The Magicians

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about Lev Grossman's The Magicians yet. It's fairly interesting and not a hard read, but it isn't particularly compelling nor does the magical school seem all that "magical." So far, Quentin has wandered away from home and into a magical college, taken a long weird exam, and wandered around aimlessly ever since. Since I'm only on page 47, I should probably give it some more time before I judge so harshly, but it just seems like there is so much more that Grossman could have done to pull in the reader and really engross them in this magical world. Maybe I'm expecting too much Harry Potter and that's not what Grossman was going for. Either way, I'm enjoying the novel just fine, I just expected something more unexpected and fanatical. The most magical thing that's happened is a deck of cards falling into the shape of a house... or that it is summer at the magical school and it's November in Brooklyn...

One thing I did find rather interesting was the way in which Quentin said he read the Fillory books and never really escaped them, now he's suck in a normal world always wanting something more. I feel like this is a very interesting and believable predicament. Several times after I've read a particularly engaging book I find myself lost in the world and the characters of the book for several hours or days afterward. Sometimes it seems like it would be more fulfilling to find this other world where all of these incredible things are happening rather than continue in our day to day monotonous lives. I think it will be very interesting to see if Brakebills lives up to Quentin's fantasies created by the Fillory books.