Book review
Written by Lev Grossman
William Heinemann Ltd paperback
Release date Out now

When Quentin Coldwater finds the professor of his Princeton interview dead, his tedious life takes a turn for the magical as he discovers alternate worlds, metamorphosis and talking sheep...

The discovery of a corpse is always a great way to start a novel, and here it perfectly sets the mood for what follows. Loneliness, death and mortality are the primary players in this harsh take on children’s dreams and adult realities.

Bored of life and even more bored of himself, our young protagonist is a psychiatrist’s dream. Finding his way into the secluded world of Brakebill’s College, Quentin discovers magic, maturity and monogamy, and for a short time, contentment.

But Brakebill’s isn’t Hogwart’s, and after a practical joke releases ‘the Beast’ into their classroom, leaving one student dead, Quentin and friends fall into a repetitive pattern of drugs, sex and alcohol to fill the void in their increasingly directionless lives.

Most obviously inspired by the works of C.S Lewis, Arthur Ransome and J.K Rowling, The Magicians brings modern day realism to the traditional ‘adventurous sibling’ template. When Quentin, Eliot, Alice et al discover the land in Fillory, their favourite childhood book, to be real, they venture there as a bitter, jealous, divided group; contrary to expectations, they leave it in much the same way.

From Harry Potter to Scarface, pop culture references abound as Grossman takes the tainted, troubled teenagers of today and turns them into his own personal Pevensies, and the characters here possess a similar level of naivety and vulnerability as their Narnian counterparts (despite their magical abilities and considerable age difference).

Grossman artfully sculpts an intricate story that questions life, society and what it means to be happy, and he wraps it up in a beautifully presented morality tale that shocks and absorbs to the very last word. Alice Wybrew

VERDICT: 8/10
You don’t need to read this to know that dreams don’t always come true; but you do need to read it. Grossman’s superb storytelling style is a treat guaranteed to imbue a bout of childhood nostalgia that’ll leave you reeling.