“As a teenager in Brooklyn Quentin had often imagined himself engaged in martial heroics, but after this he knew, as a cold immutable fact, that he would do anything necessary, sacrificing whatever or whomever he had to, to avoid risking exposure to physical violence. Shame never came into it. He embraced his new identity as a coward. He would run in the other direction. He would lie down and cry and put his arms over his head or play dead. It didn't matter what he had to do, he would do it and be glad.”

American novelist and journalist

Lev Grossman is an American novelist and journalist. He is best known for the Magicians trilogy, which began with The Magicians in 2009 and continued with The Magician King and The Magician’s Land. He was book critic and lead technology writer at Time magazine from 2002 to 2016. His later work includes the children’s books The Silver Arrow and The Golden Swift, the novel The Bright Sword, a reimagining of the King Arthur legend, and the screenplay for The Map of Tiny Perfect Things, adapted from his short story.