I'm going to be glib and say that The Magicians is Harry Potter and Narnia meets Bret Easton Ellis. But it really does combine the best of "there's a hidden world of magic" with "disaffected young adults try to find their place in the world". I couldn't put it down—every time I thought I knew where the book might be going, it threw me another curve ball.
FuzzyCo grade: A++
waldie
i just saw lev grossman speak at usc about this book. he was a really witty and engaging speaker and i enjoyed hearing his process about writing the book. the podcast of the talk will eventually be put up at http://www.cas.sc.edu/cica/ if you're interested.