The Magician King - Lev Grossman

The Magician King

By Lev Grossman

  • Release Date: 2011-08-09
  • Genre: Epic Fantasy
Score: 4.5
4.5
From 872 Ratings

Description

Lev Grossman’s new novel THE BRIGHT SWORD will be on sale July 2024

Return to Fillory in the riveting sequel to the New York Times bestseller and literary phenomenon, The Magicians, now an original series on SYFY, from the author of the #1 bestselling The Magician’s Land.


Quentin Coldwater should be happy. He escaped a miserable Brooklyn childhood, matriculated at a secret college for magic, and graduated to discover that Fillory—a fictional utopia—was actually real. But even as a Fillorian king, Quentin finds little peace. His old restlessness returns, and he longs for the thrills a heroic quest can bring.

Accompanied by his oldest friend, Julia, Quentin sets off—only to somehow wind up back in the real world and not in Fillory, as they’d hoped. As the pair struggle to find their way back to their lost kingdom, Quentin is forced to rely on Julia’s illicitly learned sorcery as they face a sinister threat in a world very far from the beloved fantasy novels of their youth.

Reviews

  • Ben my I

    5
    By bbnujiio
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  • Barely Fair

    2
    By Caz Antoniö
    This book is better than the first with a few more action sequences and some surprising plot twists, but overall the writing is lazy and lacking no in cohesion and logic. Many outcomes seem random. My biggest criticism is that the story doesn't feel well thought out.
  • Monty Python Revival

    2
    By M.Hemmingway
    After reading the first book of this series I decided to read a sample of the second. I found the first book disappointing because of the main character flaw, but something else kept nagging at me. I suddenly realized during my reading of this second book I was reading Monty Python!
  • I feel like Grossman kicked me in the balls.

    1
    By TylerW89
    The way this novel concluded makes me think the author is a masochist. He loves the experience of cutting himself so much, that he endeavored to do it on a grand scale. The author created a character I truly loved to read, then squashed his hopes and dreams in such a way as to feel like my dreams had been crushed as well. What more could I ask for - except for my money back?
  • The Magician King

    5
    By Mel3116
    This is absolutely one of the best, not quite finished, trilogies that I've read in a long time. The sad part is waiting until August 2014 to find out what Quentin will do, what will he discover, and how will he manage to recover from not being a part of Fillory. You need to start with The Magician which I also thoroughly enjoyed-it was the underpinnings/the beginning of the creation of this wonderful world. Enjoy losing yourself in this tale! WARNING: Expect nights where you read until 2 or 3 in the morning and don't notice the passing of time, you can't believe it when you look at the clock ... now that's magical!
  • Excellent

    5
    By artmcclain
    Normally, when reading books like this there is no real end but this one started and ended great from book to book. I definitely recommend it for an adult. This was a fantastic fantasy.
  • Like a second heartbeat.

    5
    By YotamSh
    After reading "The Magicians", I was stunned by the brilliant bitter-sweetness of the ending, feeling the curtain closing on this marvelous story. "This is pretty much it", I thought to myself, "Any thing beyond it would just be some extra content, irrelevant to the main story". I was never this wrong in my entire life. "The Magician King" actually tells two different stories simultaneously, both of them are complete game changers to every single aspect of the story. The first is the one you pretty much expected: Quentin's new adventure as a king of Fillory. The other story features Julia, and what happened to her during "The Magicians" time period, from that cold day in brooklyn when it all started to the final act where she was flying in front of Quentin's window with Eliot and Janet. Believe me when I say you have never read the first book before you read this one. "The Magician King", surprisingly enough, managed to keep that wonderful bitter-sweetness of "The Magicians" ending throughout the entire book, all the way to the very end, and still be an unbroken part of the first book, featuring the tragic feeling of loss. The sequel also continues Grossman's obsession of white bunnies, neat squares, and putting down any childish over-excitement the reader has for magic, now with even much more at stake. If "The Magicians" hadn't put you in perspective about magic already, be sure that "The Magician King" will do the trick. This book is a wonderful masterpiece with some unexpected twists that blow your mind, and somehow it filled 99% of the holes in the first book while creating almost the same number of new ones, leaving me hopeful for a third installment in this unique and beautiful series.
  • Great read

    5
    By Rouxleaux
    Great second book to the magicians.
  • Better than the first. Poor ending.

    3
    By mobyfict
    I enjoyed the Magician King more so than the Magicians. I loved the dark complexity of Julia's character. I felt like it really made the book. Wasn't happy with the ending. It almost seemed rushed and left me feeling empty. I was waiting for Alice to make a reappearance before the end. All in all, good. I will be reading the third and final novel of the series when it comes out.
  • An epic journey!

    5
    By mcb045
    To there and back, the perfect sequel to the novel and ingenious novel The Magicians. Absolute perfection.