The Magicians Original Graphic Novel: Alice's Story

NOTE: Very minor spoilers follow, if you haven't read The Magicians. If you haven't read The Magicians, though, don't even bother buying this graphic novel; you'll miss out on a lot of the story told here. Go buy the book first. It's much better than this anyway. And then if you want more later, come back here and consider buying this.I'm a huge fan of the Magicians trilogy. (Not a big fan of the show.) I was excited when I saw this for sale, especially as it promised to cover my favorite book in the trilogy from a very different angle. And it's a nice change of pace to kick back with a comic book from time to time. But alas, I'm not super happy now that I've actually read the thing.Physically, the book is done right. It's well bound, the paper is nice and thick, a bit on the glossy side. All good there.The art itself is nicely composed, if not the best or most detailed in the world. It's appropriate to the form and fits the story well. The characters aren't quite as I imagined them in the book. (But they're way better than the casting for the show, so there's that.) Seeing some of the scenes of Fillory and the Neitherlands brought to life on the page was really nice.The story... well, that's where things go off the rails a bit. We enter the tale of Alice when she's a small child, seeing her brother off on his journey to Brakebills. And then we see her again when she's beginning her own journey there. And that's the very first and perhaps biggest of my many disappointments. This books tells the story in a linear fashion, and yet we don't really get to understand Alice except through dialog that comes up later. Instead of really dwelling in her childhood and showing the reader an in-depth peek at what made Alice into Alice, the graphic novel skips right ahead into the main story that we've already been though in the novel. We don't find out at this stage about her brother's demise (or what she knew of it), we don't see her parents' relationship, and so on. Both are revealed much later, in the same way they were in the novel -- but in much less detail -- and that strikes me as a huge missed opportunity to tell the story of Alice in a better way, not just a slightly different way.Starting from her journey to Breakbills, the graphic novel follows basically the same path as The Magicians, but with even huger time gaps. I get it, you can't put the entire novel into graphic novel format without making the thing gigantic. But the entire time at Breakbills South was reduced to maybe eight pages. The early relationship with Penny was really glossed over. And the graphic novel only kinda-sorta covers the post-graduation/pre-Fillory buildup. These are all important aspects in making Alice into what became Alice late in the book, and I expected a lot more going in.This graphical novel added almost nothing to my overall understanding of Alice or the Magicians story in general. It was the same exact story, just told from a very slightly different angle and with a lot more holes.All of that said -- at the end of the day, and perhaps most importantly, I did thoroughly enjoy the time I spent reading this. It was nice to dip back into The Magicians a few years later and re-visit some of the more enjoyable scenes. If another graphical book is made -- Juila, please! -- I'd almost certainly buy it. But I hope some more attention can be paid to making it a new story with some unique background that we can't get in the novels.All in all I'd recommend this if you're a fan of the books and want a bit more. But just go in knowing that you're not going to get much here. Alice's story was already told in a way better form elsewhere.

*[REVIEW MEANT FOR THOSE WHO READ THE TRILOGY]*I was really excited when this came out since it's about my favorite character Alice Quinn and I was really hoping she would finally get some justice since as we all know, after her death she is gone for a book and a half. I expected the last few pages to be of Alice & Quentin riding off in his pocket world atop the Cozy Horse... but we don't get that. The story ends the moment she dies, becomes a Niffin, and drifts off into space-- which leaves a first time viewer wondering what the hell just happened. This novel angered me because I personally feel that her character was treated rather cruelly both story-wise and via the writer(s). Alice Quinn is the most wholesome character in the books but she gets nothing in return for all the love she gives. She always suffers, never happy, at least for long.80% of this novel is Alice in tears and it just makes matters worse. I'm glad I got to see it through her point of view but its' even more depressing than the original trilogy. I do like the artist and how he brought this world to life which is something I always obsessed about; we know about the TV show but we've never seen what the book characters would look like. Honestly if I didn't love this show so much I would've gave it a flat out 3/5 because there is no justice done to her character as I hoped. I also expected to see Alice's travels as a Niffin and what she encountered until finally being brought back by a much older Quentin but there is none of that, only a recollection of Book One. The novel changed quite a few things, events and characters but I guess it was to make it shorter.In total: I would read this novel if you're a die-hard fan of The Magicians and/or really like Alice's character. Otherwise, there isn't much to see besides pretty pictures.

I bought the graphic novel just to complete my Magicians collection. I have not actually read it, so this is a review of the physical book, not the contents.The first book I received had some warping/ damage but Amazon replaced it quickly.The replacement is perfect. It is a really solid book with great color and detail. It feels well made and looks great on my shelf. If you are a Magicians fan or a book collector in general, get this book!

Excellently drawn by Bak and solidly written by Sturges, providing an interesting angle on The Magicians from Alice's point of view and precisely capturing Grossman's voice.. Same team that produced the all-new comic book series which was also a winner.

I was really thrilled to have some new The Magicians to get my hands on. While this is pretty much a graphic novel version of the first book of the trilogy, having it from Alice's perspective adds something new and fun to it. I had forgotten how much had been changed for the show. This is probably a great way to get a friend into the series, either the books or the show.However, it doesn't add much to the first book. I feel like even with Quentin's limited POV, we got most of what was going on here. So I was surprised there wasn't... more.

Since the beginning of the magicians I always love Alice she was a character that was smart and well learned of the magic this book is made up attorney to see the background of Alice Quinn and maybe I can see the limitations of Alice in this book of her power. amazing!!! I love the art was so beautiful and so detailed big fan of the magician since the beginning.

It was pretty good. It’s basically the first book but from Alice’s point of view. Even though I’ve seen the series and read the books this new twist on the story was very entertaining and a MUST for Magician’s Fan.

i was hoping for more insight and backstory with this, but its really just a synopsis. a fun read, but not the detailed tolkien-esque library of information i wanted.

Good book, but it took a terrible amount of time for the book to reach the amazon locker