The Magicians: A Novel

· The Magicians Book 1 · Penguin Random House Audio · Narrated by Mark Bramhall
4.7
50 reviews
Audiobook
17 hr 24 min
Unabridged
Eligible
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About this audiobook

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

The New York Times bestselling novel about a young man practicing magic in the real world, now an original series on SYFY

The Magicians is to Harry Potter as a shot of Irish whiskey is to a glass of weak tea. . . . Hogwarts was never like this.”
—George R.R. Martin
 
“Sad, hilarious, beautiful, and essential to anyone who cares about modern fantasy.”
—Joe Hill
 
“A very knowing and wonderful take on the wizard school genre.”
—John Green
 
The Magicians may just be the most subversive, gripping and enchanting fantasy novel I’ve read this century.”
—Cory Doctorow

“This gripping novel draws on the conventions of contemporary and classic fantasy novels in order to upend them . . . an unexpectedly moving coming-of-age story.”
—The New Yorker

“The best urban fantasy in years.”
—A.V. Club


Quentin Coldwater is brilliant but miserable. A high school math genius, he’s secretly fascinated with a series of children’s fantasy novels set in a magical land called Fillory, and real life is disappointing by comparison. When Quentin is unexpectedly admitted to an elite, secret college of magic, it looks like his wildest dreams have come true. But his newfound powers lead him down a rabbit hole of hedonism and disillusionment, and ultimately to the dark secret behind the story of Fillory. The land of his childhood fantasies turns out to be much darker and more dangerous than he ever could have imagined. . . .

The prequel to the New York Times bestselling book The Magician King and the #1 bestseller The Magician's Land, The Magicians is one of the most daring and inventive works of literary fantasy in years. No one who has escaped into the worlds of Narnia and Harry Potter should miss this breathtaking return to the landscape of the imagination.

Ratings and reviews

4.7
50 reviews
lawrence Mathes
March 9, 2023
pretty meh. Some really unlikable characters go to hogwarts-university, then Narnia. Throw in a little sex and relationship drama, and that's about it.
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Athena Tee
March 27, 2019
thoroughly enjoyed this narration minus the author's propensity to pronounce W words with a strange extra "huh" or "heh" sound.
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Christina Lara
July 21, 2023
depressing to the end. but awesome book
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About the author

LEV GROSSMAN is the book critic for Time magazine and author of five novels, including the international bestseller Codex and the #1 New York Times bestselling Magicians trilogy. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and three children.

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