The Magician

THE MAGICIAN is one of those rare books that, once you read it, you will never forget. Yet, despite having sold more than one million copies, it remains relatively unknown. Thankfully, Blackstone Audio has recorded the book, making it available for the first time on audio. The tale of a teenaged magician, high school violence and extortion, and a criminal trial, THE MAGICIAN focuses on teenagers, but resonates with all readers. Grover Gardner connects as well. Gardner's voice and style fit the teenaged na•veté and bravado that inhabit the book's main characters, and he paces the story beautifully, particularly the climactic courtroom scenes. Fans of the novel will not be disappointed, nor will the new generations just discovering this classic. D.J.S. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine


Maugham was a very successful and well-regarded author, but even he, looking back on this early novel, had little good to say about it. Narrator James Adams makes the most of the novel's strong point, its dialogue, with an array of adept accents and moods. Even so, the villain, Oliver Haddo, comes across as more bombastic than evil. Only towards the end, when Adams has some genuine emotion and drama to work with, does the story start to come to life. As a rare fantasy story from Maugham's early career, the novel is an interesting artifact, and the research into the history of magic and alchemy is exhaustive. But not even Adams's fine reading can raise it above the level of a curiosity. D.M.H. (c) AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine