The Magicians: (Book 1) - Softcover

Grossman, Lev

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0099534444 ISBN 13: 9780099534440

Publisher: Arrow, 2009

Synopsis

'The Magicians is to Harry Potter as a shot of Irish whiskey is to a glass of weak tea . . . dark and dangerous and full of twists' – GEORGE R. R. MARTIN

THE BESTSELLING BOOK BEHIND THE HIT SYFY SHOW
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In a secret world of forbidden knowledge, power comes at a terrible price...

Quentin Coldwater's life is changed forever by an apparently chance encounter: when he turns up for his entrance interview to Princeton University, he finds his interviewer dead – but a strange envelope bearing Quentin's name leads him down a very different path. Instead of Princeton, he finds himself invited to study at Brakebills – a secret college of modern-day sorcerers.

Quentin plunges deep into a secret world of obsession and privilege, a world of freedom and power; and for a while, it seems to answer all Quentin's desires. But the idyll cannot last. There are others powers than sorcery, powers that are as seductive as they are dangerous – and when the illusion of safety shatters, Quentin is drawn into a world far darker than he ever imagined.

After all, power corrupts. No exceptions.

THE FIRST BOOK IN LEV GROSSMAN'S CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED MAGICIAN TRILOGY
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Praise for the Magician Trilogy:

'Stirring, complex, adventurous . . . superb' – JUNOT DIAZ, author of DROWN and THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO

'A sophisticated, subtle novel that is also magical fun' – THE TIMES

‘Lev Grossman has conjured a rare creature: a trilogy that simply gets better and better as it goes along . . . Literary perfection.’ – ERIN MORGENSTERN, author of THE NIGHT CIRCUS

'The Magicians ought to be required reading . . . Lev Grossman has written a terrific, at times almost painfully perceptive novel of the fantastic' – KELLY LINK

'The best fantasy trilogy of the decade' – CHARLES STROSS

'The Magicians is angst-ridden, bleak, occasionally joyous and gloriously readable. Forget Hogwarts: this is where the magic really is.' – SFX

'The Magicians is fantastic, in all senses of the word. It's strange, fanciful, extravagant, eccentric, and truly remarkable – a great story, masterfully told.' – SCOTT SMITH, author of THE RUINS

About this title

Review:

“Stirring, complex, adventurous ... from the life of Quentin Coldwater, his slacker Park Slope Harry Potter, Lev Grossman delivers superb coming of age fantasy.”
— Junot Díaz, author of Drown and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

“The Magicians ought to be required reading for anyone who has ever fallen in love with a fantasy series, or wished that they went to a school for wizards. Lev Grossman has written a terrific, at times almost painfully perceptive novel of the fantastic that brings to mind both Jay McInerney and J. K. Rowling.”
 — Kelly Link, author of Magic for Beginners and Pretty Monsters

“Remember the last time you ran home to finish a book? This is it, folks. The Magicians is the most dazzling, erudite and thoughtful fantasy novel to date. You'll be bedazzled by the magic but also brought short by what it has to say about the world we live in.”
— Gary Shteyngart, author of The Russian Debutante's Handbook and Absurdistan

“The Magicians brilliantly explores the hidden underbelly of fantasy and easy magic, taking what's simple on the surface and turning it over to show us the complicated writhing mess beneath. It's like seeing the worlds of Narnia and Harry Potter through a 3-D magnifying glass.”
— Naomi Novik, author of the Temeraire series

“Anyone who grew up reading about magical wardrobes and unicorns and talking trees before graduating to Less Than Zero and The Secret History and Bright Lights, Big City will immediately feel right at home with this smart, beautifully written book by Lev Grossman. The Magicians is fantastic, in all senses of the word. It's strange, fanciful, extravagant, eccentric, and truly remarkable -- a great story, masterfully told.”
— Scott Smith, author of A Simple Plan and The Ruins

“The Magicians is a spellbinding, fast-moving, dark fantasy book for grownups that feels like an instant classic. I read it in a niffin-blue blaze of page turning, enthralled by Grossman's verbal and imaginative wizardry, his complex characters and most of all, his superb, brilliant inquiry into the wondrous, dangerous world of magic.”
— Kate Christensen, author of The Epicure's Lament and The Great Man

“Very dark and very scary, with no simple answers provided -- fantasy for grown-ups, in other words, and very satisfying indeed.”
— Kirkus

"The Magicians is angst-ridden, bleak, occasionally joyous and gloriously readable. Forget Hogwarts: this is where the magic really is."
 — Jayne Nelson, SFX 5 star review.

“The Magicians is Harry Potter as it might have been written by John Crowley...This is one of the best fantasies I’ve read in ages.”
— Elizabeth Hand, Fantasy & Science Fiction

“The author has taken all that is held dear in the fantasy genre, reverently (most of the time) tipping the hat to Rowling, Tolkien, Lewis, Le Guin and others, and shown it from a completely different and unique angle.”
— Fantasy Book Review (9 out of 10 stars)

Book Description:

In a secret world of forbidden knowledge, power comes at a terrible price ...

The unputdownable new novel by the bestselling author of CODEX

About this edition

• Publisher: Arrow
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0099534444
• ISBN 13: 9780099534440
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 496