I think after almost a year I finally got around to reading the second book in The Magicians trilogy, The Magician King. Holy hell was this a slow read. Despite it being better than the first, it still took me a good while to finish, and I’m not particularly looking forward to reading the last installment. But I’m going to finish it because I feel like I have to if I want to watch the show.
This takes place shortly after the first novel, so Quentin, Eliot, Janet, and Julia are the kings and queens of the magical land of Fillory. Quentin is itching for a quest and he gets one, sort of, by going to visit and Outer Island to collect their taxes. He comes across a key and he and Julia accidentally get sent back to earth. Problem with that is there is no good way for them to get back. Julia uses her hedge witch connections and gets them in touch with Josh and his new lady friend, Poppy, in Venice. They manage to get back to Fillory, and realize a year has passed there in the three days they were on earth.
They’ve been looking for seven keys to unlock the back door to magic since the Gods have been awakened and want to stop magic from being used (rightfully). After some strange battles and a visit to the underworld, they find the seventh key and save magic. Only problem with that is Quentin isn’t allowed back in, so the end of the novel sees him expelled to earth again…forever. Of course, there’s that third novel to contend with.
Interwoven between chapters tells Julia’s story to how she became a queen. After being rejected by Brakebills, she went into a bit of a depression, but eventually found safe houses to advance her magic. She meets up with the most powerful group who want to tap into the magic of the Gods. They end up summoning trickster God Reynard the Fox who ends up raping Julia and taking away her soul. She becomes a demi-god/Dryad. It takes her the whole quest to accept this new fate, but she’s all-powerful now. I can’t wait to see how the show portrays that transformation. Julia’s chapters definitely made this book more enjoyable, so we’ll see how the last one goes.