What to read, watch, and listen to if you lovedThe Magicians
Sera Gamble · Series · 2015
If you loved The Magicians, start with A Wizard of Earthsea (Ursula K. Le Guin, 2012) — a book on the same thread. Below: 4 books, 4 films and 2 podcasts, each matched to The Magicians across media.
What hooked you in The Magicians is the unsettling realization that the boundaries between mundane reality and dangerous, high-stakes fantasy are dangerously thin.
Books on the same thread
A Wizard of Earthsea
Ursula K. Le Guin · Book · 2012
Explores: magic school, responsibility, consequences.
If you appreciated the academic rigor and heavy consequences of magic in The Magicians, you will find a more somber, foundational exploration of those same themes in this classic tale.
The Sandman Book One
Neil Gaiman · Book
Shares a thread with The Magicians: Dark Fantasy.
The Magicians shares a dark, metaphysical DNA with this series, offering a similarly layered approach to how mythic structures and dream logic fundamentally reshape the perception of a protagonist's reality.
The Magician's Nephew
Clive Staples Lewis · Book · 2005
Explores: Good vs Evil, Creation, Temptation.
This book provides the essential context for the portal fantasy tropes that The Magicians deconstructs, offering a deeper look at the responsibility and moral weight inherent in discovering new worlds.
Harry Potter
J.K. Rowling · Book
Shares a thread with The Magicians: magical realism.
While The Magicians offers a cynical adult take on the genre, this series serves as the definitive boarding school blueprint that established the tropes the former so effectively twists and subverts.
Films on the same thread
The Prestige
Christopher Nolan · Film · 2006
Explores: Obsession, Rivalry, Deception.
The Magicians focuses on the obsession and competitive nature of spellcasting, a dynamic mirrored perfectly in this film's depiction of rival performers who treat their craft as a dangerous, life-altering pursuit.
The Truman Show
Peter Weir · Film · 1998
Explores: Existentialism, Reality vs. Illusion, Loss of Innocence.
Much like the characters in The Magicians who realize their lives are controlled by unseen forces, this film explores the existential dread of discovering that your perceived reality is entirely manufactured.
The Matrix
Lana Wachowski · Film · 1999
Explores: Artificial Intelligence, Reality vs. Illusion, Free Will vs. Determinism.
The Magicians captures the feeling of being an outsider pulled into a hidden, rule-bound world, a transition that this film dramatizes through its iconic exploration of reality versus a simulated construct.
Pan's Labyrinth
Guillermo del Toro · Film · 2006
Shares a thread with The Magicians: Dark Fantasy.
This film echoes the dark, gritty tone of The Magicians, using a fantastical lens to process real-world trauma and the loss of innocence within a harsh and unforgiving magical environment.
Podcasts on the same thread
The Truth
The Truth · Podcast · 2026
Explores: human condition, experimental storytelling, moral ambiguity.
The Magicians thrives on its ability to shift tones and perspectives, a quality shared by these cinematic audio dramas that constantly reinvent their own rules to explore the human condition.
The Archers
Podcast
Explores: family life, community, farming.
If The Magicians hit, The Archers shares the thread.
Keep exploring
Common questions
What is the premise of The Magicians?
The Magicians follows a group of twenty-something friends at Brakebills University, a secret institution for magic. They discover that a fantasy world they read about as children is real and presents a grave danger to humanity, forcing them to navigate an unorthodox education in spellcasting.
Who is the creator of The Magicians?
The Magicians was created by Sera Gamble. The television series premiered in 2015 and focuses on the lives of students at Brakebills University as they uncover the dangerous reality hidden behind the magical fantasy worlds they once read about as children.
Is The Magicians about a secret magic school?
Yes, The Magicians centers on Brakebills University, which is a secret institution specializing in magic. The show explores the lives of students there as they learn spellcasting and eventually encounter a real-world magical threat that endangers all of humanity.
Does The Magicians involve real-world dangers?
Yes, while the characters in The Magicians study magic at Brakebills University, they soon discover that a magical fantasy world from their childhood is real. This world poses a grave danger to humanity, requiring the group of friends to confront threats beyond their classroom education.