In the rugged, mist-shrouded mountains of Moldavia stands a foreboding castle, perched high on a rugged mountain cliff. There, Anna Vasilievna-a princess of Russia pledged in a political marriage-arrives to wed the enigmatic Duke Alexander Bassarab. Rumors swirl that he is far more than a powerful nobleman; whispered tales call him a sorcerer, a heretic... perhaps even a monster who drinks the blood of virgins and hurls their bodies into the valley below. Bound by duty to protect her family and country, Anna must navigate a world where court intrigue tangles with strange folklore, and alliances forged in blood promise both security and ruin. Shadows lurk in the echoing corridors, secrets wait behind barred doors, and the ancient legend of Tugarin, the many-faced dragon that demands a warrior's soul-seems woven into every stone of the Duke's eerie domain. As Anna's wedding night approaches, she finds herself torn between terror and fascination, locked in a battle of wills with the husband she neither chose nor trusts. The question is not only whether she can survive the ominous castle and its master, but whether she can conquer the lurking darkness within its walls before it consumes them both.

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.

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.