The Magician King
Cover of The Magician King
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| Author | Lev Grossman |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Low fantasy, Parallel universe |
| Publisher | Viking/Penguin Books |
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Publication date
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2011 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 400 pp (first edition) |
| ISBN | |
| LC Class | PS3557.R6725 M28 |
| Preceded by | The Magicians |
| Followed by | The Magician's Land |
The Magician King is a fantasy novel by Lev Grossman, published in 2011 by Viking Press, the sequel to The Magicians. It continues the story of Quentin Coldwater, interweaving it with the story of his high school crush, Julia, who learned magic outside of the standard school setting and joined him in Fillory.
The Magician King follows two story lines, beginning at the same time as the beginning and end of The Magicians. In one, following her unsuccessful interview at Brakebills, Julia returns to Brooklyn. However, a poorly constructed alibi reveals to her the memories of her interview and the world of magic that wasn't available to her. After a significant amount of searching, she finds her way to a safe house, where low-level spells are available and taught. Gradually, she levels up, learning more and more magic, until the safe houses have no more to teach her. She makes contact with Free Trader Beowulf, a group of people like her: self taught magicians with significant psychological issues. She moves to Murs, in France, to work with them, where they teach her more magic.
Julia and the others in Murs, in order to attain significantly more magical power, attempt to summon Our Lady Underground, a local goddess. However, they instead summon Reynard the Fox, a trickster god who kills most of them until Julia sacrifices her humanity to save her friend Asmodeus. The act of summoning a god for the first time in 2,000 years wakes the rest of the gods, bringing back the old gods.
In Fillory, Eliot, Janet, Quentin, and Julia rule as Kings and Queens, and life is good, if somewhat boring. Seeking a quest, Quentin and Julia travel to the outer islands of Fillory to collect back taxes, where they discover a golden key and are accidentally returned to Earth. Searching for a way back, Quentin and Julia discover Josh in Venice, where he has sold the button he had which allowed travel between worlds to the dragon in the grand canal. With him is Poppy, an Australian magician who studies dragons. Quentin visits and speaks to the dragon, who warns him of the old gods' return and the impending closure of the Neitherlands, the city in between the worlds.
Quentin and Julia are able to return to Fillory, unintentionally bringing Poppy and Josh with them. There they encounter Eliot, who has been on a quest to find the remaining golden keys. In an attempt to return Poppy to Earth, Quentin and Poppy end up in the Neitherlands, where Penny, Quentin's erstwhile classmate, finds them.
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