Robots and Vamps

Reviewed by Matt

Disclosure: This Audio novel was purchased by the reviewer’s own hard earned cash.

Narrated by Mark Bramhall
Audio Length: 17 hours and 24 minutes

The week I decided to download and listen to Lev Grossman’s The Magicians I read two reviews, one absolutely loved it and the other review detested the novel to its very soul. After listening to the novel I can relate with both reviews. This is novel that you likely either love it or hate it. That being said, I fall somewhere in the middle but leaning towards not liking this novel. I applaud the author for the ideas of the story but the execution left me alittle cold.

I believe the dividing line mainly lies with the main character, Quentin Coldwater. If you like your characters bitter and angsty without any sense of wonderment then you will identify with Quentin and probably enjoy this novel. If you like characters that are optimistic and appreciate the wonders of a strange new world this novel will have you wanting to slap Quentin across the face several times through out the story.

Quentin is about to graduate from high school and is looking into colleges when through several strange circumstances he ends up on the campus of Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy. At first, this is a dream come true to Quentin as he spent his youth reading a fantasy adventure series that takes in a land of Fillory (a Chronicles of Narnia knock off). He has also self taught himself magic card tricks during his misspent youth. Quentin is tested by the professors and accepted into Brakebills. It is explained that Brakebills is the only college in America that teaches magic. After several years in Brakebills the students are sorted into specialties with Physical Magic being the rarest of all. Quentin’s talent has not really manifested but since the professors feel that he has unlimited magical talent, he is assigned to study Physical Magic along with his friend, Alice.

This story is essentially divided into two parts. The first half of the story covers Quentin’s five years at Brakebills. I enjoyed the first part of the story much more than the second half. The only thing that really nagged at me through out was the lack of wonderment and achievement by the main character and his cohorts. They are there to study magic which in itself would be amazing and would open avenues of excitement and passion about the subject. The author treats the story as a disgruntled kid attending any normal college in which they really don’t want to and eventually becomes bored. There are no cool or quirky professors that would provide entertainment. What it boils downs to is that if the main character is ambivalent about the whole thing, then there is a good chance the reader will become disconnected. I did like the scene where Quentin is taken to the home of his girlfriend and learns that life is difficult once you graduate from Brakebills. What is a person do to with their life when they have special powers but lives in a world where that talent is not recognized or relied upon.

The second half of novel was more of a let down to me than anything. In the fist half of the book Quentin is constantly reading and thinking about Fillory. It is the one thing in his life that he has some passion about. Fillory is a land a lot like C.S. Lewis’ Narnia in which there are talking animals and a family of siblings known as the Chatwin’s who cross over to have adventures. Eventually Quentin learns that Fillory actually exists and his friends discover a way to cross over. I really thought that the novel would pick up at this point but the characters are the same dark smart asses that they were in college. Instead of having their minds blown by the experience, they are more like teenagers being dragged through Disney World. I had a hard time with these parts. If you are dropped into your favorite universe that you have dreamed about since you were a kid, the coolness would take a long time to wear off and you sure as hell would not be in a hurry to go home.

It may sound like I am totaling ripping on this book as there are some truly good parts but I am not sure that it can overcome the dreadful parts for me. I really enjoyed the approach Mr. Grossman generally took towards the world of magic. It is taken from a real world prospective but is kept hidden from society.

The narration by Mark Bramhall is very well done and he is able capture the mood of the novel. He is able to slip into different voices so that you recognize who is talking without being told. I suspect I would have had a hard time finishing this novel by reading it; Mr. Bramhall’s narration really made this more of a entertaining experience.

This novel is advertised as paying homage to C.S. Lewis and J.K. Rowling which it certainly does as it borrows heavily from each series. But Mr. Grossman misses the mark by not interjecting the passion or the sense of excitement of a Hogwarts or Narnia.

Author’s website: Lev Grossman