Devil Red

I think I've had this book for eighteen weeks from the local library. Each time I was ready to read it, a new book with a little more immediacy would arrive. It is a shame that others don't see Champion Joe the same way. I wish his book would have the long waitlists that others seem to enjoy. (But then I wouldn't be able to pick them up so easily either. There are drawbacks either way.)

With this book, I have caught up on the Hap and Leonard novels (Still one novella to read). Our heroes have been through a lot, but this book takes them to dark places better left unexplored. Hap and Leonard are on a new case literally. Unlike past books where they get involved through circumstances, the two friends are actually hired by ex-cop Marvin to do some detective work. The case is grisly and involves vampire cults and ritual killers. And there are still consequences from their encounter with the hitman, Vanilla Ride.

All in all, this was a good book. I was a little distracted while reading it and so had to backtrack a few times, but it still has that Lansdale feel of language and humanity.

The Magician King

I almost never keep a book from the library longer than the checkout period. If I haven't finished it and it is due, I'll return it and wait my turn to get it back. For example, I have one novel by Carrie Vaughn and one by Joe R. Lansdale due later in the week and I probably won't finish either. As I was re-reading THE MAGICIANS, the book moved very quickly and I thought that this one would be the same. I had four days to read it and while on night shift, would have plenty of time. The the due date came and went. I didn't want to take it back because I was thoroughly ensconced in story and know I would be number 258 in the queue to get it back again. Besides, the library has a grace period of a week for books and I would surely be able to finish it in that time. But true reading time never really materialized. I made progress, but slowly. Now the grace period was past and I would start to accumulate fines. I had to finish this book. Finally a week and a half after the due date, I was done.

THE MAGICIAN KING picks up where the last book left off. Quentin Coldwater is one of the kings of Fillory and living the high life. With him are his Brakebills classmates Eliot and Janet and his former flame Julia. Julia didn't go to the magic academy but is still a powerful witch. Over time, Quentin grows bored and goes on a quest. Julia joins him and they learn more about the nature of magic than they should. Into this narrative, the reader learns about Julia and how she became the woman she is now. In not quite alternating chapters, we follow the twin plot lines and see how Quentin and Julia evolve. Unlike the last book, Quentin is quite literally the hero and the story takes a very Campbellian tour through the hero myth from the quest to the encounters to the sacrifice. If I had any complaint about Quentin it would be his use of magic. At the end of the first book, Quentin becomes quite proficient in his spell casting. In this story, he has moments of greatness, but also can be a bit of a oaf. To use another books characters for comparison, at one moment he's Ron and then another Hermione. (Whereas Julia is always competent.)

Lev Grossman pulls together many genre standards and blends them into an excellent read. I'm not sure that I liked this book better than THE MAGICIANS, but I certainly enjoyed reading it more - even if I have to pay my fine for keeping it overdue.

The Magicians (re-read)

It is rare for me to re-read any book because there are so many books I need to read for the first time. I can think of only three books I have read more than once and two of those were as audio books (THE STAND, OLD MAN'S WAR, and DUNE)

With the arrival of THE MAGICIAN KING, the sequel to THE MAGICIANS, I felt obligated to re-read the first book because I was so ambivalent about it the first time. I thought it was a nice read, but not my first pick for book of the year. It still isn't my first pick, but I did wind up liking the book much more.

I think the first time around, I had some difficulty imagining the locations and scenes. That northeastern vibe never really resonated with me. The story read to me like a cross of Narnia, Hogwarts and THE RULES OF ATTRACTION. A notable mash-up, but not much more.

In re-reading it, the scenes and the characters began to grow on me. The Fillory segment finally made sense (although I think I was burned out by that point in my last reading). And I truly enjoyed the novel. I could admire the craftsmanship to pull all those elements together and make them a sohesive and original story. It may still read like Sean Bateman's trip through the wardrobe, but there is more to it than that. Sean is a geek and is lucky to find a girl, but the lesson is still that life is hard if you want to live it. Still, how about another glass of wine?