The result of one of the deadlines that was part of the recent swarm; I reviewed Lev Grossman's The Magician's Land (and the entire trilogy, really) for this weekend's Los Angeles Times' books section. Snippet:
This trilogy is not, as it is so often described, "Harry Potter for adults." But it is a meditation on whether magic cake can be eaten happily or whether it would go stale when exposed to the bitter air of a more realistic treatment. Maybe, this masterful close suggests, both real and fantasy worlds have space for heroes and magic.
One of the reasons I think this is not “Harry Potter for adults,” by the by, is because Harry Potter is already Harry Potter for anyone who reads it. Ahem.
Be advised, of course, that there are some spoilers in the review, particularly for the first two books. Also: I’d forgotten how hard reviewing can be. I could say much more about these books. Read them.