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I’ve seen much of the 2015 Syfy show based on this property, so I had an idea of what to expect, but I think so much was altered in bringing it to the small screen that these read like two alternate takes on one story. That being said, I’m focusing on the book for this review, with passing comparisons to what I remember from the show.

The Magicians, for those unaware, is like Harry Potter in college meets Narnia. Young adults are selected and tested to attend a highly mysterious, protected magic school called Brakebills, where they train their magical skills and learn that a book series they read as children, set in the magical world of Fillory, actually exists. Not only that, but their paths are interlinked in ways no one could have imagined.

All of this centers on our protagonist, Quentin, and his companions. He’s a normal, nerdy young adult who’s a huge fan of the Fillory novels and practices street magic, wishing it were real. One day, he is whisked off to Brakebills for testing in real magic and meeting his companions for the rest of the novel, setting the stage for what’s to come.

Quentin is our portal into this world, so everything comes as a surprise to him when he discovers it is all real. The validation he feels is so valid, because it’s what we feel (or would feel) if the things we knew were real actually proved themselves. This makes his journey that much more believable, and him a character we can latch onto. Of course, he’s only 17 at the beginning of this story, so he goes through a lot of adolescent behavior that makes it hard—read: uncomfortable—to sit through. Ah, the teenage years.

The novel moves at a steady pace, taking the magicians through their college years and two years after, eschewing the notion that, like in Harry Potter, the series might cover multiple years at a magical school. The novel focuses on telling its story, and it does just that.

I was surprised how much of the lore of the world (Fillory) was pulled from the C.S. Lewis novels. I recently started that series, and the parallels are quite extensive. Of course, if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it. Grossman takes what Narnia built and makes it his own living, breathing world, and often makes it more frightening.

Although I stated the novel centers on Quentin, that’s largely because of the crew that revolves around him. He is the walking embodiment of the adage, “You’re only as good as the people you surround yourself with.” Quentin wouldn’t make it through the novel if it weren’t for the actions of many of these magicians, which is where I both love and fault this novel.

Quentin guides us through the story, but he’s not the hero. That would be Alice. In fact, it’s Penny who is the linchpin in getting the main story moving from Brakebills to Fillory with a love for the books that rivals (or exceeds) Quentin’s. He’s not the most skilled or knowledgeable at… anything in the group. So why is he here? Wouldn’t it be better to just follow one of those characters? Yes, but then you’d miss out on what Quentin actually is: he is himself. He is just one of us trying to find love and joy in the world; a world he knew existed, but was only validated recently. He truly is the emotional core, despite how much the characters and the author poke at that throughout the novel.

Overall, this novel is considerably darker in tone than anything that inspired it. It plays with the teenage hormonal/emotional angst that comes with that age, but turns it up a notch or five. However, that works in its favor as he’s trying something similar, but different. You feel you know what’s ahead, but it’s changed enough to make it its own unique thing. By the time the proverbial credits roll, you’ll find, much like Quentin, that his story is much different than the novels he grew up reading.

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