The Magicians

At Brakebills, Quentin discovers that magic requires years of grueling study, complex hand positions and memorization of countless variables. He makes friends with a group of sharp, ironic classmates, including the brilliant, shy Alice, with whom he falls in love, the stylish Eliot and the sharp-tongued Janet. Their student years include a winter spent transformed into geese flying to Antarctica, and a terrifying incident in a classroom when a powerful creature they call the Beast breaks into their world.

After graduation, the friends drift through Manhattan with no direction, spending their talents on parties and drinking. Then they learn that Fillory, the land from Quentin's beloved books, is real and can be reached. The journey there is nothing like the stories, and the group confronts danger, betrayal and painful truths about themselves. Grossman deliberately questions the fantasy genre, showing that magic and adventure do not fix sadness or selfishness. The book contains adult themes, drinking and some violence, and Quentin is often an unlikable hero, but the ideas and world are memorable.

Smart, dark and divisive in a good way, first of a trilogy. About 402 pages in the Plume paperback.