Physical kids

Enter the world of The Magicians – Owens works through his current literary obsession
Music | 23 September 2014
This article is part of Takeovers

Image: The Physical Kids encounter their first clock tree in ‘The Magicians’. Artwork by Christopher Sly

In anticipation of his second solo album release next week, we’ve invited singer-songwriter and Girls founder Christopher Owens to take over HERO online. Over the coming days, watch out for exclusive content and insights into the San Francisco based musician’s influences, experiences and obsessions…

Christopher Owens is the first to admit he has a tendency to get a little crazy about things he’s into. “I’ll watch a movie and for a few hours I’m a little bit annoying and really excited,” he says. The Magicians trilogy by Lev Grossman is soundly placed this mental shelf of obsessions.

We asked him to tell us about it and ended up with a retelling so thorough it would challenge most professionally written synopses. If you’re into fantasy, this one’s for you. But don’t worry, no real spoilers here – Owens would much prefer you find out the good stuff for yourself.

Christopher Owens on The Magicians

“I was in an interview with a journalist and somehow we got onto Harry Potter,” says Owens. “He later sent me something about The Magicians and he said, “Hey, if you like Harry Potter you’ll like this book.” I didn’t know anything about Lev Grossman. The book had already been out for a while. I started to read it and immediately fell in love with it.

Lev Grossman is very conscious that he’s writing a fantasy novel in the tradition of every fantasy novel that has come before him. He’s conscious of it and proud of it and has fun with it. That’s what’s so cool about it. All the things you can tell he loved reading as a kid: The Chronicles of Narnia, Alice In Wonderland and more recent influences like Harry Potter; they’re all in this book. It’s set in current times in New England in the states. And all the kids have cell phones – it’s different.

Alice’s first encounter with Brakebills in ‘The Magicians’. Artwork by Christopher Sly

Image: Alice’s first glimpse of Brakebills University in ‘The Magicians’. Artwork by Christopher Sly

The main character, Quentin Coldwater, finds himself in Brakebills University, this school for magicians. The kids that he befriends are all ‘cool’ – they drink, they smoke, one’s gay, one of the girls hates everybody and doesn’t talk (she’s the smartest of course) and Quentin is a bit of a weirdo. They have this club and a location where they meet up and break school rules and do magic and talk about the real issues. They’re called the Physical Kids. Basically, they find a hidden magical world, not unlike the kids that find the wardrobe and enter Narnia.

There’s this villain, of course,” Owens enthuses. “But there’s a way that strikes fear in you like no other. As much as I love Voldemort as a villain, I’m not that scared of him, you know? He’s kind of loveable, he’s cool to watch, he’s a bit of a rockstar. But Lev’s villain terrifies you. And then the first book ends tragically, just painfully and tragically.

In the second book, they’re in this magical land in which Quentin is the high king, and the other Physical Kids are kings and queens as well. It’s called The Magician King. Then he introduces this great goth girl character who didn’t pass the entrance exam at Brakebills University and she’s figured out how to teach herself magic in the seedy underground world. It’s super fun.

And in the final book, The Magician’s Land, Lev’s gone from telling stories in a timeline kind of manner to each chapter jumping in time and space. Quentin’s back on earth, he’s lost – emotionally and mentally – and he’s older now. The story goes out of order and skips between his friends who are still the kings and queens of Fillory, and then back to Quentin’s world. It’s an exciting and interesting way to read. I found my self, by reading things that had already happened, getting way more interested in things later on, in finding out how they actually came about.

Map of Fillory, from ‘The Magicians’

Each of these magicians have their own discipline, one’s good at fighting and all that. Quentin finds out really late what his discipline is, when they tell him at first they don’t know what it is he’s like “Oh I must be really special” [laughs] but when later on he finds out his discipline is… and it seems kind of lame. Lev’s playing with you, you feel sorry for Quentin. But in the end he makes you feel like a fool for even playing along with Quentin’s disappointment.

And there Lev just really delivers with the ending. It’s like an apocalypse. There’s something really sweet and lovely that happens with the girl he’s been in love with, which goes back to the tragic ending of the first book. I didn’t know how he was going to do it reading the first book but then at the end of the final book it’s like a tempest picks up, he’s slowly building a storm, he’s shown you the clouds in the distance, you know they’re coming… And you’re like, “How’s this going to end up?” and you find yourself in this tornado of magic battling. You know – the show down.”

Christopher Owen’s new solo album, A New Testament, is out next Monday, 29th September on Turnstile Music. Follow Owens on TwitterFacebook find tour updates at his website.

Stay tuned for more Christopher Owens-curated content in the coming days. 

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