Book 13 - The Narnian Influence Becomes More Prominent

Title: The Magician King Author: Lev Grossman Genre: Not-for-kids fantasy adventure

In The Magicians, we got the fun intro to the universe of magic: the boarding school, the mechanics of magic, character growth, heartbreak, adventure. This time around, we're introduced to the weird, jagged underbelly of the magical realm - and it is just GREAT.

Like I mentioned in my review of the first book in this series, magic isn't this easy, willy nilly thing that you can summon on a whim with a fair bit of luck and some waving around. You need to be an obsessive perfectionist with agile/muscular hands. Diving into The Magician King, the reader, not unlike the characters, has this base understanding of magic and expects those rules to be followed.

NOT.

Everything is thrown out the window. Now we're introduced to people who didn't get the formal, squeaky-clean education that Quentin and his pals did, but had to make it up, or learn a telephone-game-garbled version of it. Quentin is uneasy, and so is the reader - but also intrigued, because it's weird and dark and very, very sexy. Also, Quentin can be such a down-in-the-dumps know-it-all that it's satisfying to see him thrown and uncomfortable.

But...

I have to say, I liked this book less and less the deeper I got into the story. Quentin has some crazy long internal dialogue that could have been cut down by half, or been explored in a another way. As it is, I find myself backtracking because I had inadvertently skimmed over his mopey musings. Additionally, I was disappointed by the end. I felt like there was a huge build-up for a mediocre payoff. Also, there's a rape scene that I thought was kindof uncalled for. It wasn't gratuitous or anything, but I did feel like it came out of nowhere and was a bit of a cop-out. What is the greatest thing a woman can give up, in addition to her humanity? I guess it's her body? I don't know, I wasn't sold.

Rating: 🐇🐇🐇/5