Books with title The Magic Circle: A Novel

A thrilling and original coming-of- age novel about a young man practicing magic in the real world. Quentin Coldwater is brilliant but miserable. A senior in high school, he's still secretly preoccupied with a series of fantasy novels he read as a child, set in a magical land called Fillory. Imagine his surprise when he finds himself unexpectedly admitted to a very secret, very exclusive college of magic in upstate New York, where he receives a thorough and rigorous education in the craft of modern sorcery. He also discovers all the other things people learn in college: friendship, love, sex, booze, and boredom. Something is missing, though. Magic doesn't bring Quentin the happiness and adventure he dreamed it would. After graduation, he and his friends make a stunning discovery: Fillory is real. But the land of Quentin's fantasies turns out to be much darker and more dangerous than he could have imagined. His childhood dream becomes a nightmare with a shocking truth at its heart. At once psychologically piercing and magnificently absorbing, The Magicians boldly moves into uncharted literary territory, imagining magic as practiced by real people, with their capricious desires and volatile emotions. Lev Grossman creates an utterly original world in which good and evil aren't black and white, love and sex aren't simple or innocent, and power comes at a terrible price.

The New York Times bestselling novel about a young man practicing magic in the real world, now an original series on SYFY“The Magicians is to Harry Potter as a shot of Irish whiskey is to a glass of weak tea. . . . Hogwarts was never like this.” —George R.R. Martin “Sad, hilarious, beautiful, and essential to anyone who cares about modern fantasy.” —Joe Hill “A very knowing and wonderful take on the wizard school genre.” —John Green “The Magicians may just be the most subversive, gripping and enchanting fantasy novel I’ve read this century.” —Cory Doctorow“This gripping novel draws on the conventions of contemporary and classic fantasy novels in order to upend them . . . an unexpectedly moving coming-of-age story.” —The New Yorker“The best urban fantasy in years.” —A.V. ClubQuentin Coldwater is brilliant but miserable. A high school math genius, he’s secretly fascinated with a series of children’s fantasy novels set in a magical land called Fillory, and real life is disappointing by comparison. When Quentin is unexpectedly admitted to an elite, secret college of magic, it looks like his wildest dreams have come true. But his newfound powers lead him down a rabbit hole of hedonism and disillusionment, and ultimately to the dark secret behind the story of Fillory. The land of his childhood fantasies turns out to be much darker and more dangerous than he ever could have imagined. . . .The prequel to the New York Times bestselling book The Magician King and the #1 bestseller The Magician's Land, The Magicians is one of the most daring and inventive works of literary fantasy in years. No one who has escaped into the worlds of Narnia and Harry Potter should miss this breathtaking return to the landscape of the imagination.

Snake River, Idaho - Ariel Behn, a toxic materials expert at a remote nuclear site, finds her well-ordered life shattered when her cousin is slain by an unknown assassin. His shocking death leaves Ariel sole heir to a family legacy: a sinister cache of manuscripts that sweeps her into the deadly center of international intrigue - and a mystery that spans the centuries... Jerusalem, 32 A.D. - During the last week of the life of Christ, as the world stands on the brink of a new two-thousand-year cycle, Emperor Tiberius works desperately to decipher the tantalizing clues to an age-old enigma. He will not be the only one. For whoever assembles and interprets these cryptic clues will possess the power to control the fate of the world... Now, at the center of this circle of ancient riddles stands the one woman who can pull the strands together: Ariel Behn. What strange powers lie hidden with in the manuscripts? As Ariel races across the continents to reveal the dark secrets buried in her family's past, she begins to unlock the chilling truth of the coming millenium.

The New York Times bestselling novel about a young man practicing magic in the real world, now an original series on SYFY“The Magicians is to Harry Potter as a shot of Irish whiskey is to a glass of weak tea. . . . Hogwarts was never like this.” —George R.R. Martin “Sad, hilarious, beautiful, and essential to anyone who cares about modern fantasy.” —Joe Hill “A very knowing and wonderful take on the wizard school genre.” —John Green “The Magicians may just be the most subversive, gripping and enchanting fantasy novel I’ve read this century.” —Cory Doctorow“This gripping novel draws on the conventions of contemporary and classic fantasy novels in order to upend them . . . an unexpectedly moving coming-of-age story.” —The New Yorker“The best urban fantasy in years.” —A.V. ClubQuentin Coldwater is brilliant but miserable. A high school math genius, he’s secretly fascinated with a series of children’s fantasy novels set in a magical land called Fillory, and real life is disappointing by comparison. When Quentin is unexpectedly admitted to an elite, secret college of magic, it looks like his wildest dreams have come true. But his newfound powers lead him down a rabbit hole of hedonism and disillusionment, and ultimately to the dark secret behind the story of Fillory. The land of his childhood fantasies turns out to be much darker and more dangerous than he ever could have imagined. . . .The prequel to the New York Times bestselling book The Magician King and the #1 bestseller The Magician's Land, The Magicians is one of the most daring and inventive works of literary fantasy in years. No one who has escaped into the worlds of Narnia and Harry Potter should miss this breathtaking return to the landscape of the imagination.

When her cousin is slain by an unknown assassin, Ariel Behn becomes the sole heir to a family legacy: a sinister cache of manuscripts that thrusts her into the deadly center of international intrigue--and an age-old enigma that spans the centuries. Whoever assembles and interprets the cryptic clues of this ancient mystery will possess the power to control the fate of the world.What strange powers lie hidden within the manuscripts? Splashed against a lavish backdrop that sweeps from the rise of the Roman Empire to the fall of the Berlin Wall, THE MAGIC CIRCLE finds one woman standing at the center of it all: Ariel Behn. As she races across continents to reveal the dark secrets buried in her family's past, she begins to unlock the chilling truth of the coming millennium. . . .

In a secret world of forbidden knowledge, power comes at a terrible price...Quentin Coldwater's life is changed forever by an apparently chance encounter: when he turns up for his entrance interview to Princeton he finds his interviewer dead - but a strange envelope bearing Quentin's name leads him down a very different path to any he'd ever imagined. The envelope, and the mysterious manuscript it contains, leads to a secret world of obsession and privilege, a world of freedom and power and, for a while, it's a world that seems to answer all Quentin's desires. But the idyll cannot last - and when it's finally shattered, Quentin is drawn into something darker and far more dangerous than anything he could ever have expected...

A female scientist races to save the world using prophecies from before Christ’s time in this thriller by the New York Times–bestselling author of The Eight. In the last week of Jesus’s life, the Emperor Augustus orders the purge of all prophecies that question his divine power. Thus, in the crater of a dormant volcano, the books of the Sibylline oracle are sealed—lost to the world until the nineteenth century when Clio, a brilliant archaeologist, discovers them. The Sibyl’s words remain as potent as ever, having the ability to change the destiny of mankind. But who will be bold enough to harness their power? More than a century after their discovery, some of the secret prophecies fall into the hands of nuclear scientist Ariel Behn when her beloved cousin is assassinated. If Ariel can discover the mystery behind the prophecies, she will be able to prevent a potentially worldwide catastrophe—but in order to do so she must travel to Russia, Vienna, and Paris where too many people are desperate to protect the secrets of these ancient writings. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Katherine Neville including rare images from her life and travels.

From the author of Zel, Stones in Water, and The Prince of the Pond. Deep in the woods lives the old witch called Ugly One. All she wants is to forget—the she was once a loving mother and a healer, blessed and powerful within her magic circle, and not a witch, claimed by the devils. Then one day she hears the footsteps she dreads. Then real voices—children’s voices. The Ugly One longs to take care of sturdy, sensible Gretel and her young brother Hansel. They are such good children, such delicious, beautiful children. But demons’ voices scream in her head: “Eat them!” How can she? . . . How can she not? “A brilliantly conceived and beautifully executed novel.”—School Library Journal, starred review “A work of great strength and powerful emotion, written with immediacy and intensity, filled with beauty and terror and pervading sense of compassion that must touch young and old.”—Lloyd Alexander An ALA Best Book for Young Adults A Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year

Katherine Neville, bestselling author of The Eight, combines gripping historical fiction with a modern-day thriller to create The Magic Circle--an astonishing novel of mankind's quest to harness the power of earth and the heavens.Snake River, Idaho, 1989--Ariel Behn, a toxic materials expert at a remote nuclear site, finds her well-ordered life shattered when her cousin is slain by an unknown assassin. His shocking death leaves Ariel sole heir to a family legacy: a sinister cache of manuscripts that sweeps her into the deadly center of international intrigue--and a mystery that spans the centuries. . . . Jerusalem, 32 AD--During the last week in the life of Christ, as the world stands on the brink of a new two-thousand-year cycle, Emperor Tiberius works desperately to decipher the tantalizing clues to an age-old enigma. He will not be the only one. For whoever assembles and interprets these cryptic clues will possess the power to control the fate of the world. . . .Now, At the center of this circle of ancient riddles stands the one woman who can pull the strands together: Ariel Behn. What strange powers lie hidden within the manuscripts? As Ariel races across continents to reveal the dark secrets buried in her family's past, she begins to unlock the chilling truth of the coming millennium.Boldly incorporating contemporary characters and real-life historical figures--including the Apostles, Caligula, the Romanovs, and Genghis Khan--Katherine Neville takes us on a fascinating journey from the rise of the Roman Empire to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Richly textured and marvelously entertaining, The Magic Circle is an epic for our time.

If she keeps far enough away from humans, perhaps she won’t be forced to hurt them. Deep in the woods lives the old witch called Ugly One. All she wants is to forget—the she was once a loving mother and a healer, blessed and powerful within her magic circle, and not a witch, claimed by the devils. Then one day she hears the footsteps she dreads. Then real voices—children’s voices. The Ugly One longs to take care of sturdy, sensible Gretel and her young brother Hansel. They are such good children, such delicious, beautiful children. But demons’ voices scream in her head: “Eat them!” How can she? . . . How can she not? “A brilliantly conceived and beautifully executed novel.”—School Library Journal, starred review “A work of great strength and powerful emotion, written with immediacy and intensity, filled with beauty and terror and pervading sense of compassion that must touch young and old.”—Lloyd Alexander An ALA Best Book for Young Adults A Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year