The Magician King is a new adult fantasy novel by Lev Grossman, published in 2011 by Viking Press, the sequel to The Magicians. It continues the story of Quentin Coldwater, interweaving it with the story of his high school crush, Julia, who learned magic outside of the standard school setting and joined him in Fillory.
Solid sequel that maintains the cynical grey tone of the first volume. A good character-driven novel with characters who have to overcome themselves and illusions of themselves in order to survive, one way or another. I love Grossman's prose, which has a dismissive aspect, but is also so illuminating, with surprises everywhere. However... Note: Trigger warning for a very immediate rape scene.
I was a bit hesitant to read this one. I only mildly like the first one ([b:The Magicians|6101718|The Magicians|Lev Grossman|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1313772941s/6101718.jpg|6278977]), but didn't want more Narnia/Potter mash up. It turns out the second one feels a bit more original and, to me, more enjoyable.
There are two main plot lines and the story appears to lack focus, but once you get 3/4 of the way through everything snaps together and you realize that there was a purpose to all the meandering and even the smallest things become important. Also, the story becomes really interesting at that point and I could barely set it down.
In terms of characters, we get to see more of Quentin and he sounds a bit more mature than in the prior book, eventually even becoming a likeable character (I didn't connect with him in book 1). Julia is now a prominent character and her story arc …
I was a bit hesitant to read this one. I only mildly like the first one ([b:The Magicians|6101718|The Magicians|Lev Grossman|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1313772941s/6101718.jpg|6278977]), but didn't want more Narnia/Potter mash up. It turns out the second one feels a bit more original and, to me, more enjoyable.
There are two main plot lines and the story appears to lack focus, but once you get 3/4 of the way through everything snaps together and you realize that there was a purpose to all the meandering and even the smallest things become important. Also, the story becomes really interesting at that point and I could barely set it down.
In terms of characters, we get to see more of Quentin and he sounds a bit more mature than in the prior book, eventually even becoming a likeable character (I didn't connect with him in book 1). Julia is now a prominent character and her story arc is very interesting. She never feels as real as Quentin, though, so I wasn't as invested in her story.
The main plot is Quentin's quest, which starts of with him just wanting some adventure, but then actually evolves into a quest to save magic from its true owners- some cool stuff happens near the end. It left me wanting to read book 3 (there's a book 3 coming out, right?).
Overall: it was a good book. I can't quite pin point why I didn't enjoy it more or why I enjoyed so much. I'm sure you'll find something in it to entertain you, though.
