jerseyfabulous | 7 of 100: The Magicians (Reply)

No one told Quentin Coldwater, the protagonist of Lev Grossman's The Magicians, that roads are for journeys, not destinations. Quentin is never satisfied. There's always something better just over the horizon that might make him happy. He's never happy with where he is or what he is- even when where and what he is are pretty awesome. Quentin manages to overlook the incredible surroundings and classmates of his magic university (the "Hogwarts for grownups" line is somewhat accurate- fanfic doesn't need to add the sex and alcohol, it's already there) including the lovely and talented Alice as easily as he discarded his previous crush Julia in the beginning of the book. He spends an inordinate amount of time obsessing about a Narnia-analogue called Fillory, which a family of children called the Chatwins used to go to. Then he finally gets a chance to go to Fillory (but not until after cheating on Alice for no reason other than boredom with post-university life and getting pissy when she decides that what's good for the magical goose is just as good for the gander.) Needless to say, Fillory fails to make him happy either, especially when it turns out that Fillory isn't the child's wonderland he loved in the books, where everything is just given to you for showing up.

The book is interesting enough to read in one sitting, but at the same time, not as enthralling as you might think. For one thing, Quentin gives off a bit of a Gary Stu vibe- for all he claims he's working hard, it never feels like he is. He just shows up, somehow passes an exam he doesn't even understand, then skips into second year shortly thereafter. While it's always clear that Alice is the real talent, the only time Quentin seems to acknowledge her ability is in Fillory. And by that time, he's alternating between 'who cares, whatever, let's just do this' and CAPSLOCK RAGE about Alice and Penny. (Said rage is hilarious, considering if he'd been less oblivious and self-absorbed, he might have listened to her in the first place and not cheated on her, or been more aware of being maneuvered into cheating on her, or even just handled things better once he did.) Honestly, it's difficult to find sympathy for a guy with his head so far up his ass.

I will read the sequel, but I hope Quentin actually gets some of that clarity and strength Mayakovsky talked about in Antartica.