A review by mpetruce
The Magicians, by Lev Grossman

3.0

Not a bad book. I have read one of Grossman's books before (which if I remember seemed a little shaggy doggish to me, but I may be confusing it with something else) and had heard a lot of good things about the series. And I liked it. Lots of nods to classic genre fiction (Harry Potter, Narnia, Middle Earth (of course), His Dark Materials, all that stuff). And yes, as many reviewers no doubt mention, the characters are all self-centered, miserable and they just can't even right now. And as annoying as they are as people, I did not find them annoying as characters. That was their point. That said, I don't find them as annoying as Holden Caulfield or pathetically annoying as the protagonist from Arsonist's Guide to Writers Homes in New England (loved that book's writing, which is what got it it's star from me, HATED the main character, but not in the way I think I was supposed to).
The narration of the audiobook is very good as well, although at times he sounded just like my kids' music teacher, not I have a short list of phrases I'm going to try to get him to say.