Review

The Magicians

by Lev Grossman

Adult Fantasy

Due August 2009

This book is Harry Potter for grown-ups. Quentin Coldwater arrives at his Princeton alumni interviewer's house to find the man dead on the floor. A paramedic hands him an envelope containing a note and book six of Quentin's favorite 5-part series, a Narnia-esque fantasy for children. But before he can read the manuscript, he finds himself transported to upstate New York, where he is accepted to a magical academy that no one has ever heard of. Thus begins a very unconventional college experience--it involves the usual drama of drinking and relationships, plus the added stress of advanced spell work. Quentin's struggles with power and responsibility, and his search for happiness within the world he's always dreamed of, make this a compelling and strangely believable novel. I couldn't put it down.