Tag: the Magicians
re: The Magicians
by levgrossman on Aug.29, 2009, under Lev Grossman
Doubting fence-sitters? What? I say we shoot one in ten. Pour encourager les autres.
Here’s the thing about The Magicians. I grew up reading the Narnia books. Also Tolkien, Piers Anthony, Ursula Le Guin, Anne McAffrey, Fritz Leiber, TH White, Norton Juster, etc. etc. etc. Just like you did. And when I was a kid I thought my life was actually going to be like that: exciting, heroic, epic, happy. Etc. etc.
Then I grew up. I kept on reading those books — well, not Piers Anthony, but the ones that held up. But funnily enough my life — spoiler alert! — was not like that. (continue reading…)
My Dungeons and Dragons Problem. It Wasn’t that I Didn’t Play Enough
by levgrossman on Aug.22, 2009, under Lev Grossman
See, that’s awesome. A vampire prince who got turned human again! Seriously, wrap that in a black cover with some hands holding some fruit on it and you’ve got yourself a runaway bestseller. (BTW everybody looooook! The Magicians is on the bestseller list. That’s a big first for me.)
The problem with me as a D&D player is that I never thought of stuff like that. You might think, oh, right, novelist, I bet he was all like a master of subtle characterization and rich back-story and role playing such. But no. I — or should I say Dirk Whispershadow, as I was then known — was like the douchiest treasure-grubbing, stats-inflating, rule-protesting fighter-thief in Hommlet. I just wanted to “win.”
Speaking of D&D, if you’ve never seen this, prepare to lose an hour of your life.
The Magicians and Lev Grossman
by morgan on Aug.17, 2009, under Lev Grossman
About Lev Grossman’s The Magicians …
I’m very pleased to introduce you to Quentin Coldwater and his misfit band of magicians. They’re an unusual lot; talented, clever and often dysfunctional. They experience all the drama of college life, complicated by backfiring spells and unexpected attacks by arcane horrors. Lev is a masterful writer, impressive with his turn-of-phrase and his strikingly complex characterization. He transforms the familiar into something alien, strange and menacing. He turns dreams into nightmares.
Read an excerpt from the Magicians
Listen to Borders’ interview with Lev
