing.
Don’t get me wrong, this book was fun to read, which is in my opinion what at times is most important. I would recommend it to most people, especially as it is a quick read. In fact if I were to find out that Grossman had intentionally done things as they turned out as a sort of poking fun at the way things usually go I would significantly up my rating of the novel. After all it is essentially the enshrining of all the things we look for in entertainment, sex, drugs, and a good time. The only thing that gets me is the longer I think about the book the more I feel we missed out on something that could have been great. I give it 3/5.