Self has The Magicians back home, but chose to begin the series with Book 2, The Magician King, because she read that it was the better book and that you didn’t really need Book 1 to get into it.
At the beginning of The Magician King, the four rulers — Quentin, Julia, Janet and Eliot — are on a horseback ride together (What century is this? Surely Kings and Queens don’t really go horseback riding. Oh, they’re in the magical kingdom of Fillory. So of course there is horseback riding. Quentin’s horse has a very cool name: Dauntless)
Quentin thinks about how out-of-shape he is. This, following the passage where he observes that “Eliot is not shit at horseback riding” is somehow very funny.
- Lately whenever he sat down some unfamiliar interactions had been happening between his abdomen and his belt buckle. He must have gained fifteen pounds since he took the throne. No wonder kings looked so fat in pictures. One minute you’re Prince Valiant, the next you’re Henry VIII.
Kanlaon 