Lev Grossman

Thursday, March 28, 7 p.m.

Lev Grossman will read from and sign The Magician King, the sequel to The Magicians which picks up the story two years later.

“A spellbinding stereograph, a literary adventure novel that is also about a privilege, power and the limits of being human. The Magician King is a triumphant sequel.” —NPR

“The Magicians is Harry Potter for grown-ups…Stupendous.” —The Guardian

Grossman is the author of The Magicians was a New York Times bestseller and a New Yorker best book of 2009, and has drawn praise from, among others, William Gibson, Audrey Niffenegger, George R.R. Martin, and Junot Diaz. del.icio.us Facebook Google StumbleUpon Twitter Yahoo

Location: Street: 1511 South 1500 East City: Salt Lake City, Province: Utah Postal Code: 84105 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

"This extraordinary work of fiction pushes the graphic novel well beyond its previous limits. The narrative takes us on many journeys through space and time, but is more than a mere tale. It's about past and present, the absolute importance of myth, of language, of stories themselves. In superb words and drawings, it also explores obsession and love in a way that is original to the genre, and to literature itself. In the best sense, the completed work succeeds in a very difficult task: making the reader more human. Bravo!" Pete Hamill, author of Tabloid City

"A romance in the truest sense of the word, Sailor Twain is a marvel of graphical beauty and complex, intelligent storytelling. Siegel creates a misty, magical Hudson river that is somehow realer and truer and mroe seductive and many fathoms deeper than the real thing." Lev Grossman, author of The Magician King

Mark Siegel was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and grew up in France. He is the editorial director of First Second and an accomplished writer and illustrator. He is the illustrator of To Dance: A Ballerina's Graphic Novel, a Robert F. Sibert Award Honor Book, written by his wife, Siena Cherson Siegel; and author and illustrator of the picture book Moving House.

Location: Street: Porter Square Shopping Center Additional: 25 White Street City: Cambridge, Province: Massachusetts Postal Code: 02140 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

From Lev Grossman himself: “One of the big inspirations for The Magicians was Watchmen, which is (obvs) a great superhero story, but it also asks a lot of meta-type questions about what it would mean to be a superhero. The Magicians is a bit like that—it works (or it's supposed to) as a straight-up story about magic and secret worlds. But it also draws on a lot of non-fantasy literary works—Proust, Woolf, Waugh, Joyce, Franzen—and it asks some serious meta-level questions about magic. Like: what would it really feel like to do magic? What kinds of people would do it, and what would they do with it, if there were no Sauron or Voldemort trying to take over the world? And once they started doing magic, what would doing magic do to them?”

In The Magician King, Quentin has grown up—a bit—and is in charge of Fillory, the Narnia-esque world he and his friends discovered. All seems to be moving along happily, and magically, until signs point to something mysterious disrupting the fabric of the universe that encompasses their new home. Quentin and his friends must journey far beyond the ends of the kingdom to find out what, and hopefully save the land they’ve come to love.

The Magician King“is the Catcher in the Rye for devotees of alternative universes. It’s dazzling and devil-may-care…Grossman has created a rare, strange and scintillating novel…When Quentin, midway through the book, fears that he has been exiled from Fillory forever, you’ll feel what he feels: panic and dread. Like Quentin, you’ll do whatever you have to do to return.” —The Chicago Tribune

About the Author Lev Grossman is the author of the bestselling novels The Magicians and Codex. He is the book critic for TIME magazine and has written for numerous other publications, including the New York Times, The Believer, The Wall Street Journal, Salon and Wired. In 2011 Grossman won the John W. Campbell award for Best New Writer from the World Science Fiction Society.

Location: Street: 2559 N Downer Ave City: Milwaukee, Province: Wisconsin Postal Code: 53211-4242 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

Return to Fillory in The Magician King (Plume, $16) by senior writer and book critic for Time magazineLev Grossman -- the riveting sequel to the New York Times bestseller and literary phenomenon, The Magicians.Quentin and his friends are now the kings and queens of Fillory, but the days and nights of royal luxury are starting to pall. After a morning hunt takes a sinister turn, Quentin and his old friend Julia charter a magical sailing ship and set out on an errand to the wild outer reaches of their kingdom. Their pleasure cruise becomes an adventure when the two are unceremoniously dumped back into the last place Quentin ever wants to see: his parent's house in Chesterton, Massachusetts. And only the black, twisted magic that Julia learned on the streets can save them. The Magician King is a grand voyage into the dark, glittering heart of magic, an epic quest for the Harry Potter generation. It also introduces a powerful new voice, that of Julia, whose angry genius is thrilling. Once again Grossman proves that he is the modern heir to C.S. Lewis, and the cutting edge of literary fantasy. Presented in collaboration with The Center for Literature and Theatre at Miami Dade College.

Location: Street: 265 Aragon Ave City: Coral Gables, Province: Florida Postal Code: 33134-5008 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

The Coffee Cake Book Club meets the third Wednesday of each month at 11:00 a.m.

If you can't come, email your comments to Valerie and we'll share them with the group.

Our next book:

February 15: The Magicians By Lev Grossman

Location: Street: 14532 Memorial Dr City: Houston, Province: Texas Postal Code: 77079 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

Lev Grossman on tour for The Magician King.

Tues 8/30 7pm-8pm Lev Grossman reads from his new novel The Magician King (Viking/Penguin) Time magazine book critic Lev Grossman’s The Magicians was praised as a triumph by readers and critics of both mainstream and fantasy literature. It debuted at #7 on the New York Times bestseller list in the summer of 2009 and has taken on a life of its own over the past two years. Now Grossman is back with the much-anticipated sequel. Lev Grossman is a senior writer and book critic for Time magazine. He is also the author of the international bestselling novels Codex and The Magicians, the creator of the Time blog Techland and a graduate of Harvard and Yale. He lives in Brooklyn. (jamiejf)… (more)

Lev Grossman discusses The Magician King.

***** Special Instructions: We will hand out passes at 5:00 pm. A copy of the book must be purchased at this location. ***** Return to Fillory in the riveting sequel to The New York Times bestseller and literary phenomenon of 2009--The Magicians. The Magicians was praised as a triumph by readers and critics of both mainstream and fantasy literature. Now Grossman takes us back to Fillory, where the Brakebills graduates have fled the sorrows of the mundane world, only to face terrifying new challenges. Quentin and his friends are now the kings and queens of Fillory, but the days and nights of royal luxury are starting to pall. After a morning hunt takes a sinister turn, Quentin and his old friend Julia charter a magical sailing ship and set out on an errand to the wild outer reaches of their kingdom. Their pleasure cruise becomes an adventure when the two are unceremoniously dumped back into the last place Quentin ever wants to see: his parent's house in Chesterton, Massachusetts. And only the black, twisted magic that Julia learned on the streets can save them. The Magician King is a grand voyage into the dark, glittering heart of magic, an epic quest for the Harry Potter generation. It also introduces a powerful new voice, that of Julia, whose angry genius is thrilling. Once again Grossman proves that he is the modern heir to C.S. Lewis, and the cutting edge of literary fantasy. (jasbro)… (more)

Lev Grossman reads from The Magicians.

Lev Grossman's The Magicians is a fairy tale for grown-ups: magical fantasy, fairy kingdoms, and all. But, it is for grown-ups and so, with power comes responsibility; with sex comes emotions; and good is always mixed up with evil. It's a great ride and a fantastic story, but it's also a powerful meditation on mankind's relationship with the world. What a tremendous book: destined not only for bestseller lists around the world, but also for extraordinary critical acclaim. This is one summer blockbuster that will be on holiday gift lists and all the year-end round-ups. All of us on staff have read this spectacular novel and — for a change all of us agree — we all think that this is one great read. One of the top two or three of the year and very highly recommended by all of us. (Rakestraw)… (more)