MovieChat Forums > The Magicians (2015) Discussion > Are the characters this obnoxious and ju...

Are the characters this obnoxious and juvenile in the books too?

posted 9 years ago by defcon79
12 replies | jump to latest

The premise and potential of the story is great but the characters and writing are just so shallow - they are all really self centered, obnoxious people who spend all day drinking, screwing and acting like jerks to everyone including the hilarious bleeped out f words in every other sentence.

Even when faced with life/death situations and when things are really serious, they behave with zero respect, because that's whats considered 'cool' and 'edgy'?

And how do they have nice apartments and dorm rooms with no income, arent they poor students.

[–] LeMarchand 9 years ago

Sounds like typical students to me (apart from the bleeping). I'm guessing that passing the entrance exam means it's a free ride at Brakebills.

No tears please, it's a waste of good suffering.

[–] lemurcat04 9 years ago

Well, no, they aren't poor students. Julia's mother is apparently a society matron.

As for the rest, they're the typical know-it-all-obnoxious-jackass 22 year old college grads we all know and loathe.

[–] Mr_fizzlepop 8 years ago

Indeed.

There's a scene that shows Julia casting a spell at an ATM and money pops out.

Even a decent Hedge witch doesn't worry for money.

If You're Failing to Plan,
You're Planning to Fail.

[–] RaisingRlyeh 8 years ago

Though it's more realistic than Harry Potter in that regard. Let the average teenager or twenty-something magical powers and I'd say that many of them would act like the characters do.

[–] jakubmike 8 years ago

WARNING HEAVY SPOILERS AHEAD!

Far more, trust me this book is just... dreadfull, quentin is such a weak, directionless guy that you wish to god someone would avada kedavra his ass. He is childish, immature and incompetent.
When he knew nothing of brakebills he was depressed and disapointed.
When he was admitted to a freaking magical school... HE WAS STILL DEPRESSED AND DISAPOINTED!
after he found a way to magical world... YOU GUESSED IT STILL DEPRESSED AND DISSAPOINTED cause it was not all how he imagined it would be. Seriously? He expected everything to be fine and that he will just be a hero... look I am not a wizard, but I do play games... I know that you have to beat a lot of heavy league bosses to become a hero... and you often die during the process... seriously how can anyone be surprised at "oh my god they want to kill us". Dude, I would *beep* my pants if I suddenly found myself in Middle earth, or Baldur's Gate, I would not expect it to be a walk in the park!

But
Even when he does become A FREAKING KING OF FILLORY... he is still dissapointed!
Quentin is like a kid with perfect life, who just cannot be satisfied no matter what!

So if you do think that quentin is irritating douchbag... that only means they are being faithfull to the book

[–] iamvox 8 years ago

Lol! I've read the books, twice, and couldn't agree more about Quentin. I think the other characters actually come off better in the books, but compressing the story so much for tv doesn't help Alice's character at all. Personally, I thought that the first book was the weakest by quite a bit and the third probably the strongest.

[–] realsies 8 years ago

Thats not exactly true. In the books Quentin wanted adventure and stuff. When he became a king of fillory he was bored of all the glamour and S**T so he went on an adventure which if I remember ultimately lead to him being stuck out of fillory where he has to find his way back which he does then he gets kicked out forever for something I forget which crushes him. In the third book he eventually comes around and he creates his own world which he and alice can explore together as she comes to terms with not being a niffin anymore and reshapes her life.

[–] pcqgod 8 years ago

Pretty much.

The night beckons, like a finger curling and uncurling as if to say "Hey, come here."

[–] gveronica 8 years ago

My book club just read this book last month and the majority ranged from disliking it to outright hating it. I was in the hate group. It was a chore to read. And, yes, the characters were much more unlikable in the book. Alice was the least annoying of the lot though that's faint praise. I wanted all of them to die by fire. I only checked out the show because I was curious to see if the characters would come across as badly. I find the show versions less annoying, if you can believe it.

[–] inuimari 8 years ago

My book club just read this book last month and the majority ranged from disliking it to outright hating it. I was in the hate group. It was a chore to read. And, yes, the characters were much more unlikable in the book.

Watching ep2 now. Glad to see a lot of people agree that these characters are unlikable.

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] venanttout 8 years ago

That's the point of the story.

Postmodern characters entering a magick world, and bringing their disenchantment with them.