I’m so happy to see that I’m not the only one who seems to “hate” this book. I got The Magicians as a Christmas present and I was excited because I love fantasy literature. When I begun reading it I felt depressed and I searched for reviews in other blogs. I couldn’t understand why such a book, published by a very important Publisher (here in Spain), hadn’t any review about it. Only few Spanish blogs talked about the strange front page and a little resume of the story (the same you can read everywhere), but no one wrote from the experience of reading it. So I googled in English and I found many, plenty, hundreds of reviews and, more or less, everyone told the same: they disliked deeply the book. I was specially happy with your review because it’s so complete! It says everything I thought about the book so I could finish it (as you did: only to get every single information about it to criticize it without leaving things unsaid). I took some paragraphs from your review to post them on my blog because you told perfectly what I would say about it (I hope you don’t mind. Of course I put a link to your review! See on: http://seshatevneib.blogspot.com/2010/01/los-magos-de-lev-grossman-una-broma-del.html).

I can’t stand this book. I can’t understand how the writer can use stories and things from writers such as Rowling, Carrol, Lewis or Tolkien, to make a big “joke” of their works, creations of writers who received (and continue receiving) a big recognition. Never mind, I hope Grossman didn’t hat that purpose in mind. As I said in my review, I hope teenagers won’t read that book because plenty of them are easily influenced and they could learn by reading this to live a desperate live without hopes or dreams. On the other hand, I can’t understand how someone like Grossman, can commit “mistakes” such as presenting characters without a past live, without explaining why they are as they are, why they live without hope… Never mind, I only want to say that I liked very much your review and that I’m 100% in agreement with you. Good job!

BTW, there are a few negative reviews out there. Mine for one. We may not be ‘professionals’ but we are readers and our opinions are valid.

This strikes me as a book that critics who like literary downers like…actual readers not so much.

Seeing the passion it raised in both you and Aidan makes me want to read it all the more, even though I never had much patience for Holden Caulfield either.