Point of View

Lev Grossman tells his novel “The Magician’s Land” from the third-person limited-omniscient point of view. This is done for two reasons. First, the third-person narrative mode allows Grossman to pursue two seemingly separate plots that ultimately combine. There is the plot revolving around Quentin and Plum, their quest to find Rupert’s suitcase, and to create a new world; and there is the plot revolving around the efforts of Eliot, Janet, Josh, and Poppy to save the magical kingdom of Fillory from destruction. The limited-omniscient aspect denies readers the knowledge of everything always going on, and so adds a sense of suspense to the plot, but also another level of believability. In the real world, no person truly knows everything going on at every moment everywhere in the world – and neither do the characters in the novel.

Language and Meaning

Lev Grossman tells his...