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Notes -
The Magicians
I read The Magicians when everyone raved about it and it just seemed to be Harry Potter and the Need for Prozac. Can you sell me on the TV show?
Unlike the other respondents here I liked the books but didn't care for the show (watched a few eps).
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The show is miles ahead of the books. The characters are fully realized as are the implications of a world created by fickle gods for their personal entertainment. The show has more humor and depth alike. It feels like the spiritual successor to Buffy and would rate highly under Vonneguts system. Later seasons get progressively more woke which is progressively more distracting with major trouble in season 5.
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The TV show is definitely not for everyone, but if you can tolerate some wokeish themes of like 10 years ago I’d recommend it.
They age up the characters so they’re in university, and add more so it’s an ensemble instead of just a navel gazing story about how awesome Quentin is. The plot is pretty different although they stick to the roots.
The best part of the show is the character development, and the relationships between the characters. Even though there’s a lot of magic and fantasy, the show manages to ground itself by deeply exploring the pain of the characters, how they deal with it, and how it changes them. Bad things happen often, and not always for good reason. The cast has to push against a brutal, uncaring universe and somehow find purpose and meaning despite that.
That being said it’s not all doom and gloom, there are many heartwarming moments, fun escapades, and incredible musical numbers. I enjoyed almost all aspects of it.
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Yeah if you don’t have any stomach for woke stuff, it’s probably not for you. That being said it definitely doesn’t go overboard into wokeness like some of the more recent shows coming out.
The fifth season jumps the shark a little bit, but I enjoyed it.
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No no, I read the book and you're on the right track, the first book was mildly interesting as a decent portrayal of depression, that drew my eye since I was depressed myself.
The story didn't go anywhere, and I'm left wanting my time back.
I’ve read the series a couple times, and the show is far better than the books.
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