Steve Review: The Magician King by Lev Grossman
Title: The Magician King
Series: The Magicians #2
Paperback, 400 pages
Author: Lev Grossman
Publisher: Viking
Publication Date: August 9, 2011
Source: Book Expo America
Buy: Amazon
Add To: Goodreads
Book Summary:
Quentin and his friends are now the kings and queens of Fillory, but the days and nights of royal luxury are starting to pall. After a morning hunt takes a sinister turn, Quentin and his old friend Julia charter a magical sailing ship and set out on an errand to the wild outer reaches of their kingdom. Their pleasure cruise becomes an adventure when the two are unceremoniously dumped back into the last place Quentin ever wants to see: his parent’s house in Chesterton, Massachusetts. And only the black, twisted magic that Julia learned on the streets can save them.
Steve Review:
Well, sh*t. I’m not even sure I’m allowed to swear on this blog. But I feel like I should, and I feel strongly that this review should start with a curse. Sorry people, it’s going to be one of those reviews 
.
If you’ve never read my review of the first book in this series; The Magicians, check it out here. You can see that I thought very highly of it. I know from reading other reviews of it that many people were disappointed with it. I believe that it is all about the reader’s mindset going in, but neither of these books are YA in any way. At a quick glance they appear to have similar magical elements to Harry Potter and Narnia but the similarities quickly disappear if you delve any deeper. The characters have very adult adventures with large dark twists to nearly all of their magical quests.
Once again, I was struck by the range of emotions that I experienced throughout The Magician King. Mr. Grossman is truly an expert at portraying very real emotional dilemmas and he hits home again in this sequel. And unlike so many literary works these days that shallowly skim the surface of human feelings, he isn’t afraid to leave the reader with very real sadness, frustration, and longing. I applaud the bold plot twists that leave the reader guessing at what is going to happen next.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not all death and despair. Regardless of what that future predicting hare says, haha. The characters are great, there is always hope throughout the tale, and the language in which the story is told is contemporary and amusing. Not YA, but fantastic and moving nonetheless.
Points Scale:
Cover: 4/5 – Nice and abstract.
Title: 5/5 – Excellent fit for Quentin.
Plot: 9/10 – Couple entertaining perspective changes and impossible to guess what is going to happen next.
Characters: 8/10 – The only criticism I have for this book is the lack of Alice. I was really she’d hoping she’d magically (pun intended) pop up in this sequel.
Writing: 9/10 – Haughty yet relatable, haunting yet inspiring.
Ending: 8/10 – Well, sh*t.
Total: 43/50 – Keep this emotional roller coaster going strong Mr. Grossman. I’ll enjoy the highs and lows of this amazing ride as long as it lasts.
Buy: Amazon
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Yeah – the reviews that I saw for “The Magicians” were not that great, some people couldn’t even finish it! I will not be reading these, but as always, enjoyed your review anyway!
And as far as the sw$@ring – I don’t mind it, but I would think you would have to get the wife’s permission since it is her blog!
wall-to-wall books-wendy recently posted..READ your own Books month!
Twitter: SteveDayOD
Yeah, I saw some of those as well Wendy. Like I said, the books are definitely not YA and I can see how some people might mistake them for YA. That being said I couldn’t imagine not finishing The Magicians as it had me totally hooked throughout. Not everything is all happy gumdrops and lollipops but meh, it gives the story character! This sequel is even more dark, especially toward the end with some pretty crazy twists, not for the faint of heart or even a typical 10-18(ish) yr old YA audience. Also, thanks for pardoning my swearing, haha. Shanyn did apparently let it pass, whew
Double also, I just started using twitter so you should start too Wendy! Click below on my name for those of you interested.
Twitter: SteveDayOD
ha, it fooled me, click ABOVE on my Twitter name, not below. Silly Steve.
Steve recently posted..Steve Review: The Magician King by Lev Grossman
Hahahahaha me? Twitter? yeah like I don’t already have enough internet stuff I do!
wall-to-wall books-wendy recently posted..READ your own Books month!
Twitter: BookwormAsheley
I totally want to read these books. I was already sold before this little swearing safari, but just to make it worth your while, I’ll let you think you sold me on them.
Asheley (Into the Hall of Books) recently posted..My Thoughts On: A Single Shot by Matthew F. Jones
Twitter: SteveDayOD
DO IT! And then come back and tell me how you liked them!
PS – I knew swearing would convince you guys (girls) to read these!!
Steve recently posted..Steve Review: The Magician King by Lev Grossman
Steve, I have to say this one is slow going for me. I listened to the first on audio and liked it more than I had anticipated I would. I’m thinking I might have to switch from the print version I’m using now in order to go straight through uninterupted. I’m encouraged by the high scores though (even though I’m spoiled by now knowing Alice doesn’t show up…I was hopeful about that too). No fear on that though, I kinda figured that it was a long shot!
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