"[1] Michael Agger of The New York Times said the book "could crudely be labeled a Harry Potter for adults," injecting mature themes into fantasy literature.
The Chicago Tribune said The Magician Kingwas "The Catcher in the Rye for devotees of alternative universes" and that "Grossman has created a rare, strange and scintillating novel.
"[5] The Boston Globe said "The Magician King is a rare achievement, a book that simultaneously criticizes and celebrates our deep desire for fantasy.
"[10] Writing in Strange Horizons, A. S. Moser said "Beyond the wonder mediated by realism and the sense of the sublime tempered by pain, the real success of this trilogy is that in the all too unmagical inner conflicts the characters face we recognize ourselves—conflicts which the element of magic allows Grossman to set at just enough of a distance for us to feel their truth without suffering their memory."
[11] The pilot episode was directed by Mike Cahill, and the cast includes Jason Ralph as Quentin,[13] Olivia Taylor Dudley as Alice, Hale Appleman as Eliot, Summer Bishil as Margo Hanson (renamed from Janet in the novel),[14] Arjun Gupta as Penny, Stella Maeve as Julia, and Rick Worthy as Henry Fogg.
The Magicians: The New Class was an ongoing series following a new cohort of students at Brakebills after the events of the trilogy, including hedge mages that had been recruited by new means.