I have to admit, the timing here is almost ironic. I finish this book just when Ringling Brothers announces their closure. Anyways, Night Circus has a lot going for it. An interesting premise, mystery, magic, and a great cast of characters in an intriguing setting. The language is also unusually detailed, which matches well with the mysterious artsy tone. I should have loved this, but I only liked it. I had 3 main problems with Night Circus. First and foremost, I hate present tense narrative, […]
In which I am a glutton for punishment
I just don’t know what to do with this series. The Glass Magician is a followup to The Paper Magician, with which I had significant problems but mostly forgave it based on the strength of the concept. It is that same strength of concept that led me, some time later, to read the sequel, despite my misgivings. And now? There’s just not a lot here, and it is so frustrating. There is no sophistication to the plot or characters, and the whole concept (a magician […]
So. Much. Potential. ARGH
My kingdom for this book to have not turned into an uninspired, forced, one-sided romance! It started off so well: in the late 19th century, Ceony Twill is the top graduate from the amusingly poncily-named Tagis Praff School for the Magically Inclined. Like other trained magicians, after graduation, she enters an apprenticeship with a tradesman-magician who specializes in a type of materials magic. The idea is that magicians can “bond” to a material and then, basically, learn the all of the magical properties of that material […]
“It didn’t matter where you were, if you were in a room full of books you were at least halfway home.”
The Magician’s Land is an exciting and satisfying end to a trilogy that had its ups and downs, but was nevertheless entertaining and always delivered on complex characters. Not to draw too clear of a parallel between the main character, Quentin, and the author here — because I’m sure Lev Grossman is not, and never was, the little shit that Quentin started out as — but I genuinely feel that there is some symmetry between the quality and goal of each of the books and […]