The Magicians by Lev Grossman

What a book this was, considering I have no idea where to begin, I suppose I'll just try to describe it.

Quentin Coldwater is an average genius graduating from high school, who is lonely and in love with his best-friend's girlfriend.  However soon enough he's whisked away to the magical School of Brakebills where he meets Eliot, charming, debonair, and alcohol snub who befriends Quentin, as well as shy and talented Alice who Quentin soon falls for.  As five years pass by (in about one-hundred pages) Quentin sleeps with a fox, I mean Alice, the two of them  move to Manhattan and soon after that begins binge-drinking, experimenting with drugs, partying, having crazy threesomes, and then they go to Narnia, killing Edmund and becoming kings and queens.  I mean, no, they go to Fillory, sorry.

I have so many mixed feelings about this book I can't even say.  While I truthfully enjoyed a lot of it, the writing was lovely in parts, rushed in others, and really uncomfortable and crude other times.  The story had its high points, but was horribly disappointing in others, with character development put on fast-forward, and emotions and revelations so directly stated you have to be left wondering when it happened at all. I can't say I was fond of the book, though I did finish it, and enjoy large portions of it, the ending of the book was satisfying for me though much of the middle wasn't.  Sometimes the cliches and the allusions felt charming, other times they felt like cheap jabs at the original stories much of the plot was so clearly mimicking.  Yet despite this, I think my true problem with the book came with the relationship dynamic between Quentin, Alice, and Eliot.

Quentin is without doubt, an overly sexualized character who tends to objectify women.  Without fail, every time a female character shows up, there are firm comments from his narration about their appearance, possible sexual orientation, and whether or not he would want to sleep with them.  Through the course of the story he has three main female friends, Alice Julia, and Janet, he sleeps with two and wants to sleep with another, thus having a sexual relationship with all three of his female friends.  For the first portion of Quentin's time at Brakebills he's in the company of his senior, Eliot, who is often admired by Quentin for his confidence, hard-earned aloofness, and his cool demeanor.  Eliot is the first person Quentin meets at Brakebills.  Later on Quentin discovers that Eliot is having a fling with another boy in Quentin's year, upon finding this out Quentin begins to weep because Eliot hadn't given his affections to Quentin.  It is later discussed by other characters that many people think that Quentin is in a relationship with Eliot.  However even with the developments in their relationship, Quentin soon has sex with Alice when they were both magically transformed into foxes and were together and in love thereafter. (???!!!???!?!?!?!?!?)

It seemed to me that Grossman miraculously ended up skipping over all of the relationship potential between Quentin and Eliot to simply further Quentin's very literal animal like sexual attraction for Alice.  A relationship between him Eliot would have introduced immense complexity into Quentin's character, showing that he could have meaningful relationships with women without a sexual element being present, while choosing the present emotional bond he shares with Eliot, choosing emotion over sexual drive, for a character like Eliot who has somewhat severe facial maiming.  I believe strong character development is the heart of any story, and when such an opportunity for such a strong point to be made in writing is passed up for mediocre, crude, and bizarre plot lines it disappoints me more than anything else in the story ever could have.

All in all, I doubt I will bother with the equals.

Total Pages: 402
Number of Flying Platypus Tea Cups: 4/10

The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss

What a beautiful cloudy day it is!

A few days ago I finished reading the second installment of The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss, and was appropriately blown away.  Often times the second book in a series falls into a bit of a stump, but Rothfuss avoided this entirely and gave his readers a brilliant sequel.  As I've mentioned before, generally reviews may have spoilers for previous books in the series.

The Wise Man's Fear takes Kvothe, a trouper of the Edema Ruh, a student of the University, and a wandering youth through a dance of travel, names, love, and the fae.  As Kvothe continues his studies at the University, and his adoration of the beautiful and never-still Denna, he soon finds himself traveling away from his schooling from some time to work in the grace of a powerful lord, become a matchmaker, hunt bandits, meet and lose one of The Seven for a second time, lay in the twilight grove of Felurian, live among the Adem, and call the name of the wind thrice.  However, in his small Waystone Inn, Kovthe continues to await death as his hands play no music, cast no spells, and his lips utter no seven words to make someone love him.

Though I adored book two, and drank the lovely prose like steaming chocolate in winter, I truly can barely await book three.  I have no feasible idea how on earth the story will be wrapped up in only one book, and I can only desperately hope for a happy ending, at this point I must simply trust that Patrick Rothfuss, being the exceptional storyteller that he is, will give the story an ending deserved for a tale this gorgeous.  I have faith that his talent will carry the story to a satisfying place, though the wait is hard.

"There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man."

Total Pages: 1107
Number of Flying Platypus Tea Cups: 10/10

The Night Angel Trilogy Book Two: Shadow's Edge by Brent Weeks

It's been a long time, a really long time since I started reading Shadow's Edge by Brent Weeks, but as I have finished it today, I can firmly say it won't take long to read the third and final installment of The Night Angel Trilogy.  As this is book two of a series, I can't help but include some spoilers in my review of it, so read with caution.

Book two tells the tale of our Kyler, the Night Angel, a wetboy, and killer extraordinaire, as he attempts to give up his bloody trade in favor of a life with Durzo's daughter and the ever lovely Elene as an herbalist and a part of a real family.  However with Logan captive, Mamma K orchestrating a war that will decide whether Logan or The Godking will be king, Kyler has little choice but to return to his wetboy grays to do his duty as the bringer of retribution.

I can't begin to express how much I adore Brent Weeks and what he has done with this series.  Every moment the reader thinks the story is going in one direction, it ends up gallivanting down the opposite ally only to have the book fall out of your hands when you realize nothing you thought was going to happen for the entire book happened at all.  The writing has some truly lovely moments, and it's generally extremely good, but unlike some fantasy, the writing does focus on fast-paced accuracy and realism with little time for sweeping descriptions or poetic revelations.  Told from the point of view of most of the character depending on the chapter, the writing can seem crass and the word choice occasionally crude, but only in keeping with the voices of his rather crass and crude cast.

Despite being one of the darker, more unashamedly gruesome series I've read, I've found the story to be remarkably beautiful at its core.  It speaks of finding beauty within the ugly, redemption, goodness, forgiveness, nobility, and searching for a god where one has always been denied through the lives of the wretched, unfortunate, and maimed.  The story is thought-provoking, honest, brutal, and above all else hopeful, for all who face their own demons.

"Count Drake had once told Kyler, 'There's a divinity that shapes beauty from our rough-hewn lives'" (Weeks pg. 634).

Total Pages: 636
Number of Flying Platypus Tea Cups: 8/10