The Magician's Land

I just, in roughly 24 hours, read through The Magician's Land, the third book in The Magicians Trilogy.

In what is probably always a bad idea, I shortly thereafter read not only a review (which I mostly agreed with) but also the comment section beneath said review.

Though I was never a big Narnia fan (in fact, I've never read the entirety of any of the books - just the first couple chapters of the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe - I'd say that I might have subconsciously rejected Lewis' insistent prostheltyzing except that I was fully unaware of it and probably hadn't gotten far enough to really be exposed to it) I'm certainly the kind of person who can relate a lot to the books' protagonist, Quentin Coldwater. I, too, am a fantasy-loving nerd who wishes the world were filled with mystery and hidden power that could be tapped by, essentially, having the kind of obsessive personality that such a nerd tends to have. The first book in the series is a pretty nasty gut-punch for folks like us - essentially giving Quentin everything he's dreamed of, but leaving him unsatisfied at best and devastated at worst.

While that first book does end on a last-page reversal that allows for the possibility of happiness in Quentin's future, it's still pretty bleak.

In some ways, the first book stands on its own the easiest (not uncommon for the first volumes of series that are often not written to be part of a series - take Dune for example.) That said, when reading it I was sort of frustrated by its lack of plot - it sped through years of events in a kind of episodic format until one of the earlier episodes was called back to in the end. Partially it feels spread out because of the dual-world-building going on. The secret, Potter-esque magical world built up with Brakebills University doesn't quite pay off because everything is whisked away to the Narnia-equivalent Fillory.

The second book has pretty much two different plots going on - one that runs parallel with the first book, giving Julia - who had been a very minor character in book one - a thorough and harrowing backstory. The other plot is perhaps thinner, starting with a Quentin who has at least something to enjoy despite the loss he suffered in the first book and ends with him finally, truly becoming the hero of his own story, with devastating consequences.

So then book three spreads the plot between a few more characters - actually, Julia kind of drops back into the minor roles, though you could argue that she had a full, satisfying arc in the second book, and why mess with a good thing? Ultimately, though, Quentin is finally given the opportunity to tie up his loose ends. In a way, the ultimate consummation of his fantasies is achieved, and he has the maturity to recognize this.

I'm wondering about throwing up a spoiler tag here, just because I feel like I should touch on the specifics of what happens at the end of the book. Yeah, let's do that.

Spoilers.


Ultimately, Quentin gets what he wants, with perhaps some qualifications. And some readers might consider that a betrayal of the principles of the story. While you could argue that the terminology isn't quite what we're precisely talking about, there's almost a tension between deconstruction and reconstruction. Deconstruction doesn't necessarily mean a tragic end for our heroes, but much of the series does kind of subvert the cliches by making Quentin's escape into a life of fantasy just as confusing and depressing as surviving the real world.

In the end, however, Quentin does two things that I'd say count as truly heroic, and earns the happy, if somewhat bittersweet (though most of the bitter is just the natural process of getting older) ending that he gets. First, Alice, seemingly dead for all intents and purposes since the climax of book one, is restored to her human form.

It's a difficult victory, and after the danger of facing the niffin she has become passes, there comes the intense bitterness that this once-nearly-omnipotent person who also had plenty of reasons to be angry before she was de-powered has stored up.

The ethics of de-niffin-izing Alice are kind of interesting, but the more I think about it, the more I think Quentin was in the right, and Alice seems to come around mostly to forgive him for bringing her back. It's almost like he's forced her into rehab after she's been an addict for seven years. Yes, it's painful and he is prying a lot of power away from her. But he's helping her become her again. It's selfish, sure - he both wants to feel the debt is settled after she saved him in Ember's Tomb and also he just wants her back because he still loves her - but he's also giving her back her humanity after she has been a literal monster. You could argue that's not necessarily an improvement for her, but it sure is for the rest of the universe. And hey, on top of that, we can eventually get this smart, kind, and thoughtful person back into the ranks of humanity.

The other, even grander thing Quentin does is becoming the temporary God of Fillory. As the world collapses around them (it's not clear exactly what sets this off except perhaps just natural entropy,) Quentin slays the Gods of Fillory and takes on their power to re-make the land. This is certainly the most powerful he will ever be, but he releases that power and even releases his grasp on Fillory. He still loves it, certainly, but it's no longer his fixation.

Really, Quentin has achieved the ultimate fantasy - to be God. All throughout the series (particularly the first book,) there was always this feeling that there had to be something over the next horizon. It wasn't enough for him to get accepted to a secret school for magic, he now had to travel to an entirely separate fantastical land. But now that grand fantasy has all come to its logical conclusion, and he can move on.

Would it have been more satisfying if he had learned to accept he never would achieve this apotheosis? I don't really think so. Indeed, I kind of think that this experience has allowed him to finally be on the same page as the two most important women in his life, Alice and Julia. He manages to do something good that helps a lot of people, and the suffering he experienced due to his carelessness and hubris and, well, just shit luck throughout the series don't need to hound him into the end of the last book.

The book concludes satisfyingly, though I don't think it's inconceivable that Lev Grossman could write more of these stories. Still, I think Quentin has gotten to a pretty solid place at the end of this book, so I'd leave well enough alone.