The Magicians and The Magician King by Lev Grossman

A lovely two-book (so far) series of books about teenagers becoming magicians both Lev Grossman’s The Magicians and The Magician King are more coming-of-age novels than a simple Harry Potter ripoff.  It scarcely gives a nod to Rowling’s work, being a more sober and less gee-whizzish set of tales.  There is both a magician’s college and a magician’s school of hard knocks, both attended by believable characters compounded of human decency and piss and vinegar who learn hard truths about life and harder truths (yes, I know, but it sounds good) about magic, and the kind of gods who underpin a world with magic in it.

Despite the coming-of-age description, it’s fairly adult in terms of sex, drinkin’ and cussin’, so uptight folks should shield their children’s eyes, wrinkle their noses in disgust and smugly assure themselves that their morals are somehow superior.  Remember, virtue is its own reward–and so is vice.

For once, the Audible versions are cheaper than the CDs, and of course all are available at my local library (sfpl.org), which has a nice lending arrangement (mp3s on my phone—woo-hoo!).