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    The Magician King: A Novel
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    The Magician King: A Novel
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    The Magician King: A Novel
    Audiobook15 hours

    The Magician King: A Novel

    Written by Lev Grossman

    Narrated by Mark Bramhall

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    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.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateAug 9, 2011
    ISBN9781101523674
    Unavailable
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    Reviews for The Magician King

    4/5

    1,286 ratings102 reviews

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    • 4/5
      This is the sequel to "The Magicians", which I actually thought was a one-off; but I spotted this in the library, so I picked it up. If "The Magicians" was the equivalent of the Narnia book "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", then this would correspond to "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader", in that much of the adventure takes place on board a ship out at sea.Quentin and his friends from the first book now rule in the magical / mythical land of Fillory; but life is too easy, and they wish for adventure. Adventure they get, and it takes Quentin through multiple universes on a quest to save magic. Threaded through the book is Julia's side of the first story, which took place in the 'real' world and explains how she learned her magic outside the aegis of Brakebills, the magic school that Quentin got into but she didn't, and how she became the way she is now.On a personal note, how ever much it adds to the 'gritty realism' of the story, I wish there had been less swearing, and I could have done without the violence that occurs towards the end. The violence itself is not gratuitous, in that it does make a point. On the other hand, the book could have also worked without that scene, and maybe it is just there for shock value. (I'm not a fan of violence; it tends to haunt me, especially when it blindsides me as it did here.)The book is well written apart from that one aspect that jarred; the plot works well and the prose . For the first time, I'm wondering if I should rate a book higher than my personal enjoyment of it.On balance, I think I will give it four stars.
    • 4/5
      I felt like this one bounced a lot with more unanswered questions. Some places dragged, but over all still an amazing book and, as usual, better than the tv series.
    • 5/5
      I liked this marginally less than the last book, but still more than many other books I've given 4 stars too, so ultimately I gave this one a fifth. The biggest difference for me was the ending -- I wrote in my review of the first book about how perfect and complete it was, that while it was wonderful to know there was a second book, I would have loved the first book as a stand-alone novel just as much or more. This one, though, ended a little abruptly, with one of those hated moments where you turn the page only to find that it's blank, and you think, "Wait WHAT?!" and flip back to make sure you haven't missed a page or two...

      So I hate ending a book with that horrible unsatisfied but-I-wasn't-ready-for-it-to-end! feeling. Still, even that unpleasant surprise wasn't nearly enough to spoil the book for me. In some ways it was even more complex and impressive, plot-wise, than the first book. In particular, I thought the retracing of Julia's path was incredibly well done, with elements that I seriously never saw coming, but that in retrospect seemed inevitable, which I think is a sign of a truly great plot (that is, when you can be surprised, but the surprises aren't implausible, but in hindsight are so completely plausible you can hardly believe you were surprised by them).

      Anyway, I'm a little bit in love with Lev Grossman now, and must locate a copy of his other book posthaste. Also, I will be waiting very impatiently for the third book in this series, whose creation has apparently been foretold.
    • 5/5
      Some books you race through and wish they were twice as long, even when they are 700 pages, like Harry Potter. Some books you read slow and steady, but even if they are less than 200 pages, feel long enough, like The Ocean at the End of the Lane. And some books you read in furious but short bursts because you know you're going to be sad when it's over, but you can't help reading as fast as possible. The Magician King is such a book.

      Any pacing issues or slow build-up to the main plot that plagued the first book (The Magicians) have completely disappeared. There's still a fair amount of "becoming an adult" angst, but even that was less grating since Quentin actually seemed to learn something in the end.

      Lev Grossman skillfully weaves traditions and rituals and folklore and literature (etc.) together into something wonderful. Quentin gets off track while on a quest, with disastrous consequences for him, but in the end is able to rejoin the thread his predestined story: that of the titular Magician King. One of my favorite lines, when he finally meets the guardian of the thing he's seeking explains how aware this book is of the weaving together of plots and folklore, Quentin "was part of the fairy tale now, he supposed. He'd crashed through a shared wall into an adjoining story. Enter the Magician King." It's like when Indiana Jones meets the knight guarding the Grail. The mythologies aren't supposed to mix like that. But in this book they do, and it just works. The characters bring folk magic and comparative religion into it too, as well as the merits of institutional versus real-world education.

      This book had everything from dryads and dragons to message boards and hackers: both of computers and of something more fundamental. I won't say more than that, only that you should get through The Magicians if for no other reason, than to read this sequel. I am definitely looking forward to the next book. That is the problem with starting a series before it's written: you have to wait for the next one!
    • 3/5
      I enjoyed this much more than the first book in the series. Julia's back story, while not particularly surprising or unexpected, was engaging and interesting. Quentin becomes less unbearable, especially towards the conclusion of the volume. The new characters who were introduced felt more like real people and less like abstract caricatures than in the first book, and returning characters gained more depth. While things are still not "happy" in the way of Harry Potter or other kid-fantasy, it wasn't the grueling nihilism of the first book either. I was really unimpressed with The Magicians and only read this because I already had it checked out from the library, but I'm very glad I did.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book, plain and simple. As stated in my review, I found myself conflicted and questioning the originality and the style of writing of The Magicians. The Magician Kings exudes originality and introduces Julia as a more in depth character to help me with the loss of my favorite character from The Magicians, Alice. I loved the dual story lines and how they merged just in time to tell a complete story. I'm so glad that I gave this sequel a chance because this is one of my favorite books of the year.

      Second read: Still loved this book and can't wait to start the third book!
    • 5/5
      The followup novel to the Magicians that tuned out to be quite a bit better than the first novel (which I really enjoyed). Mark Bramhall does a great job as the narrator in the audio version of this novel and he really brought the characters and story to life. This version has really sold me on listening to more audiobooks including the followup to this one. Lots of character growth and great world building really highlight this story.

      5 stars for a great read. Recommended for any fantasy fan.
    • 3/5
      I just re-read this and has to skip the chapters with Julia at Murs. Ultimately I liked it, but I have to ask myself why I would finish a book replete with unlikeable characters. Again.
    • 4/5
      This was a great way to give us an adventure while, introducing Julia's back story; which helps us to how much Julia paid to learn her magic. It was interesting, but confusing when they split chapters with two stories going at once.
    • 4/5
      This one was very rich. I felt like the pacing was better than book 1, and the story more immersive. Really very good. I'm looking forward to the final installment to see what Quentin does with his blank slate.
    • 3/5
      I've come to expect, and even not mind (enjoy?), stretches of uneventfulness and discontented water-treading in this series. It's part of the atmosphere, and it suits the characters and the sad, absurd journeys they are on. The characters ring true, and there is not a false note of dialogue anywhere in the book. But there are a lot of loose ends, and the whole thing comes off as kind of a rambling yarn or a nanowrimo novel. In contrast to Earth, Fillory feels like a hastily-erected Potemkin village, a colorful surface without anything inside, but perhaps that is kind of the point? At any rate, making emptiness, lack of purpose and detail work for your story rather than against it is a cheap trick and amazingly it works pretty well and I definitely wish I had thought of it first.
    • 3/5
      My feelings about this book; writing from the perspective of teenagers while probably accurate doesn't make for great writing. References while adding colour for the initiated can become tired if over used. If I were to classify the book like a movie, PG-13, for the first part creeping into R territory toward the end. Do I recommend this book? It has good points but it is out-numbered by the bad and annoying. Not sure if I'll read the last one.
    • 4/5
      The second book in the Magicians Trilogy. Picked for the SFF/SFFF KIT for a book I should have read in 2016. I meant to read this book last year when I started watching the SyFy television series based on the books. Season 1 is adapted from parts of the first two books and I had only read the first book -- years ago.Quentin, Julia, Eliot and Janet are the Kings and Queens of the magical land of Fillory. Fillory is one of many worlds to which the magicians (who are from Earth) have access. Quentin is still the main protagonist. Luckily he has matured a little and is less whiny so his chapters are not as difficult to get through in this second book. Quentin is bored. He sets out on a quest to collect taxes from the Outer Islands. Julia goes with him. His quest turns into a quest to save magic in all of the multiple worlds. The quest chapters alternate with chapters that tell Julia's story. Julia's story occurs during Quentin's time at Brakebills College for Magic (book 1). Her chapters explain why Julia seems changed, possibly no longer human. While I preferred the school setting of the first book, the second book was a much quicker read, easier to get through, the characters less annoying and occasionally funny. The ending was good. "This isn't how it ends!" Quentin said. " I am the hero of this god-damned story, Ember! Remember? And the hero gets the reward.""No, Quentin," the ram said. "The hero pays the price"I like the books. The television show is much better. I'm looking forward to season 2 starting on the 25th.
    • 4/5
      The young magicians return to the mundane reality of our world and find they have a need to return the world of magic. Amazing fantasy.
    • 4/5
      Book two in Lev Grossman's Magicians series. I liked this better than the first one; if nothing else, it was a much faster read. But, like the first one, it never felt as if it did for me quite what it should have. I mean, this book has an awful lot going for it. It's well-written. There's some nifty, imaginative world-building. There are some very cool individual scenes. There's a snarky, nerdy sense of humor. And there's a sort of self-reflective, meta-fictional sensibility to it. All that stuff is basically marks a straight line right down the middle of my alley. And yet, for most of the book, it just wasn't grabbing me all that much. It wasn't off-putting or anything. But it wasn't exactly compelling, either. I think a lot of it is just that the characters are difficult to care much about. (Although this book does have an edge over the first one, there, as half the chapters are about Julia, who is at least somewhat more interesting than our usual protagonist, Quentin.) And part of it is that the plot feels unfocused; we aren't told what the stakes are for any of it until very near the end, meaning that the opportunity to give the whole thing a sense of urgency is almost completely squandered. The ending itself is pretty good, which did help my overall opinion. And I am interested enough to want to finish off the trilogy. But I just keep wishing that most of it had been a little more... something.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book even better than the first in the series. In this volume, we really get to enjoy some adventuring in the land of Fillory, a land full of magic and danger. Friendships are strengthened, new characters are introduced and Quentin continues to learn from his mistakes. Every moment of it was fun and exciting.
    • 3/5
      I liked Grossman's previous book in the series and I liked this one, but I have to say that his style leaves me a bit cold at times. Nevertheless, he betrays a allusion-ladden aspect prone to sentences like the following (which happens to summarize much of the plot): "It wasn't the Fellowship of the Ring, but then again he wasn't trying to save the world from Sauron, he was attempting to perform a tax audit on a bunch of hick islanders."
    • 3/5
      I wanted to enjoy this sequel to the Magicians more than I did. I had a hard time paying attention to the story at times, especially when the more outlandish things were happening to Julia. I love the premise of both books: that the world of magic is real and not only in Harry Potter books. But I have a hard time caring about the characters.
    • 4/5
      I think I liked the first book slightly more than this one, but this was a very worthy sequel. Captivating, and Grossman nailed the ending.
    • 4/5
      I liked this a lot more than the Magician, the first book in the series. Quentin is a little more grown up and less whiny and self centered.
    • 5/5
      If you liked the Magicians by Grossman, you'll love the Magician King. It is one of those rare instances where the sequel of a good read is even better than the original. In the Magician King Quentin matures and learns the lesson that there is always a price to be paid and that the Hero is the one who pays it. We also learn how Julia developed as a "hedge witch" in the underground world of magic outside of Breakbills.

    • 4/5
      I guess because The Magicians had a strict "quests are awful and you are awful for wanting to go on one" policy, I was surprised to see a whole lot of fulfilling questing going on here. In some ways it embraces the exact tropes that it previously attempted to deconstruct. But they're done pretty well here, feeling like a more classic homage to the Narnia books, and I enjoyed seeing the same characters in this new style. There's still the attention to realism and overly-harsh consequences for tampering with deep magic, but now on top of that we've got a classic save-the-world quest.

      Quentin's dissatisfaction with his increasingly awesome life has grown from mopiness to the desire to be a hero and take ridiculous risks at every opportunity. For a book with a history of making characters pay for their mistakes, Quentin sure gets a lot of second chances this time around. But overall he's grown since the last book, and continues to grow throughout the story. His actions at the end of the book are the most mature he's been yet.

      Half of the book is dedicated to telling the backstory of a certain side-character who I didn't initially like very much. But in the end I thought their backstory was even more interesting than Quentin's, and the back-and-forth chapters brought back that sharp pang of reality to balance out Quentin's heroics.

      This book doesn't quite hint at a sequel the way the last one did, but based on the lack of closure some characters received I'm guessing there will be one. I had somewhat low expectations going into this because it seemed likely to be a rehash of the first book. But based on how much the characters and world have developed, now I really am excited to see the story continue.
    • 4/5
      I was wondering how much story there could be left to tell, since the previous book came to a quite satisfying end, but I am happy that there seems to be a lot to come still. The book reads like an adult fairy tale, full of wonder and mystery. I really enjoyed it and I am looking forward to the next!
    • 5/5
      this series feels like such a secret special treat. loved this better than the first. although this book did not have prose as flowery as the first...but the whole story seemed stronger. would love a third.
    • 3/5
      I did not like this one as much as the first book, but it was still entertaining. Sequel to The Magicians, it got a little weird at the end with the god-complex thing, and I did not feel like the ending addressed the whole book. Really love his writing style though, funny and full of 'fucks'.
    • 5/5
      On the last page of THE MAGICIANS, I was angry because the book was ending. But I took heart when I flipped the page and read "watch for THE MAGICIAN KING - COMING AUGUST 2011". Now I feel somewhat the same way about finishing THE MAGICIAN KING and I don't know if there is a Part 3. ???Even if the story has ended, it's a wonderful, creepy, sophisticated, yes I agree a "Harry Potter for adults", and I loved every magical minute of it. ( And the non-magical minutes as well)
      But I would like to know...when is the next book ?
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed Grossman's second installment in this series more than the first. (To be clear, book one - The Magicians - was still a lot of fun for this former Narnia-obsessed child to read.) The Magician King spends more time with the character Julia, whose venture into magic was far more fascinating than Quentin's. The pacing and action this time around were more engrossing. I am very much looking forward to future installments in this series.
    • 4/5
      The Magicians + the Magician King: The fantasy is first class, and each moment is cool, but it was tricky to love the characters and appreciate the arc. A year later, I ran into them again and went back for a second read. Knowing the boundaries helped, and they earned their stars. Now, I'm anticipating the third book.
    • 3/5
      This sequel to The Magicians is definitely not a stand alone book. You have to read the first one to understand the characters & their back stories. However, for the first time, we get to see Julia's back story, dark & sad as it is, as well as her evolution into something much more than the mere girl she started out as. Harry Potter these books are NOT. They are dark, full of choices & regrets, but also full of magic, wonders, & quests. Quentin is the tragic hero of the book, & even though I was really bummed at the ending, it left me mentally screaming UNFAIR, but then again, it drives home the hard life lesson that life itself isn't fair either. It did leave me hopeful for a third installment, to see what Quentin can do next, as well as what Bingle & Julia find on the Far Side of the world.....
    • 3/5
      Hated the first half of this book, but the ending was appropriate and (ultimately) much needed. "Our hero" finally grows the hell up.