Tuesday 6 September 2011

URBAN FANTASY REVIEW: The Magician King - Lev Grossman

Release Date: 01/09/11

SYNOPSIS:

Quentin and his friends are now the kings and queens of Fillory, but the days and nights of royal luxury are starting to pall. After a morning hunt takes a sinister turn, Quentin and his old friend Julia charter a magical sailing ship and set out on an errand to the wild outer reaches of their kingdom. Their pleasure cruise becomes an adventure when the two are unceremoniously dumped back into the last place Quentin ever wants to see: his parent's house in Chesterton, Massachusetts. And only the black, twisted magic that Julia learned on the streets can save them.


REVIEW:

Lev Grossman is like the Marmite of the author world, he’s one of these guys you either love or hate. In his first book of the series he brings a world of magic, of adventure and populates it with real world self-centred characters that either get all in your face or you find refreshing to escape the altruistic nature that many others have.

Here in the second book of the series it’s more of the same with some new characters who bring things back to a more even keel as they’re there to counterbalance what a few saw as a flaw. Add to this a cleverly woven plot, some great twists mixed in with some decent prose and dialogue and it was a decent enough read. If however you’re not a fan of the self-centred character then I’d suggest that you leave the series well alone.


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