Fast paced, surprisingly dirty

The story is very fast paced, but protagonist is a dirty teenager and it shows

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Great story but uninspired narrator

Was hat Ihnen am allerbesten an The Magicians, Book 1 gefallen?

I wanted to have the book as I recently became hooked to the SyFy Series... anyways, the story only loosely resembles that of the TV Series, and that means I get two stories set in a similar world, which I quiet enjoy. Both are equally gripping.

Würden Sie es noch mal mit einem anderen Hörbuch mit Mark Bramhall versuchen?

Rather not. The narrator reads passages that are filled with tension in a very sleepy, anticlimactic manner. I will probably buy and read the other books, as this lethargic tone is annoying.

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9 Leute fanden das hilfreich

interesting

Really dark story - not your average coming-of-age magic. But there are some non realistic twists which diminish the fun.

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2 Leute fanden das hilfreich

ok but not much more

not nearly as good as other fantasy books.
story is quite shallow and not very thrilling. quite a straight forward plot. not a lot of unforseen twists.

but ok for just some hours distraction

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When the series is better than the book..

I have watched the full series The Magicians once and discovered that it is actually a book series in a list of "The best 25 Fantasy Books from 2010-2020".
Well, I am happy I listened to this,but I would not consider it as a good book.


The author does two things very well, one of them painfully well.

The latter is the fact that there is just no likable character here. Also hardly a relatable one. The canon consists of pained magicians, some on the verge of self destruction and one Fn horny (and thus cringy) teenager in the beginning. You may find this very horrible or very much a refreshing take on the 'heros' of the story.

The other thing, and this is what really keeps you going, is the fine world building with meta elements through the book series inside the book series. Well crafted and actually believable for the most part. The magic system is thought through and very much relies on math and physics. That's cool. Because magic is hard work. Brakebills is an awesome place and we spend a lot of time there.


(minor spoilers ahead)
What is not so great is the way the plot unfolds, or doesn't.
We really do spend a long time in Brakebills, where nothing happens but school and sex. Still it was my favourite part of the book. It was fun, even though barley anything happened.
Then we get shipped off to Fillory, receive a quest (that is more like a spontanious idea) and do it. We have an end fight, suffer depression and get a cliffhanger that does reach around to the laziest piece of foreshadowing I have ever seen in a book.
This is just bad craftmensship and I am missing ALL of the suspense.


(movie series spoilers)
Don't expect to find your fav characters here.
Penny is just an idiot and his character is not really formed out in the first bool.
Margo does not exist, but we get Janett, a girl with only the bad qualities of Margo and none of the badassness. I reckon she will gain that only in the other books, while the series made her a more complete character from the start and still gave her a great arc.
Elliott is just a little less interesting and Alice is basically perfectly the same.
Do not expect hedge witches in the book. You won't get any parallel storytelling.
Again, just a bad composition. The book fails to feel complete. It's like a second draft.

The series basically took the world building and the plot points and mixed things up a little to make a way more compelling story. It really made 'The Magicians' more than the parts it consists of. I have never seen a movie/series do it better than the books before. But now I guess I have seen everything. If the Books are a 5/10 the series is 9/10. (to much sex and cringe sometimes)


I will listen to the other books and possibly to the first part of this one again, but if your time is limited I'd rather watch the series.

I love the narrator by the way. Nice calm voice and I could tell any character apart. A good match for the tone of the story, too.

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8 Leute fanden das hilfreich

Narnia + Harry Potter, for adults only

Stumbled across the TV series on Prime, loved it immediately and downloaded the books right after I finished the first two seasons. Really enjoyed the story, in both formats!

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1 Person fand das hilfreich

Nothing is happening

Great voice but the story is rather anticlimactic. I got soo bored so many times despite the potential.

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beautiful fantastic story, wish I was there

speaker lovely voice and accent. the story reminds of narnia in modern times. just as bewitching but with more adult stuff :)

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Depressing and boring

Story is a mix of stolen ideas. Not a good adaptation, but a bad copy. It is mainly about depressed teenagers/adults that are unlikable and unrelatable. Almost no story but endless whyning from the main character who really does not have such a bad life... Could be about magic and adventures and mysteries, but mainly it is all about how miserable all the characters are for absolutely no reason

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Easily most loathsome book I ever suffered through

I don't know whether Grossman considers his deeply unlikable characters "realistic", but if he does he must be pitied for his own character as well as that of all of his friends (and enemies, and teachers, and casual acquaintance, and pretty much anybody he seems to know.) I've certainly never read any book about magic that was as un-magical as this one, nor any book about friends as unfriendly, nor many books with as little plot, or story, or indeed anything happening - let alone originality - as this. What an utter waste of time and money.

The narrator was okay, I guess, but since the story is only (literally *only*) about ennui, the narrator was pretty much forced to sound bored throughout almost the entire reading.

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5 Leute fanden das hilfreich