Week 7: Real-Life Fantasy

When considering the trend of young adult novels featuring magical schools in which children attend to hone their skills as witches and wizards, I believe The Magicians is definitely a lot different than some of its predecessors. This is both a good and bad thing. It’s much more realistic as far as issues that the characters must deal with, leading to characters like Quentin Coldwater and who represent the teenage demographic who have disdain for their school, family and career choices. This tends to ground the reader in reality instead of weaving a story of wonder and excitement that we’re all used to from series like Harry Potter, and not everyone wants their fantasy to mirror real life in such a way that it prevents them from escaping from their own real life problems.

One of the main issues in The Magicians is Quentin Coldwater’s attitude towards everything that happens to him and how he treats people around him. He’s very anti-social and just doesn’t understand how to respond to others, which I think a lot of the target audience can relate with. Quentin wishes to be whisked away to a magical place like he’s always read about in books, but when he finally is accepted to Brakebills Academy, he seems as if he could care less about it. He’s not amazed or excited, it’s like he comes to accept it over time because magic is tedious to learn. I think it speaks to a lot of young readers because nearly everyone has imagined going somewhere or doing something great only to find out that it’s nothing like you expected. The book also addresses drinking, drug-use and relationships, which many young adult novels do not.

But like I said, this book is different both in bad and good ways. The way the book addresses these issues is important because reader may identify with Quentin or his friends. They may find comfort in knowing that Quentin has some of the same problems that they do. So although The Magicians is not your typical escapist fantasy novel, I believe that it brings up some important points about the child-like faith we put into reading these novels and how in Quentin's situation, the sudden discovery of fantasy does not make his life any easier.