Although I LOVED loved The Magicians, apparently it didn't stick with me. And I didn't realize how little until I picked up The Magician King that I could remember nary a plot point (OK, maybe the big ones) from its predecessor.

But did that stop me? Send me back to the library to reread the original first? Nope. Possibly it should've.

Because the sequel just didn't click with me in the same way. (And I did reread my review. See, I loved it.)

Maybe it was that the characters are whittled down. Maybe it was that the danger didn't feel dangerous. Maybe it was that yes, I cared for the secondary story, but I felt like it was random and shoved in to a book to shore it up. Maybe the characters just didn't work as well at that age or in that world or whatever.

I didn't dislike King. I just didn't love it. And that makes me sad.