Like everyone else, precocious high school senior Quentin Coldwater assumes that magic isn't real -- until he finds himself admitted to a very secretive and exclusive college of magic in upstate New York. There he indulges in the joys of college -- friendship, love, sex, and booze -- and receives a rigorous education in modern sorcery. But magic doesn't bring the happiness and adventure Quentin thought it would -- until he and his friends stumble upon a secret that sends them on a remarkable journey that may just fulfill Quentin's yearning. But their journey turns out to be darker and more dangerous than they'd imagined. Psychologically piercing and dazzlingly inventive, The Magicians is the first novel in the Magicians trilogy, which also includes The Magician King and the #1 New York Times bestselling The Magician's Land.

The Magician King is the sequel to The Magicians and picks up the story two years later. Quentin and his friends are the kings and queens of Fillory, but their life of luxury isn’t the paradise it appears to be. The days and nights of royal leisure are starting to pall, and after a morning hunt takes a sinister turn, Quentin and his old friend Julia charter a magical sailing ship and set out on an errand to the wild outer reaches of their kingdom. The Magician King also tells the story of Julia's education, and how she fought and scrapped her way through the seedy underbelly of the magical world to get a sorcerous education outside the ivory tower of Brakebills.