Lev Grossman's The Magician King
I'll admit that, unlike most people, I didn't love Grossman's The Magicians--of course I was excited to read something billed as "Harry Potter for grownups," but none of the characters were likable. They were mostly all pretentious jerkwads acting too cool for school--and I ask you, who is really too cool for magic school? And protagonist Quentin was just kind of annoying. And why didn't Grossman just make the magical land Narnia when it was so clearly Narnia? (Maybe worried about a lawsuit?) It was all just so . . . disappointing.
I didn't remember most of the details of the first one when I started the sequel, but right away I was enjoying it much more--much of it focuses on Julia, Quentin's high school friend who failed the exam to get into his magic school, and how she managed to become a magician anyway, which is a frankly scary journey at parts. And there's plenty of Quentin adventuring going on, but I liked it much more this time, maybe because he was actually a grownup, or because he wasn't surrounded by his douchey friends. It all manages to be fairly thrilling. I really enjoyed Grossman's characterizations this time around, and the way he weaves fairy tales into the narrative. Plus all the pop culture references. This was much, much better than the first one. A.
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An e-galley was provided by the publisher.
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