My name is Catie, I'm a 21-year-old menial worker who spends most of her time reading books with fantastical themes in order to escape my mundane life!
The book I'm currently reading is "The Magicians" by Lev Grossman which is the first book in a series currently containing two books. (The sequel is titled "The Magician King" and takes place two years after the first.) I decided to read this book after Grossman won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. It's been described by a lot of people as Harry Potter for adults and while I believe that the basic premise is the same (a school specifically for the purpose of teaching magic) the book reads very differently from the Harry Potter series. ("could crudely be labeled a Harry Potter for adults," The New York Times) Grossman seems to have a very strange sense of humour and it's reflected in the main character, Quentin's thoughts."The Magicians" follows an atypical 17 year old genius through his life at an elite school for magical young adults known as Brakebills, Quentin Coldwater. Quentin has an obsession with a series of children's books known as the "Fillory & Further" series which is loosely based on "The Chronicles of Narnia". Quentin has a very difficult time with the idea of happiness and I feel that it's sets the tone of the book, it reads like a confused teenager/young adult attempting to find meaning in a world of endless opportunities, most of which seem trivial and pointless and tragedy.
In sense of pace, "The Magicians" is fairly fast-paced and even more so once you pass the first three-fourths. The even that happens at that point is no surprise if you're an astute reader but it is definitely considered a plot-twist. I feel that these last hundred or so pages is what pushed the book from pretty good to amazing. Grossman definitely deserves the recognition that he received for this book.
Grossman's Website
"The Magicians" on GoodReads
Purchase "The Magicians"
