Two-Episode Premiere on Showcase, Monday January 25 at 9 pm ET/PT

Based on a best-selling trilogy by Lev Grossman, The Magicians is about a group of graduate students at Brakebills University in upstate New York, who discover that the magical fantasy world they read about as children is real, and that it poses a grave danger to humanity. I’ve heard of Grossman’s books, of course, but haven’t gotten around to reading them yet, so I’m thrilled to see it’s coming to the small screen via Showcase. The story strikes me as a blend of Harry Potter and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, so I’m definitely intrigued.

The show stars Jason Ralph as Quentin Coldwater, an awkward, geeky (but actually really good looking) guy secretly in love with his best friend, the perfectionist achiever-type Julia Wicker (Stella Maeve). Other students include Alice Quinn (Olivia Taylor Dudley), a shy but supremely talented magician; Eliot Waugh (Hale Appleman), a snob with a painful past;  William “Penny” Adiyodi (Arjun Gupta), a loner who loathes everyone; and Margo Hanson (Summer Bishil), the resident mean girl.

The Magicians premieres on Showcase with the first two episodes on Monday, January 25, at 9 pm. New episodes will air on Mondays at 9 pm, and during the season run, you can also check out the episodes the day after on showcase.ca.

Get a sneak preview online with the first episode, “Unauthorized Magic”, available now on showcase.ca/themagicians, Showcase’s YouTube channel and Facebook page, and Showcase On Demand.

Check out the trailer below:

Being a book geek, I’m also really excited that Showcase will generously be providing me with a copy of the book for review. So keep an eye out for my upcoming review on that, and in the meantime, check out the new series on Showcase!

All images courtesy of Showcase.