The magical school in Lev Grossman’s fantasy novel The Magicians is Brakebills. Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy is a secretive institution in upstate New York where Quentin Coldwater studies advanced magic.
Quentin begins the novel as a highly intelligent teenager obsessed with the fictional world of Fillory. He discovers that magic is real after taking an entrance examination for Brakebills. At the college, he learns that magic requires demanding study rather than simple wishes or spoken fairy-tale formulas.
Brakebills combines the structure of an elite university with the dangers of a fantasy setting. Its students attend classes, form friendships, and face ordinary academic pressures while experimenting with spells and confronting serious threats.
The Magicians was published in 2009. It is the first book in a trilogy followed by The Magician King and The Magician’s Land. The television adaptation, which premiered in 2015, expanded and altered parts of the novel’s story.