The Magicians

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

What if Harry Potter and his friends were older and lived in New York instead of England? Despite its references to Narnia and other fantasy classics, The Magicians is not a children's book. The protagonist is neither hero nor anti-hero -- he's more like an actual human being (granted, with magical gifts) looking for meaning in the world and generally failing to find it. He and his classmates graduate from a secret, elite college for wizards and don't know what to do with the rest of their lives. (Here's where the existential literary fiction comes in.) Everything is open to question -- was that a quest we were given, or are we just projecting? -- and the lines between good and evil are often unclear, or beside the point. The plot is twisty enough and the prose captivating and spiced with humor. There are occasional disappointments, but The Magicians is still an adventure that's hard to put down. It's going to make a great movie someday.