The first thing to say about The Magicians is that you shouldn't judge it by its cover. The cover is just a picture of a tree and I don't think it even supposed to be one of the magic trees very briefly described in the book. This book has nothing to do with trees... but it does have a lot to do with magicians. The book follows Quentin a young man that finds out magic is real when he is recruited to go to a school for magic (think Hogwarts for college students). The first half of the book follows his years as a student. After graduating and having a bit of an existential crisis on what is is to be a real magician, Quentin discovers that the magic land of Fillory is a real place and not just a something that exists in novels (think Narnia). So basically it is part Harry Potter and part Chronicles of Narnia (except that it is very American).So while it may not sound like the most original thing, it is actually very entertaining (especially with all the allusions to the Narnia series). Quentin and his friends are all well rounded characters and I really cared about what happened to them at the end of the book. The school portion of the book is a bit episodic but there are some important story points that pay off by the end of the novel. And of course the ending leaves the reader wanting to read the next book in the series, The Magician King. I'll give it an A-.
Also it mentions Wuthering Heights, Harry Potter, Frankenstein, and Alice in Wonderland.
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