I recently came across the following list on Amazon:  “100 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books to Read in a Lifetime.”

As a fantasy writer myself, I decided to spend the next few years reading every book on this list and record the lessons I learned from each volume on how to be a great writer.

PLOT: A thrilling and original coming-of-age novel for adults 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.​ – goodreads.com

LESSONS LEARNED: I did a post on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone a few weeks ago and a post on The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe before that, the next logical step would be a post on The Magicians, a book that combines elements from these two earlier novels and brings them into the adult world.

I recently read the book’s community reviews on goodreads.com and found that A LOT of readers had some very mixed feelings. I myself have a love/hate relationship with the series as a whole.

There are several reasons why so many readers struggle to finish this novel (which isn’t that long compared to other works of fantasy). The story possesses a very dark outlook on life. The cast of characters is mostly made up of obnoxious rich kids who have access to magic. And there were many sections in which I wondered if author Lev Grossman actually hates Quentin Coldwater, the novel’s supposed “hero.”

But there is one aspect that truly sets The Magicians apart from many readers’ expectations. It’s not just that it’s “Harry Potter for adults.” It’s that the first 2/3’s of the novel doesn’t have a plot.

Or at least it has significantly less of a plot than most fantasy novels. 

The first 2/3’s covers Quentin’s years at Brakebills, a college for magicians. And what does he do at Brakebills? He gets drunk, hooks up with a friend, plays sports, has a semester abroad and waxes philosophical; essentially what many of us did in college (which is pretty much the point). So a lot happens but a lot happening does not equal a plot.

Let’s look at the book most people will associate with The Magicians: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, another book about an unhappy boy who attends a magical school. The major difference isn’t that the Harry Potter series is (for the most part) relatively PG while The Magicians delves into issues such as drugs, sex and depression. The major difference is what happens to these two boys after they arrive at their respective magical schools.

Harry learns that there is an item known as the Sorcerer’s Stone and an evil wizard named Voldermort is after it. Throughout his first year at wizarding school he faces a troll, encounters a three-headed dog named Fluffy and learns to fly on a broom. Almost all of these challenges build up to one event: him facing off against Voldermort and obtaining the Sorcerer’s stone. Like most fantasy classics, the Harry Potter series are very plot-heavy books. (Which is absolutely fine.)

Now, let’s take a look at The Magicians. Early on in the novel, Brakebills is attacked by a creature known only as The Beast who kills a student. A reader might expect this to be one of the story’s inciting incidents. However, it has more of an effect on Quentin’s emotions than it does on his actions. He feels guilty because he believes he is responsible for The Beast’s appearance, but he never sets out to seek revenge or prevent it from attacking again. It’s not until the novel’s climax that this event has that much of an effect on the Grossman’s story.  

In a plot-driven novel, Quentin and his classmates would realize that the school was in danger and set out on a quest to defend it. They might still get drunk and spend a semester abroad but every step of the way they (and the readers) would learn a little more about their goal and how it can be obtained. Instead Quentin continues to go to class, get drunk and wonder what he’s going to do with his life (just like a typical college kid).

And I think it’s this lack of a plot/direction that threw many readers off. They were excepting an adventure, like Harry Potter but with cursing, sex and real violence. Instead they got an academic drama that just happened to be set in a magical universe.

So yeah, The Magicians has its detractors but it also has it’s admirers and it probably got a hell of a lot more attention because it was so unusual. There’s nothing wrong with writing a fantasy novel that’s light on plot as long as you do it right.

So how do you do it right?

Well first you need to read a lot of plot-free books and learn what you can from them. 

And one thing you might learn is that they aren’t really plot-free. The plot is simply a lot less obvious. The characters as still seeking something, they still want to achieve a goal, it just might not be something as concrete as The Sorcerer’s Stone.  

While Quentin doesn’t spend the novel trying to destroy the Ring of Power or blow up the Death Star, he does attempt to become the sort of person who could do such things. He wants to be someone who goes on adventures and has a meaningful life. More than anything he just wants to be happy.

Happiness is The Magician’s equivalent of the Sorcerer’s Stone in Harry Potter. It’s what our hero is trying to obtain but can’t. The first 2/3s of the novel is a series of connected stories about Quentin’s life in Brakebills and every single one of them has something to do with our “hero” trying to achieve happiness whether it be through alcohol or love or magic. He makes strides toward his goal and often sets traps for himself. While in many other fantasy novels the goal is to obtain or destroy something tangible, in this one the goal does not take a solid form.

Here are two takeaways from The Magicians on how to write a (mostly) plot-free novel.

1. Have it be episodic: As I mentioned, much of The Magicians is less of a single journey and more of a disjointed series of episodes that paint his life at Brakebills. Each episode has something to do with the overall goal (Quentin’s quest to find happiness). However they fit loosely together. One does not naturally lead to another. On the surface they are just a series of things that happen to the characters.  
2. Have the story’s goal be emotional or symbolic: The character isn’t after a magic ring that will save the world or the Iron Throne that will give them power, instead they are after something like happiness or a home or a sense of belonging. There may be magic in your world but there is less of a focus on the magical elements than there is on how the magic affects your character’s lives. Obviously, in most good novels there are emotional stakes, but in the kind of novel we’re talking about here, the majority of the stakes are emotional. Quentin isn’t trying to save the world (at least in the first book he isn’t), he’s just trying to have an interesting life.

Writing a “plot-free” novel (that’s enjoyable) is much trickier than writing a traditional journey story in which the heroes have to reach a tangible goal. Such novels are more of a challenge both for the author and the readers. That being said, if you succeed, your story will certainly stand out more than the droves of others about someone trying to obtain a magical sword. And say what you want about The Magicians, but it is undoubtedly memorable.   

*I should note that I am aware that the Harry Potter series is about more than just a kid picking up various items like magical stones. It is about making friends, surviving school and doing the right thing even when it is difficult. However, the books are much more focused on plot, that is the major difference.