What I've Read: The Magicians Trilogy

This Christmas, Santa brought me a new book, The Magicians, by Lev Grossman. From sentence one, this is how I looked for most of winter break:

I recently completed the whole trilogy, and I loved every word of it. The Magicians trilogy puts a grown-up postmodern spin on lots of fantasy tropes, but especially on the worlds of Narnia and Harry Potter. These books give us a hint of what might have happened after the kids who went through the wardrobe grew up, or how life after Hogwarts might have gone down. The trilogy explores the consequences of magic and the struggle to reconcile childish ideals with adult realities. NOTE: These are definitely not books for kids; this is grown-up fiction, and some of the scenes are quite disturbing. That said, The Magicians trilogy is also clever, funny, magical, and, in the end, life affirming. 

The Magicians trilogy avoids the pitfall that so many postmodern takes on beloved childhood stories run into, which is to use the adult perspective as an excuse for despair and utter disillusionment. Sure, there's despair and disillusionment in these novels, but the darkness doesn't get the final word: there's joy and magic, too. These books affirm the power of stories to make worlds -- the power of words to make things -- and that power is all the more impressive in light of the despair and disillusionment that often comes with adulthood. On top of all that, the story is just plain fun to read. The writing is wonderful, the characters are fascinating, and the mythology a unique blend of the fantasy worlds the story draws on. I was instantly captivated by protagonist Quentin Coldwater and his magical journey. If you still half-expect to be greeted by a faun when you encounter a street lamp on a snowy day; if you've ever wanted an owl as a pet; if you've ever longed for something more in the midst of the mundane, these books are for you. These books don't just suck you into a fantasy world where you wish you could stay forever; they also bring you back into the real world with hope and purpose, seeing the magical opportunities for creation everywhere.

So if you need a book to keep you company in these remaining winter weeks, I highly recommend The Magicians. Buy it here.