I didn’t know there were any graphic novels based on The Magicians, until I found this one at a library sale. I liked reading it well enough, but there were some disappointments. It’s basically the first novel, just told from Alice’s point of view. Except- it doesn’t really give you any more information on Alice, her background, what she was thinking, any new tidbits to the story, nope. I did like that Quentin wasn’t the centerpiece, I find Alice much more relatable, but still. Visually, it was okay- not all the characters were as I had pictured them from the novel (especially Penny- his personality seemed right, his appearance not really)- but the scenes of the magic school, the place-between-worlds, the landscapes in Fillory, those were pretty close to how I had imagined. The ending felt a muddle. Huge chunks of the novel are left out entirely, or condensed down to just a few panels here- which makes sense, as it’s a much shorter page count- this didn’t bother me too much but I think if you haven’t read the original, you’ll be missing a lot of what’s going on and why things happen. Don’t get me wrong, there’s parts I liked. I especially liked more explanations of the original Chatwin, of the sister who hid the last button, of the novel series that led these kids to want to go to Fillory in the first place (wishing deeply all over again that it was a real set of books!) If anything, refreshing my memory by reading this graphic novel adaptation, made me want to read The Magicians series all over again, and maybe also Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell too, because that one has a similar vibe- albeit different timeframe and setting entirely. ( )

Surprisingly bland, with ugly art. Lev Grossman's phenomenal book one deserves better.

Full review on Goodreads. ( )

This was an impulse decision at the library. I love the TV show, but I haven't tried to read any of the books because I am 100% TEAM ELIOT AND MARGO FOREVER and I hear they are less central, if not marginal, in the books. A graphic novel seemed like an easy way to dip my toes in.

I wasn't in love with this, but I feel like I got to know and understand Alice better (she remains a bit of a cypher, most of the time, in the show), which I suppose was the goal. Many other characters were clearly VERY different from their TV show versions, and while there are deviations for Alice, she seems to remain mostly the same. I enjoyed her journey as a tiffin, and the reveal of Jane Chatwin's manipulations here.

I don't know if they are planning more of these, but if there was an Eliot's Story, I would grab it in a heartbeat. ( )

A perfectly serviceable graphic novel adaptation of The Magicians. Framing it as 'Alice's Story' seemed to be solely to limit the perspective of the adaptation, rather than trying to include everything from the novel. ( )

This is not quite what I expected of Alice's Story, as it's titled. I was hoping for more new things in here that I hadn't seen before, and unfortunately except for the last few pages, this is essentially just The Magicians beat for beat in graphic novel format with Alice as the narrator. It's just the first book all over again up until the fight with the Beast and what happens to Alice then.

I was hoping a lot of things. Maybe more backstory on Alice and Charlie (there was a little, but not nearly enough,) maybe more of Alice as a niffin and what she did during that time while the others were off saving Fillory. There was so much this could have done and instead it just told me a story that I already knew in a different format. And it reminded me of why I hated Q in the first book of the trilogy, which is not something I love to be reminded of, especially absent of his character arc throughout the entire trilogy, which makes him tolerable and then close to likable by the end.

I mean, I liked some of the artwork, especially in the Fillory scenes, but this isn't really anything special unless you haven't read the original books. And I'm not 100% convinced it would work for someone who hasn't read those books, either. I'm not quite sure who this was written for.

I did like it, mostly for the art, and some of the references that I caught. I'm not sure who I would recommend it to though, or if I even would. ( )