Cover Unveiled for The Magician King by Lev Grossman

The Magicians was one of the most surprising Fantasy novels of 2009 and given what Grossman started with The Magician King is now an immediate read when I get my grubby hands on it. The cover art just unveiled by Grossman is again done by Didier Massard, who has the very usually technique of building his imagery and than photographing it. He usually ends up with a very surreal looking image that does feel remarkably like what Grossman is going for.  Although in this case I'm not in love with the imagery as much as the art from The Magicians I can see this growing on me.  It looks like that semi-official release date of August 9th is pretty official at this point, which now can't get here soon enough. Again here is the blurb:

Hailed as a “painfully perceptive novel of the fantastic that brings to mind both Jay McInerney and J. K. Rowling,”* The Magicians was praised as a triumph by readers and critics of both mainstream and fantasy literature. Now Grossman takes us back to Fillory, where the Brakebills graduates have fled the sorrows of the mundane world, only to face terrifying new challenges.

Quentin and his friends are now the kings and queens of Fillory, but the days and nights of royal luxury are starting to pall. After a morning hunt takes a sinister turn, Quentin and his old friend Julia charter a magical sailing ship and set out on an errand to the wild outer reaches of their kingdom. Their pleasure cruise becomes an adventure when the two are unceremoniously dumped back into the last place Quentin ever wants to see: his parent’s house in Chesterton, Massachusetts. And only the black, twisted magic that Julia learned on the streets can save them.

The Magician King is a grand voyage into the dark, glittering heart of magic, an epic quest for the Harry Potter generation. It also introduces a powerful new voice, that of Julia, whose angry genius is thrilling. Once again Grossman proves that he is the modern heir to C.S. Lewis, and the cutting edge of literary fantasy.

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