So, since we had threads about the earlier two books in the trilogy I figured we might as well finish off the series.
Myself I was pretty pleased how it all wrapped up. Despite mixed feeling especially about the first ( particularly the second act ) and to a much lesser extent the second ( the ending ), I’d have to rate the series as a whole as solid success. In some ways I think I liked certain aspects of the second book ( Julia’s story ) the best out of the series, but the third satisfies without the stronger annoyances of the first two.
I think one can make some valid criticisms, in particular the somewhat aimless and very loosy-goosy nature of the plots in all three books. Also I’m not sure I was all that taken by the fussy red herring - shadowy, goofy Umber, the Undergoat.
But some of the things some folks dislike in the latest don’t bother me at all. Like the slightly sappy happy ending and the resurrection of Alice, which some consider sort of shitting on the her character arc in the first book. Eh, fuck that noise :). I like happy ending after pathos and I am little bit of a romantic sap in that respect. Just as I ignore the literary snobs that think that being offput by the douchieness of Quentin and company in the second half of Book 1 is a character flaw, I’m going to ignore those that would prefer a thoughtful Quentin to just have moved on in a slightly more downbeat way while Alice continued to be a blue flame. I like a ray of sunshine at the end.
Things in particular I liked ( other than the happy ending ):
1.) While new character Plum was neither awesome nor a detraction, I did rather enjoy her outsider appraisal of Quentin. Nice to see a change from his own downbeat inferiority complex.
2.) Liked the Chatwin background, brief as it was. It fleshed things out nicely.
3.) Rather enjoyed the ever-annoying Ember wussing out at the end and having to be forced into doing the right thing after desperately squirming to find a loophole out. An air of amusly indifferent superiority doesn’t always equal superior moral fiber.
4.) Finally the evolution of Quention over three books was pretty well-done.
I never quite understood what Umber’s motive was in helping turning Martin Chatwin into the Psycho Killer Uberpowered Nutcase he became.
I liked that we get a sense that justice was meted out to Renard the Fox.
I liked Julia’s arc, start to finish.
Despite Quentin being the protagonist and theoretically the guy to root for, I found him very dislikeable, especially when he was a drunk cheating on Alice. The whole tawdry set of events in that first book, in fact, with Quentin fucking Janet and Alice revenge fucking Penny, was a low point for me. His subsequent journey of quasi-redemption was intriguing but I never really became a Quentin cheerleader after that.
I absolutely loved the glimpse into pre-time Fillory, with the tiger willingly dying and triggering the necessary conditions for Ember and Umber to come into being.
All told, the series is a worthwhile read, but not one of the great works of literature of 2014.
I was mostly okay with the book - but after two such powerful deconstructions of fantasy stories, I really thought it would have been better if Alice left Quentin at then end, and if Quentin was a little sad about it but generally understanding as to why. As it was, there was the whole “get the girl as a prize at the end”, played perfectly straight. She said they weren’t together, but they were living, working and sleeping together, and Quentin certainly had expectations about their future.
I really liked the book, but wished it had had a better editor. I’m by no means an expert but the section in Rupert Chatwin’s voice had some glaring usage errors:
“trash” instead of rubbish
“bug-eyed goldfish” instead of, hmm, goggle-eyed? I’m not sure, but it rang false.
“sweater” instead of jumper or pullover.
I find these kind of errors to be really jarring, and would have been such a simple fix. If only I could have been a proof-reader!
I loved Chapter 9, the blue whales. I also really liked the feeling of unease created as Quentin and Plum explored the mirror-image house for the first time.
I think overall Quentin’s arc/journey was realistic. Who ISN’T an asshole at 20? The same with Eliot, this book gave him depth and valour, legitimizing him as High King. Even Janet, perhaps the most unlikable of the Fillorian court, is humanized with some backstory. I liked all of these.
I’m rereading, so may have further thoughts in a day or two.
My problem was the kind of asshole they became. I didn’t have a problem with the Holden Caulfield-mopeyness of the first half. But since I personally would never have tolerated that particular brand of louche upper-class douchebaggery around me when I was 20, it was sort of a serious sour note in the second. Though really my more serious issue with the first book was the pacing in the second half. But it definitely played a part in my love/hate relationship with The Magicians.
Still I was satisfied with where Quentin ended up as an adult. Not this great uber-powerful guy, but a decent-enough one.
I just finished reading the entire trilogy in a row. I’d read the first one and liked it, but didn’t love it. When the second came out, I read it, but it more or less was a loss because I didn’t remember enough of the first one to make it have much sense. So now that the third was out, I dove in, and read them in a row.
And I gotta say… wow. I was really impressed. As a whole, they are solid, interesting, and (in some places) downright beautiful. The bit at the end of the third where Quentin remakes Fillory gave me more than a little bit of a Narnia spook, and that’s about as good as it gets for someone who grew up with Narnia.
Quentin’s shortcomings made him real for me. Who hasn’t done something stupid in their 20s that messed up a good relationship? We’re all idiots at that point in our lives, and I would have liked the books much less had all the magicians been smart and suave and without a misstep as they grew into adults.
Janet overall is the least fleshed-out character for me, but that said, I loved the story of how she got her axes. I’d like to read more of her story.
As far as I’m concerned, there was no way Alice wasn’t going to come back in the last book. Way too much banter about her for her not to. I liked hearing about how it was to be a niffin, and it was entirely realistic to me that she was pissed off they brought her back.
Good read. Happy I thought to pick 'em all up again.